Tayla of Astoria
by Sawnya
Summary: DONE Frieza has terrorized the Astorian race for decades because their queen killed his mother.To hurt them further, he sends Vegeta and other minions to capture an Astorian child princess with the power to destroy him in order to exploit her talents.
1. PART ONE: ASTORIANS VS SAIYANS

PART I: ASTORIANS VS. SAIYANS  
  
  
Chapter One: Saiyans Attack!  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila cried to her closest friend excitedly. "Mantros   
is holding Tayla up in front of the camera, so that we can see her! Look at my   
new granddaughter! Isn't she beautiful?" She and Dirkan were in Shalila's   
private reading and computer room, and they were watching Shalila's relatives on   
a large screen. The family was on a spaceship not too far from planet Astoria   
and the moon of Chloe.  
  
Dirkan was very quiet. Something was wrong. He knew that things   
were going too well lately for the Clan of Chloe. Eighteen months ago,   
Shalila's husband, Bajal, her son, Mantros, and her daughter-in-law, Tika, had   
taken Mantros' family into outer space to visit the nearby planet of Hysle, in   
hopes of convincing Hysle to join forces with Astoria against Frieza. Now the   
Mantros Chloe family was coming home. Mantros had left his oldest daughter,   
Gorna, also the next in line to rule Astoria after him, behind to help her   
grandmother rule Astoria. He had taken ten of his twenty children, and Tayla   
had been born on the Korin (which was named after one of Shalila's foster   
fathers, the white senzu-bean growing cat on Earth). Now in a week's time,   
Shalila was supposed to meet Tayla for the first time, and Shalila was thrilled,   
especially after Mantros told her of Tayla's great power and intelligence.   
Right now, Shalila and her husband, Bajal, the Superior Granden of Astoria were   
happily discussing Tayla's potential to become a healior (a warrior who is also   
a healer).   
  
Bajal was also telling Shalila how much he loved her and how much he   
was looking forward to seeing her again. Dirkan gave Shalila a small wistful   
smile when he heard Bajal's declaration of love; he still loved Shalila and had   
loved her throughout the last sixty years of Shalila and Bajal's marriage.   
There were times when Dirkan regretted not marrying Shalila himself, but the   
Namek knew that he had done the right thing in insisting that she marry Bajal   
instead. After all, the Clan of Chloe (and most of Astoria, for that matter)   
would have never accepted a marriage between Shalila and Dirkan, not at that   
time anyway. Also, being a Namek, Dirkan could only reproduce children by   
spitting eggs out of his mouth, and this he was no longer able to do so because   
of a virus that had destroyed his reproductive abilities. The Clan of Chloe was   
one of the most powerful families in the Rosetta Galaxy, and it was Shalila's   
duty to give them an heir to take her place as Astoria's ruler someday. The   
Clan of Chloe and the rest of Astoria would only accept a Clan of Chloe member   
as their ruler, and that was the main reason that Dirkan had refused to marry   
Shalila. He would not hear of Shalila turning the throne of Astoria over to   
someone else, so that she could be with him either. Shalila was the strongest   
Astorian of all, even stronger than her husband, and Astoria and the Rosetta   
Galaxy needed her too badly for her to abandon them to someone else.  
  
Dirkan sighed, but turned his thoughts back to more pressing   
matters. What was that strange evil ki that he sensed coming from near the   
Korin? No, it couldn't be! No! Not them! Anyone, but them!  
  
Dirkan emitted a sharp cry of terror, and Shalila turned around   
abruptly to see what had startled her oldest friend. "Dirkan!" she cried,   
horrified. "What is wrong?" She ran to him and embraced him, after discreetly   
turning off the screen, so that Bajal could not see her hold Dirkan. Bajal had   
long ago accepted Dirkan, but was never entirely comfortable with Dirkan and   
Shalila's close relationship.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila cried again, "Tell me! What is wrong?" Her face   
was white as one of Astoria's seven moons, and it created a sharp contrast   
against her molasses-red hair.  
  
Dirkan took several deep breaths before he spoke. "The Saiyans are   
here, love!" he cried. "They are going to attack your family's ship!"  
  
"No! It can't be!" Shalila screamed. "No!" She released Dirkan   
and ran back to her screen and turned it back on. She turned the microphone up   
loud so that the entire family could hear her.  
  
"Bajal! Mantros! Tika! Everyone listen! The Saiyans are coming to   
attack you! Flee immediately! Get out of there now!" Shalila cried in terror,   
her face still white. She was clenching her fists and breathing heavily.   
Dirkan was breathing heavily also, but he managed to regain his composure for   
the most part. He took Shalila's arm and quickly led her out of the reading and   
computer room. Shalila had started to cry, for it had been seven years since   
they had to deal with the Saiyans, and she herself felt that they had become   
stronger since their last battle.   
  
Shalila and Dirkan were running through the corridors of the opulent   
Palace of Chloe to reach the landing docks that would have speedy ships to get   
them into space quickly. Shalila and Dirkan then jumped into the air and flew   
quickly to the landing docks where the Palace of Chloe's ships were docked.   
Shalila was still breathing heavily, for the full effect of the Saiyans' return   
had not completely reached her. She was still in shock, for the last seven   
years had been peaceful. Even Frieza and King Cold had not bothered them during   
this time.  
  
"Shalila, you must calm down for your family's sake!" Dirkan   
commanded. "We must get to a ship immediately to go save them!" He pulled out   
a radio from his Astorian fighting uniform and shouted through it, so that all   
of the Palace of Chloe inmates could hear them: "Now hear this! The Saiyans   
have returned! The Saiyans have returned! All available warriors and healiors   
are ordered to go to outer space immediately where the Korin is located. You   
will find the ship located on your scouters, but not the Saiyan ships, for they   
can block our radars and detectors, so be careful!" Dirkan was also the   
commander of Astoria's military forces, as well as Shalila's plenipotentiary on occasion.  
  
By the time, Shalila and Dirkan had reached Shalila's private small   
warship, the Palace of Chloe had been thrown in a state of panic. The warriors   
and healiors had quickly arrived at the landing docks and were already launching   
their small warships into space to fight the Saiyans and save Shalila's family.   
The rest of Shalila's family that had remained on Astoria had quickly gathered   
together to fight to save their family members and were already leaving for   
outer space.  
  
  
  
The Korin  
  
Bajal was gathering together the warriors and the healiors that had   
been on the ship. The ship consisted mainly of Clan of Chloe members, but there   
were a few from other clans as well. The healers and those too young or weak to   
fight had already been put on escape ships. Tika was in charge of them, for she   
was just a healer and could not fight, but she was a great organizer and   
protector (she had to be with twenty children!). Tika was carrying Tayla with   
her in a carrying sack on her back and was running around to get her children   
and their families safely on the escape pods. Gracina, the twelfth oldest   
child, was helping her mother get the non-fighters to the escape pods, as well   
as being her mother's bodyguard. Gracina was a healior, only sixteen years old,   
but considered to be the wisest (next to her older sister, Marya, a Priestess)   
and most capable of Mantros and Tika's children.   
  
Tika thought that it was a pity that Gracina couldn't be Superior   
Gran Heiress Apparent instead, but Gracina was not the oldest child. The order   
for rulers of Astoria was traditionally "oldest child of oldest child of oldest   
child" unless the current rulers of Astoria deemed it otherwise. Mantros would   
inherit Astoria's throne after Shalila died, and then it would be Gorna, then   
Gorna's son, Rojal, and afterwards Rojal's firstborn child when he married.   
Besides, Gracina could always serve as Gorna's advisor, although she and Gorna   
didn't always get along well.  
  
Tika was feeding Tayla some milk mixed with saltwater from a bottle   
after Gracina insisted that her mother sit and rest for a moment while she   
helped the others to escape. Astorians need saltwater to survive, and they   
require ten times more salt to live than most other beings. Tika and Gracina   
were chewing on salt tablets when suddenly the Korin began to shake violently.   
  
The Saiyans had started to attack!  
  
Gracina shakily tottered over to a window, as some of the Astorians   
began screaming in terror at the powerful Saiyan blast that had rocked the ship.   
Gracina herself screamed when she saw two Saiyans blast the first three escape   
pods that had left the Korin with a fatal Final Flash, a trademark Saiyan move.  
  
"Don't release any more pods!" Gracina ordered the remaining   
Astorians. She recognized instantly that the ship was doomed unless her father   
and grandfather, the most powerful warriors on the ship, could once again fight   
the Saiyans off, like they had done seven years ago. Gracina pulled out her   
sword, powered up her ki level, and prepared herself to join her family in   
fighting the Saiyans.  
  
Tika was shaking with fear, and baby Tayla began to cry loudly.   
Gracina quickly sang an ancient Astorian lullaby, which calmed Tayla down   
somewhat. Tika wanted to cry and wail herself, but she was the wife of a   
powerful Clan of Chloe warrior, as well as the mother of the future ruler of   
Astoria, so she had to be brave. Nieca, the second youngest before Tayla, ran   
over to her mother and Tayla. Nieca told Gracina, "I wanna fight too!"  
  
"No, Nieca!" Gracina told her firmly. Nieca was only five, and was   
training to be a healer, not a warrior. Her power level was not very high.   
"Nieca, stay here with Mother and Tayla."  
  
"But I want to fight too!" Nieca shrieked. Gracina sighed, and once   
again she told Nieca no. Tika calmed down enough to settle the matter, and she   
put Nieca in her place and said that Nieca could not fight. Nieca, a sulky   
child by nature, sat down, crossed her shoulders, and glared at Gracina.  
  
Meanwhile, in the front of the ship, one of the Saiyans, a   
Third-Class fighter named Bardock had blasted a hole in the ship's roof. He was   
the leader of this particular band of Saiyans, and Frieza had sent them to   
destroy this ship.   
  
Frieza had decided to once again resume his feud with the Clan of   
Chloe family, especially when he heard of some strong powers coming from some of   
the Clan of Chloe children. Frieza had been having nightmares about Shalila   
having a descendent even more powerful than her that could eventually destroy   
him. He had also learned from one of his spies on planet Hysle about baby   
Tayla's birth. The spy had told Frieza about the child's astounding power level   
via radio when the Mantros Chloe family had been visiting friends on Hysle.   
Tayla had been born on the Korin, just before the family had landed on Hysle.   
The spy, one of Frieza's wisest, warned Frieza that this little girl could grow   
up one day to destroy him. Frieza was not about to let that happen. He was   
already worried enough about the Saiyans, especially when Zarbon, one of his   
best men, had warned him that the Saiyans could be a strong threat when they   
banded together.   
  
Frieza had been popping more aspirin and antacids lately than his   
doctors advised because of the threat of both the Saiyans and the Astorians, the   
two most powerful races in the Rosetta Galaxy. Just the thought of a Saiyan or   
a Clan of Chloe child (Frieza wasn't as fazed about the lower level Astorians)   
being strong enough to destroy him was enough to give Frieza a migraine. At   
least the Saiyans and the Astorians had never formed an alliance, for then   
Frieza would truly have more cause for worry. If the Saiyans and the Astorians   
banded together, they could definitely destroy Frieza and the entire Planet   
Trade.  
  
Bardock wasn't one of the best Saiyan fighters, but he was good   
enough to wipe out some of Shalila's family, even the baby Tayla. Frieza was   
silently hoping back on his mother ship that Bardock and his companions wouldn't   
screw up this time, like they did seven years ago, when Frieza had sent the then   
teenager Bardock to the moon of Chloe to destroy it. Shalila and Dirkan and the   
strongest Clan of Chloe members had too easily had defeated Bardock and his   
minions, and drove them off of Chloe. Too many Saiyans and other henchmen had   
been destroyed during that battle, including a couple of Frieza's younger   
relatives.  
  
At this moment, Bardock had crashed into the Chloe ship, and he was   
staring straight into the eyes of Superior Granden Bajal and Mantros. Bajal   
glared at him darkly, saying angrily, "Take your fellow monkeys and leave this   
ship now, or all you Saiyans will taste my blade!" Bajal pulled out his sword   
and held it up to Bardock's throat.  
  
Bardock, who had become much stronger since the last time he and   
Bajal had fought, laughed arrogantly. He had enjoyed fighting against Bajal the   
last time they had met, even though Bajal had nearly killed him. Bardock had   
almost died by Bajal's hands, but when he had managed to escape Chloe, he had   
been treated for his wounds and had become mightier than ever. (Saiyans become   
stronger every time they are seriously injured and manage to recover from it.)   
Although Bardock knew that Bajal was indirectly responsible for his increased   
strength, he was angry enough with Bajal to want revenge.   
  
"I'm going to kill you first, Superior Granden, and then your new   
granddaughter will be next!" Bardock roared. "This grandbaby isn't going to   
become stronger than us Saiyans!"  
  
Gracina had joined her father and grandfather by then, but Bajal and   
Bardock didn't notice her presence right away. Bajal (the most conceited of all   
the Astorian male fighters) was as arrogant as Bardock himself, and he growled   
back at his old enemy, "I dare you to try it! Just remember what I did to you   
on Chloe! You're lucky that you escaped!"  
  
At this time, some of Bardock's comrades had already invaded the ship and were blasting the Astorians with huge ki attacks. The Astorians reflected these attacks back at the Saiyans with their trademark move: the Mirror Shield attack. The Saiyans were taking some serious damage, but then so were the Astorians, for it takes much ki to repeatedly use   
the Mirror Shield attack.  
  
(The Mirror Shield attack consists of reflecting power attacks back   
at the enemy. In other words it causes an opponent's power attack to backfire   
against them. For example, if an Astorian is attacked by a Big Bang, the   
Astorian can hold out his or her hands and throw the Big Bang back at the   
opponent, causing the opponent to be damaged by his own attack.)  
  
Bajal and Bardock both leapt out of the ship onto the ship's roof.   
They had powered up and were now fighting with swords (Bardock was also an   
excellent swordsman, although sword-fighting was not often taught to Saiyans.)   
Both Astorians and Saiyans can survive exposed in space for a long time, and   
Bajal and Bardock were especially adept at this. Finally they decided to throw   
off their extra-heavy vests and swords and fought in hand-to-hand combat,   
kicking and punching fiercely. Bardock shoved his fist into Bajal's throat   
while Bajal shoved his fist into Bardock's stomach. The fight so far was evenly   
matched, and both men were giving some serious damage as well as taking some.  
  
Below deck, Gracina and her father, Mantros, were fighting the   
Saiyans with swords and kicks. Gracina managed to slash several Saiyans, and in   
one case, she managed to chop a weaker Saiyan's head off with her saber.   
Gracina screamed in horror when she did that; this was her first battle ever and   
the first time that she had ever killed anyone. Gracina's face paled, but   
Mantros snapped at his daughter sharply, "Get used to it, daughter! You will   
have to kill more Saiyans before this is over with!"  
  
If it is ever over with, Gracina thought to herself, but she knew   
that her father was right. Mantros had not meant to be so sharp with his   
favorite daughter, but he could not afford to have her go into shock and terror   
at her first killing, for she was needed too badly as a fighter. Mantros   
blasted several Saiyans to death with a few Mirror Shield attacks. Gracina   
finally recovered enough to use a Rings of Saturn Scarf attack on a couple of   
malicious Saiyans, and she used it to steal their ki and give it to herself.   
Her ki increased significantly, as did Mantros' when he used Rings of Saturn   
Scarf a few times. Mantros, Gracina, and the other Astorian warriors and   
healiors were succeeding so far, just as they did before.   
  
That is until Bardock threw Bajal, the strongest warrior on the   
ship, right through the roof of the Korin! Bajal landed right on top of his   
son, Mantros, knocking him right in the back of the head and ending Mantros'   
latest Rings of Saturn Scarf move. Gracina ran to her father and grandfather   
after she slashed a Saiyan's chest open with her sword, and she tried to pull   
the heavy, muscular Bajal off of her father. The girl-healior screamed when she   
realized that Bajal was not responding to her moving him.  
  
Bajal was dead.   
  
Bardock had killed Bajal by forcing a deadly ki attack right through   
the strong warrior's heart, causing it to explode. Gracina saw the large hole   
in her grandfather's chest, and cried aloud when she saw the blue blood pouring   
out of it (an Astorian's blood is always blue, even when it comes in contact   
with the air). Mantros screamed in horror like a banshee when he realized that   
his father, the Superior Granden of Astoria, the most powerful male Astorian   
warrior, was dead. But Mantros did not scream for long, for Bardock, tired of   
playing with the Astorians, quickly and neatly sliced off Mantros' head with his   
sword before Gracina could stop him.  
  
"You son of an ape!" she screamed in horror as she watched her   
father's bloody head roll away her father's body and near another Saiyan's foot   
where the Saiyan squashed it under his steel boot like it was a melon. Gracina   
screamed louder than before and became paralyzed with fear. Bardock's   
companion, Yugash, grabbed Gracina by her gold hair and slapped her across the   
face to make her shut up. He picked her up by her hair and kissed her hard.  
  
"How'd you like to become a Saiyan's wife?" Yugash asked   
triumphantly. "I need a strong spirited girl like you to give me a powerful   
son!"  
  
"Go to Hades!" Gracina shrieked and spat in Yugash's face. Yugash   
laughed, not bothered at least by Gracina's spitting on him. Gracina struggled   
against him, but Yugash was holding her in his arms by then, and his grip was   
too strong for Gracina to use any of the trademark Astorian moves.  
  
Except for Electric Touch.  
  
Gracina electrocuted Yugash when she gripped his waist. Yugash   
yelled in pain and finally released his captive. Gracina grabbed her sword   
again and aimed it for Yugash's neck. Yugash kicked her in the stomach for   
refusing him, and Bardock's companion, the Saiyan that had squashed Mantros'   
head, hit her hard in the back of the head, rendering Gracina unconscious and   
therefore helpless. The tall, slender girl fell down next to her dead   
grandfather in a dead heap.  
  
Elsewhere on the Korin, the other Astorians, sensing and realizing   
that their three strongest fighters were out of the race, began to lose heart,   
and therefore the battle against the Saiyans. The Astorians were weakening   
faster than before, for now more Saiyans had invaded the ship and now greatly   
outnumbered the Astorians. Three Saiyans were blocking the way to the escape   
pods, and so no more Astorians could flee. Most of the non-fighting Astorians   
were now dead.  
  
Tika was hiding in a pantry and fully concealing her ki. She had   
encased herself, Nieca, and baby Tayla in a small Shield Field to protect them,   
since Nieca and Tayla had not yet learned to conceal their ki levels. Tika was   
very weary, for she had just barely escaped from a rapacious Saiyan, which she   
had just managed to stab in the chest with her tiny dagger. Tika had been   
fortunate then, for she had not been strong, but neither had been the Saiyan   
(the weakest warrior of the band). Tika was sobbing quietly, for she had felt   
her husband die, and the grief threatened to rip her heart apart. Nieca was   
crying too, and baby Tayla was sniffling, preparing to wail. Tika recovered   
only long enough to try to quiet her daughters down, so that the Saiyans would   
not hear them. Tika ripped open her bodice and pushed her breast into Tayla's   
mouth to feed and distract her. Tayla quickly accepted her mother's breast, and   
Tika then gave Nieca a chocolate sugarplum for the child to chew on. Tika   
prayed that Shalila, Dirkan and the other Astorian fighters would save them   
soon...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Outer Space  
  
...But Shalila, Dirkan, and the others were not faring much better.   
Two more Saiyan ships had now arrived to destroy Shalila Chloe's family, and the   
Clan of Chloe, along with several other clans, were now occupied with fending   
those Saiyans off, and only a small band of Astorians that were on Shalila's   
private warship were available to go to the Korin to save the surviving   
Astorians aboard. In this small band were Shalila, Dirkan, and Gorna, thirty   
years old, along with Bajal (Gorna's twenty-seven-year-old brother), Etros   
(Gorna's husband), Lektron (Etros' brother), and several more of Gorna and   
Bajal's siblings. More Astorian clans were coming to help, for the news had   
been broadcast on the radios throughout the planet.  
  
Finally, after an hour of wading through Saiyans and killing them   
with Mirror Shields and Rings of Saturn Scarves (thankfully none of the Astorian   
moons were full that day, or some of the Saiyans would have been Oozarus [giant   
monkeys] by then), they managed to reach the Korin. Shalila felt very few   
Astorian ki levels, and this caused her to cry out in dismay because that meant   
that very few Astorians on that ship were now alive. Dirkan, sensing Shalila's   
worst fears, tried to reassure her that they could still save the others. But   
this was not much comforting to Shalila, who, deep down in her heart, knew that   
her beloved husband and son were dead. Shalila wanted to scream to the heavens   
with the pain and grief that threatened to rip her heart apart, but for now she   
had to repress her grief, so that she could save her remaining family and   
people.   
  
Shalila drew out her famous Sword of Chloe, and Dirkan pulled out   
his Light Blade (a glowing sword which had won him many a battle), and they both   
prepared to leap into the hole in the ship's roof that Bardock had made. The   
other members of their party were right behind them, though Etros fretted about   
the Saiyans' great power. Gorna told her husband to shut up and stop being a   
coward, and Lektron was deeply ashamed of his older brother's cowardice.  
  
But before Shalila and her band could enter, the surviving Saiyans,   
led by Bardock, burst from the hole that Bardock had made and landed on the roof   
to face the rescuers. By that time, only four Astorians were alive: Tika,   
Gracina, Nieca, and Tayla. Bardock was holding Tika by the hair and his left   
hand held his sword to Tika's throat. Bardock's companion, Rorin, (the Saiyan   
that had squashed Mantros' head), had Nieca by her hair as well. Gracina and   
Tayla were nowhere to be seen. There were three other Saiyans behind them, for   
the Saiyans had also lost a huge number of their men. Bardock threw Tika to one   
of the other Saiyans for safekeeping.  
  
"Release them at once or else!" Dirkan roared at the surviving   
Saiyans. He and Bardock began to sword-fight, clashing blades, and skillfully   
dodging each other's attacks. Dirkan threw Bardock down to the roof of the   
ship, blasted him with his eye lasers, and held his sword to Bardock's throat.   
  
"Order your men to release the hostages!" Dirkan growled at Bardock.   
"Or else you die!"  
  
"Release them, you savages!" Shalila ordered the Saiyans as she   
began clashing swords with Rorin, after Rorin had turned Nieca over to one of   
the three Saiyans. Shalila quickly slashed Rorin's throat with her sword, and   
after electrocuting him, Rorin fell off the ship, dead, and he began to float in   
space with his mouth gaping open. The third Saiyan, who did not have a hostage,   
was blasting Gorna, Etros, Bajal and Lektron with ki attacks, but the four   
Astorians were fighting back with Mirror Shield attacks. Gorna and Bajal's   
three Astorian siblings, Cletos (the third child and twenty-five years old),   
Marya (the tenth child and eighteen years old), and Jaypros (the eighth child   
and twenty years old) were now in the ship hunting for survivors to rescue them.   
  
"Let Tika and Nieca go, now!" Dirkan snarled at Bardock, who to   
Dirkan's surprise, was smirking. "Do you wish to die young, monkey? Order   
their release now!"  
  
Dirkan had made the mistake of calling Bardock "monkey" which is the   
worst thing anyone can ever call a Saiyan. Bardock was planning to kill Tika   
and Nieca anyway, but now he decided to do so sooner. "Sure I'll release them!"   
he crowed at Dirkan. "I'll release them into heaven! Kill the Astorian   
Princesses!" he ordered the two men who were holding Tika and Nieca hostage.  
  
"No!" Shalila screamed as she went to attack the captors, but even   
she was too late, for the captors blasted Big Bang attacks right into Tika's and   
Nieca's hearts, killing them instantly! Shalila's screams mixed with Tika's and   
Nieca's, and the two princesses' screams would haunt Shalila for the rest of her   
life.  
  
"You bastards!" Dirkan screamed. He decided that Bardock deserved   
to die; no one would miss him that badly, so Dirkan tried to cut Bardock's   
throat, but Bardock kicked Dirkan hard in the stomach, and freed himself from   
the Namek. Bardock escaped and ordered his surviving Saiyans to retreat.  
  
"No way!" one of the Saiyans snapped. "I want to finish this job!"  
  
Bardock punched him in the stomach for his disobedience.   
  
The other two Saiyans quickly learned their lesson and followed Bardock in   
retreat. Dirkan and Shalila pursued them and slashed the two Saiyans to death   
with their swords and Dirkan's eye lasers. Bardock, however, was too fast for   
them, and when he was far enough away from them, stood still in outer space. He   
held up his left hand at a 90-degree angle, and Shalila and Dirkan knew what   
this meant. This was to be a ki attack with the impact of a nuclear bomb. Bardock was going to blast the   
Korin!  
  
"Retreat!" Dirkan ordered the remaining Astorians. "Get out of   
there now!"  
  
Gorna and Etros didn't hesitant to flee back to Shalila's private   
warship, but Lektron was hesitant because there was still live Astorians down   
below in the ship, plus there was Gracina, whom Lektron had a secret crush on.   
He had to save them!  
  
Bardock shot the huge ki ball at the Korin.  
  
"Lektron, go now!" Dirkan shouted. Bajal finally cuffed Lektron and   
dragged him away. He told Lektron that there was no hope now.  
  
"What about the others?" Shalila cried in horror.  
  
"It's too late for them now! We have to get out of here!"  
  
As Dirkan shouted this out, he and Shalila silently prayed that   
maybe, just maybe the victims on board the Korin would survive. But Dirkan   
didn't believe it was likely, and when Shalila started to fly in space towards   
the ship, Dirkan grabbed her and held her in a tight grip.  
  
"You're not committing suicide! I'm not letting you die!" Dirkan   
snapped at the struggling Superior Gran, who was alternating between screaming   
at the others to escape and cursing Dirkan in Astorian for holding her back.   
But Dirkan tightened his grip; he was not allowing Shalila to die today.  
  
Shalila continued to scream at her family to escape...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in the Korin  
  
Gracina was lying below deck on top of her dead father's decapitated   
body, just barely alive. She shuddered in horror when she once again saw her   
father's headless body. Then she heard a loud, terrified baby's cry.  
  
Tayla! Tayla was still alive!  
  
Gracina struggled to her feet and frantically stumbled around,   
looking for her youngest sister. She found Tayla quickly, who had been thrown   
into a garbage bin (Bardock had forgotten Frieza's orders to destroy the baby,   
so he had tossed Tayla in there). Gracina scooped her baby sister up and   
covered the tiny girl's face with kisses. She cradled Tayla close to her breast   
while she searched for the escape port where the escape pods were. Gracina was   
too weak now to move very fast, but she kept a steady pace through the corridors   
while she headed for the escape port with her baby sister.  
  
"Gracina! You're still alive?" It was Cletos, a warrior and   
Gracina and Tayla's brother. Marya and Jaypros were behind him. They had   
managed to catch up with Gracina.  
  
"Cletos! Marya! Jaypros! Thank the stars! We've got to get out of   
here now!"  
  
"Yes, we know!" cried Jaypros, another warrior. "That son of an   
ape, Bardock, will kill us all!"  
  
Marya fell to her knees and prayed. She was a priestess, but she   
had insisted on coming along to pray for those injured and dead.   
  
The five Mantros Chloe siblings clustered together and Cletos, who   
was the strongest of them all at the moment, picked up Gracina in his arms, and   
Gracina was still holding Tayla.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" Cletos ordered  
Cletos, carrying Gracina on his back (Gracina had cradled Tayla   
between her bosom and Cletos' back, was climbing through Bardock's hole out of   
the ship, and Marya and Jaypros followed him.)   
  
But then they felt the entire ship shake violently...  
  
The air grew a thousand degrees hotter...  
  
The Clan of Chloe members screamed in terror...  
  
Baby Tayla, calmer then the others, held up her hand...  
  
...And then there was darkness and a giant explosion...  
  
The Korin was gone!  
  
  
(A/N: If you want more background info on the Astorians and Tayla's origins, read my supplementary story, "Birth of Tayla And Tayla of Astoria Extra Info" which tells more about Astorian life and the universe that the Astorians live in.) 


	2. Baby Tayla Won't Stop Crying

Chapter Two: Baby Tayla Won't Stop Crying   
  
Gracina stared blankly up at the endless, starry universe. She saw   
a meteor shower pass her by, and one of the meteors came close to hitting her.   
But the meteor bounced harmlessly away from her, almost as if there were a wall   
between her and the universe.   
  
Gracina's golden hair was coated with her blue blood, and there were   
scratches and cuts all over her beautiful creamy body. Her red and white   
fighting uniform was torn, tattered and dirty. She was in pain, and when she   
turned a certain way, her ribs would ache horribly. I am in pain,   
so I must be alive, she thought. But how can that be? There was no way that we   
could have survived that explosion. Where am I?   
  
Gracina groaned, closed her eyes, and then opened them again. She   
rubbed her eyes and allowed herself to look around. She saw her four other   
siblings that had been in the explosion with her, and they all seemed to be   
alive, like her, but asleep. Except for little Tayla. Tayla's expression was   
solemn, and she kept holding up her tiny hands, as if she was calmly holding up   
the universe. Gracina reached behind her back and felt a strange ki wall that   
was warm and tingling.   
  
Gracina recognized it immediately.   
  
It was a wall. The wall of a Shield Field.   
  
A Shield Field?   
  
This particular Shield Field was an orange, clear bubble, floating   
in space, with all five Clan of Chloe siblings inside it. Gracina touched the   
wall lightly to learn whose ki had been maintaining this force field. It was   
Tayla's.   
Tayla's?   
  
Tayla had saved them all by making a Shield Field and enclosing them   
in it!   
  
But how did that baby learn how to do it? Gracina wanted to know.   
She hasn't been trained yet. No one learns how to make a Shield Field until   
they are about six or seven years old.   
  
Gracina was uncertain just how long they had been in the bubble, but   
she knew one horrible thing: that Tayla couldn't maintain it forever!   
  
Gracina quickly gathered what little bit of ki she had left, so that   
she could help her sister sustain the force field bubble. Tayla was growing   
sleepy, but the tiny baby girl was determined to keep the bubble up. Gracina   
started to wake up their siblings, so that they could help, when she saw her   
grandmother's private warship approaching them.   
  
The warship gently bumped into Tayla's bubble. Tayla was   
momentarily startled, but not enough to keep her from preserving her protective   
world. The escape hatch of Shalila's warship opened, and Shalila, Dirkan,   
Bajal, and Lektron crawled out into space. Dirkan and Shalila grabbed the   
protective bubble and nudged it towards the warship. Shalila was crying with   
relief. Dirkan grinned; he sensed and knew that baby Tayla had created this   
Shield Field. But there was only one problem.   
  
Tayla would not make the Shield Field disappear, even though she had   
to realize that she and her siblings were finally safe!   
  
For the Astorians had driven away the Saiyans again and just barely   
won this battle. The Saiyans were much stronger than before, and both Shalila   
and Dirkan knew that they probably would not be as fortunate next time to   
survive another Saiyan attack. Shalila had aged ten years in ten hours   
especially after realizing that she would never see her husband or her son   
again. Dirkan had spent much of the time in the warship trying to comfort her,   
but Shalila felt a hundred years older than before.   
  
Gracina was cooing to Tayla, telling her that it was okay to drop   
the force field now because they were going home. But Tayla refused and   
continued to sustain the bubble that was now trapping them all. And she was   
still doing well with it until some dead bodies started floating by. (Shalila   
and her party did not retrieve all the bodies yet.)   
  
And it would prove to be a mistake, for one of those bodies was Tika!   
  
Tayla, somehow sensing that her mother was dead, began to scream loudly, and in   
her pain and horror, she dropped the force field. Shalila and Dirkan had to   
quickly retrieve the five Clan of Chloe siblings before another meteor shower   
came.   
  
Shalila swiftly grabbed baby Tayla, who was crying and wailing   
loudly at the sight of her dead mother. She cooed to her granddaughter, sang   
her Astorian lullabies, and covered her face with kisses, but nothing would calm   
the youngest Mantros Chloe princess down. Shalila and Dirkan, with Bajal and   
Lektron's help, pulled all of Shalila's lost grandchildren into the warship, and   
after closing the door, they headed home to the moon of Chloe with the other   
Astorian survivors. Another meteor shower came, but they were able to avoid it.   
If only avoiding Tayla's continuing crying would be that easy...   
  
  
Two weeks later. Palace of Chloe.   
  
Shalila sighed. She was thankful to be back home, although it was a   
very sad and painful homecoming for the Superior Gran. She had just laid her   
husband, son, and other family members to rest in the Clan of Chloe family plot   
behind the Palace of Chloe after two funerals were held: one for Superior   
Granden Bajal, and the second one (a mass funeral) for all the other victims.   
Among those victims were eight of Mantros' twenty children that had died out of   
the ten children that had been on the doomed ship. And then there was her   
favorite son, Mantros himself, and her beloved Bajal.   
  
Bajal, oh my Bajal! Bajal, Mantros, Tika, Nieca...   
  
Shalila kept blaming herself for her family's deaths and constantly   
wondered what she could have done differently to save them. She should have   
never let them leave for Hysle...she should have made more offerings to her   
Astorian ancestors to ensure her family's safety in space...she should have left   
sooner...she should have made Dirkan slay Bardock right away...she should have   
at least insisted that the children be left behind...   
  
Dirkan did everything that he could do to comfort her. He had even   
laid in bed with her a few times to calm her whenever she had nightmares and to   
reassure her that what happened was not her fault.   
  
"Shalila, you are not responsible for the entire Rosetta Galaxy!"   
  
"But I am responsible for my family and my people!"   
  
"Shalila, what happened was not your fault! The Saiyans ambushed us   
too fast this time. You know that they can block our radars. This was not your   
fault! We did what we could to save them! Be thankful that Gracina and Tayla   
survived, and that none of our small party perished, and that the Saiyans are   
gone again!"   
  
"Dirkan, my husband is gone! My son is gone! Eight of my   
grandchildren are gone! Cursed Saiyans! Those cursed monkeys killed my family!   
Blast them! They took my family from me! They took Bajal from me!"   
  
"Your whole family is not gone, love! You know that! And you also   
have me..."   
  
Dirkan had finally convinced Shalila that what happened on that   
horrible day was not her fault, but it wasn't easy to do so.   
  
Shalila looked over in Tayla's crib, which she had insisted be put   
in her bedchamber with her, even though Tayla's continuous crying wearied her.   
The only time that Tayla would stop crying was when she was asleep, and half of   
the time, the poor baby had horrible nightmares about what happened on that   
terrible day. Tayla would only sleep about five hours a day now, and that was   
on a good day!   
  
Tayla was finally asleep. Shalila was thankful. She knew that   
nurse after nurse quit because of Tayla's endless wailing. Although Gracina had   
been taking care of Tayla most of the time and had done wonderfully, the   
grieving, heartbroken, little crying baby wore Gracina out. Gracina needed a   
break, and Shalila (who claimed Tayla now as her ward), offered to put aside her   
royal duties for a few days and take care of Tayla. Gorna would not help; she   
did not like children very much, not even the ones that she had with Etros.   
Gorna gave her children mostly material things so that they would leave her   
alone. And Gorna constantly complained about Tayla's endlessly screaming and   
crying to the point where her griping had become as painful to listen to as   
Tayla's bawling.   
  
Shalila recognized that her granddaughter was grieving for her lost   
family and tried to be patient and understanding as possible. (Shalila herself   
had spent many endless nights lying awake and mourning her lost family.) She   
and Gracina did everything they could to soothe the heartbroken, sobbing child,   
but baby Tayla was beyond comforting. Marya, Tayla's priestess sister,   
continuously prayed to the Astorian ancestors and good spirits for a way to   
comfort the baby, and Shalila hoped that the ancestors and good spirits would   
listen soon.   
  
Shalila rubbed Tayla's back and smoothed Tayla's hair, thankful that   
the baby princess was having a quiet night-for now anyway. Tayla's hair was   
already long, shiny and very, very soft. Shalila loved touching the child's   
hair, it was the softest hair ever, for although all Astorian women had   
unusually soft, silky hair, Tayla's was the softest of all. (Astorian women   
have ever-growing hair, and when it became too long, they would cut most of it   
off and weave the hair into clothing.) Shalila continued to stroke Tayla's hair   
very lightly, so that the baby would not awaken too soon and start crying again.   
  
Shalila laid her head against Tayla's crib and fell into a light   
sleep. She awoke when she heard a loud knocking on the door. Gorna's loud   
voice boomed through her grandmother's door, and Tayla woke up instantly and   
began screaming and crying again.   
  
Shalila groaned. She could have cheerfully strangled Gorna then,   
even if Gorna was the next heiress to the Astorian throne. Shalila picked up   
Tayla and tried to rock and coo her back to sleep, but of course it didn't work.   
She silently cursed Gorna in Astorian (mixed with a few Earth curse words, as   
well).   
  
"What is it, Gorna?" Shalila asked impatiently. "There now, little   
one, it's alright, sweetheart, it is only your sister, Gorna." The mention of   
Gorna's name made Tayla scream louder, for the tiny baby already sensed that   
Gorna did not like her too much.   
  
Shalila sang Brahms's Lullaby (an Earth lullaby) to little Tayla, as   
she opened her mahogany door to let Gorna in. "Grandmother, we need to talk,"   
Gorna said abruptly, as she smoothed her black and navy-blue robe. (The entire   
Palace of Chloe was in mourning, and while they were in mourning, everyone wore   
the mourning colors: black and navy blue, until Shalila herself would declare   
the mourning to be over.)   
  
"Gorna, couldn't this wait until tomorrow?" Shalila asked a little   
too hopefully. She really wanted to get Tayla back to sleep (a task that   
Shalila already knew would be impossible), so that she could sleep herself.   
Gorna was very strong, and occasionally smart, but her sense of timing was   
terrible.   
  
"Grandmother, I was thinking of a solution that could protect us   
from the Saiyans in the future..."   
  
"Gorna, do not mention an alliance with them again!" Shalila raised   
her voice then. "I already tried to make peace with them ten years ago, so that   
our people could sleep better at night, but then we would have to become their   
slaves! I won't have that!"   
  
"Well, perhaps, Nama, if you had not outright forbidden our people   
to intermarry with them..."   
  
"Gorna, no Astorian is going to marry a horrid Saiyan, and that is   
final! I gave them a chance to make peace with us, but then we would become no   
more than their slaves. And they are not good to those people who are subject   
to them! I know what they did to planet Plant, which is now planet Vegeta! The   
only inhabitants that survived that are now living on Astoria with us! There is   
no rhyme or reason to what the Saiyans do! Have you already forgotten the last   
two times they attacked us! They killed my husband, the Superior Granden, who   
is your grandfather! They killed your own parents and siblings! How can you   
forget that? You are an orphan now because of them! And look at your baby   
sister, Tayla, who constantly cries and cries because she is mourning our family   
still!" Shalila was near tears then, for everyone knew about her great   
prejudice and anger against most full-blooded Saiyans, which most of the   
Astorians shared. The phrase, "the only good Saiyan is a dead one," was a   
favorite Astorian proverb.   
  
"I was just thinking, Nama, that if we and the Saiyans were to join   
as one, we would be the most powerful people in the Rosetta Galaxy! Maybe even   
strong enough to destroy Frieza and King Cold once and for all!" Gorna was   
hoping that last sentence would convince Shalila. Gorna grieved for her family,   
but only to a certain extent, for she was basically a power-hungry,   
opportunistic woman who cared little for anyone but herself. Gorna wanted the   
Astorians to be the most powerful people in the Rosetta, and she wanted to make   
all the other planets subject to Astorian rule. Gorna wanted to create an   
Astorian empire that was expanded beyond planet Astoria, and she thought that an   
alliance with the Saiyans would help accomplish this goal. While Shalila shared   
Gorna's goal of making Astoria powerful and invincible, she did not want to   
start an empire; she just wanted to keep her people safe. Shalila had no   
desire to expand her kingdom, for as long as her planet was secure and   
prosperous, she was content. She did not think it was right to conquer and take   
over other planets. And Shalila Chloe had no intentions of making any deals or   
alliances with Saiyans now; she'd sooner make a deal with the devil, as they   
would say back on planet Earth.   
  
Earth. It had been sixty-five years since Shalila had left planet   
Earth to return to planet Astoria. The journey from Earth to Astoria had taken   
five years by spaceship (it would have taken only three years, if Shalila had   
went straight there, but if course that would have been impossible). Shalila   
loved Astoria, and would now never consider having another planet for her home,   
but there were times when she would think wistfully of Earth.   
  
She temporarily forgot about Tayla's crying, for Tayla had been fed   
and changed before she had fallen asleep. She was still trying to coo and   
soothe the baby, but her mind had drifted elsewhere. She thought about her   
foster father, Korin, the kindly white cat who grew the strange senzu beans that   
instantly restored full health and ki. Korin had taken Shalila in and raised   
her as his own daughter a year after her mother' death.   
  
Tears came to Shalila's slate-gray eyes when she remembered the   
horrible way that her mother, the first Tayla Chloe had died. Shortly after she   
and her mother had crashed their ship onto planet Earth, the deadly lord of the   
underworld, Darbura, had accosted them. Shalila's mother, Tayla, had been a   
decent warrior, but Darbura had quickly conquered her. Darbura had destroyed   
the first Tayla with one fatal blast that had obliterated the Superior Gran and   
had stolen Shalila's memory. Although Tayla had hidden her seven-year-old   
daughter in an underground cave, the blast had been powerful enough to hurt   
Shalila and give her amnesia. Through a small hole in the cave, Shalila had   
seen her mother die just before she lost consciousness.   
  
After the first Tayla had died, and Shalila had awakened, she had no   
recollection of planet Astoria, or her brief childhood on her old ship. The   
only thing that Shalila remembered was how Darbura had killed her mother   
(Shalila no longer remembered her mother 's name either), and her anger and   
grief over her mother' death. Shalila had reemerged from that cave with only   
one goal: to avenge her mother's death by killing Darbura.   
  
Shalila, frightened and angry, had trusted no one. She had been a   
very powerful little girl at her age, but had little idea how to utilize her   
powers. The first Tayla had trained Shalila as best as she could, but she and   
her daughter had been too occupied with dodging the Saiyans and making the trip   
to planet Sorscha. Shalila had not yet been able to fully control her powers   
and because of that, she had unintentionally caused much damage to her   
surroundings. The only friend she had managed to make was a small black and   
white rabbit that she had named Fuzz.   
  
It had started when a group of human hunters had found the wild   
little princess, and one of them had shot and killed the rabbit that Shalila had   
somehow befriended. Shalila was furious over her pet's death, and she quickly   
electrocuted the hunters, just by touching them, killing all of them except for   
their leader.   
  
The leader barely escaped with his life. He swiftly told his fellow   
human villagers what had happened, and that village had gathered their strongest   
men to hunt down the angry little Astorian girl and kill her.   
  
Shalila had a few nasty encounters with these humans after that, and   
she immediately decided that all humans were her enemies, as well as Darbura.   
In her search for Darbura, she terrorized any human who crossed her path. The   
humans in that area had learned to run the other way when they saw her coming.   
Their bullets did no good, for Shalila could reflect them back onto the humans   
with her sword and ki attacks. A couple of times, she even went as far as to   
use Electric Quake, and one of those times, she had wiped out an entire city by   
electrocuting every living thing in it that was standing on the ground.   
  
Korin and the Namek guardian of the earth, Kami, were very worried   
when they had learned about Shalila and sensed her great power, and so they both   
made a rare trip to Earth to recruit warriors to help defeat this menace. But   
before they could find any one to help fight Shalila, they ran into the little   
girl themselves. Shalila did not know what to make of these strange creatures   
confronting her; she had never seen a Namek or a cat before. She was uncertain   
as to where she should attack them or not, so she just stood there and   
threatened them in her Astorian language. But Kami was able to read the little   
girl's mind, and he understood everything that Shalila was saying. He and Korin   
both sensed that the child was not entirely evil. Korin had been alive for a   
good six hundred years then, and he could also read Shalila's mind.   
  
Shalila was stunned when she heard Kami and Korin speak to her in   
perfect Astorian (they had learned it quickly just by reading her mind), and was   
even more stunned when they told her that they would not harm her, but they   
could not allow her to harm humans or anyone else. Kami and Korin quietly   
talked to each other and then to Shalila, asking her if she would like to live   
with them at Sky Palace.   
  
Shalila began crying for no reason and told them that she had to   
kill Darbura. Kami said that he understood her need to avenge her mother, but   
she would need to train for years to do so. Shalila hesitantly agreed to come   
with Kami and Korin and live with them. They took her in, and Shalila turned   
back to the side of good permanently, although she still wanted to avenge her   
mother. Slowly, she began to regain her memory about her childhood before   
Earth. Korin was her main caretaker, but he had help from Kami and Mr. Popo,   
the black genie that lived with Kami in raising and training the little girl.   
  
Before she left Earth for good, Shalila did avenge her mother by   
driving Darbura back to his underworld for good. Kami sealed him in hell, so   
that he could never escape. Shalila greatly missed Korin, Kami, and Mr. Popo,   
who had taken care of her and had literally saved her from herself...   
Where are they now? How are they faring? Are they still alive? Do   
they miss me? These thoughts danced around in Shalila's heart. She said a   
silent prayer to her ancestors that her friends back on Earth were doing well.   
  
Tayla's crying once again pierced Shalila's thoughts. She continued   
to rock her and coo to her and even offered her a sugarplum drop, but nothing   
worked, as usual. Shalila also tried to feed her some milk, but Tayla refused   
it. Gorna groaned heavily and thought privately that she had a way to make   
Tayla shut up-for good. Then Dirkan appeared and knocked on Shalila's doorway.   
Shalila was about to faint from exhaustion.   
  
"Dirkan, you know that you do not need to knock unless my door is   
locked," Shalila told him wearily. She held up a bawling Tayla to where Dirkan   
could see her. Tayla's face was redder than one of Astoria's sunsets (Astoria's   
sun is known as the North Star to the Earthlings). Her face was scrunched   
together so tightly that Shalila thought that the child's eyes would pop out.   
  
"Dirkan, what am I to do about her crying?" Shalila wailed in   
distress over Tayla's wailing.   
  
Dirkan sighed. He wanted to help with Tayla, but he knew nothing   
about babies. Babies made Dirkan uncomfortable, for the infants sensed Dirkan's   
uneasiness with them and they always wanted him to leave them alone. Dirkan the   
Namek was one of the greatest and fiercest fighters in the Rosetta Galaxy, but   
he could not face up to caring for a tiny, dependent baby. He was secretly   
afraid that he would drop them or crush them with his huge green hands that had   
long white nails resembling claws. Dirkan got along well with most of Shalila's   
young descendants when they were old enough to walk and talk, but he avoided the   
babies as much as possible. Dirkan had tried to hold Astorian infants before,   
but they were either frightened by his looks, or dismayed at his discomfort with   
them. Either way, they started to cry within seconds of Dirkan holding them, so   
Dirkan finally washed his Namek hands of dealing with Shalila's infant children   
or grandchildren. He waited until the children were older before he would   
attempt to pick them up or touch them on the shoulders.   
  
Dirkan groaned, "Hire a nurse who is deaf." He ripped off his Namek   
ears, so that he could get a few moments of peace.   
  
"I've already tried that!" Shalila wailed, but of course Dirkan   
could no longer hear her. Gorna had her own idea of making her sister shut up.   
  
She went to Shalila and Tayla and put her ugly, freckled face right   
into Tayla's squished-up red one. "Listen, brat," she hissed harshly, "shut   
your mouth and stop this screaming, or I'll give you something to scream about!   
You're making us want to kill you!"   
  
Of course, that only made things worse. Tayla screamed louder than   
ever, but she did something different: she threw up her earlier lunch on Gorna's   
face. Gorna was furious; she didn't tolerate that sort of behavior from her own   
brats, nor would she take it from this nuisance. Shalila tried not to smile,   
although she wanted to.   
  
Dirkan didn't hold back his smile, however. He had never liked   
Gorna, and he was impressed and amused by the tot's display of spirit. He   
didn't hear what Gorna had said, but he knew from Gorna and Tayla's individual   
expressions that Gorna's words had been harsh.   
  
Shalila recovered long enough to snap at her granddaughter. "You   
will not speak to your sister like that again!" she shouted over Tayla's   
bawling. "For no matter how much this babe cries, you have no justification for   
talking to her so harshly. She is only a baby! She does not know any better."   
  
Dirkan reattached his ears just before Gorna said, "Well, if she   
knows enough to create a Shield Field to protect our brothers and sisters, then   
she knows enough to see that her crying is driving me to strangle her!" Gorna   
angrily wiped her face off with her handkerchief.   
  
"I pity your children, Gorna," Dirkan spoke finally before Shalila   
could. "It is just as well that you leave your two children with nurses and   
laborers most of the time. At least they are sure to get some kindness and   
respect."   
  
Gorna ignored Dirkan. She considered anyone who was not Clan of   
Chloe, or as powerful as the family, beneath her. She didn't see why Dirkan,   
who was not even Astorian, should be held so high in her grandmother's opinion.   
Dirkan was just a Namek, whatever that was. To Gorna, he resembled a green slug   
with limbs.   
  
Shalila decided to ignore Gorna for now, and she walked around the   
room with the wailing Tayla in her arms. But then she tripped over a snag in   
the sky-blue carpet and nearly toppled over with the baby in her arms. Tayla   
cried out louder in terror, as they both fell towards the floor. Dirkan leapt   
through the air and slid under Shalila's arms to catch the child. Shalila   
stopped herself from falling just in time, but she lost her grip on Tayla, and   
Tayla slipped out of her grandmother's arms right into Dirkan's giant   
grass-green hands.   
  
Shalila's heart skipped a few beats, as Dirkan asked her if she was   
all right. Shalila assured him shakily that she was fine. Shalila took a few   
deep breaths, and wearily thanked Dirkan for catching her granddaughter. Dirkan   
took a deep breath himself. Gorna stood there impatiently, with no concern for   
her grandmother or her sister. Gorna was still wiping off her face with her   
handkerchief. It took a couple of minutes for all three of them to realize   
something.   
  
Tayla was no longer crying.   
  
Oh, she was still noisy, but her noises were happy ones. The baby   
girl was gurgling happily in Dirkan's enormous hands. She was gently poking and   
prodding Dirkan's arms that had three pads of exposed pink, ribbed muscle per   
arm. She was fascinated by the color of Dirkan's skin and the strange gigantic   
hands with the long, curled nails that held her so securely. She grabbed   
Dirkan's thumb and tried to put it in her eager, curious mouth. She was   
laughing. Dirkan was a bit nervous because the child was inspecting him so   
closely. But Tayla wasn't nervous or upset at all now. Her large, round,   
chocolate-brown eyes looked deeply into Dirkan's narrow black ones, as the Namek   
lay there on his stomach. She was looking at him so intently for such a small   
child, as if she were trying to read his mind. Dirkan was trembling still, but   
Tayla continued to laugh and gurgle at him. She continued to stare deeply into   
his eyes. Dirkan began to read the child's thoughts.   
  
Silly Namek, Tayla was thinking to him, I'm just a little baby, and   
you're afraid of me? I'm not going to break, you know! I like you! You're   
doing just fine! Don't be so scared now! I don't bite, not usually anyway!   
  
Dirkan chuckled, and his tension began to ease. Shalila smiled for   
the first time in weeks, as she helped Dirkan and Tayla up off the floor.   
Dirkan hesitantly cradled the infant closer to his bare green chest (he was only   
wearing red trousers). Tayla's laughter quieted down to coos and contented   
babbling. She gave a giant yawn, and she laid her once-again light-pink head   
against Dirkan's chest, snuggling right into his tough green skin. She closed   
her saucer eyes and fell right asleep.   
  
Shalila and Gorna just watched in shock and amazement. Dirkan   
didn't put the child back in her crib right away. Instead he continued to hold   
her against his chest and began to gently rock her. He touched the dark,   
extra-soft, downy cape that was Tayla's hair and played with the sleeping   
child's tiny fingers and toes with a couple of his green fingers. Dirkan was   
much calmer now, but he was still stunned that Tayla showed no fear of him.   
Most babies started crying when Dirkan touched them, but this one had stopped   
crying when he touched her. Dirkan wondered at how soft Tayla was and also how   
surprisingly sturdy she was. He stroked the infant's hair with his index   
finger. Tayla did not awaken; instead she was in a deep, peaceful sleep, the   
sleep of those who know that once again, all is right with their world.   
  
Shalila was still stunned. "Dirkan, you managed to calm her down!   
Look at how peacefully and happily she is sleeping!"   
  
Dirkan grinned. "No sweat," he said, using a favorite Earth   
expression of Shalila's. Dirkan finally and reluctantly laid Tayla back   
in her crib on her back and tenderly tucked her in with a soft, pink blanket,   
made out of silky Astorian hair. Tayla stirred for only a second, but then she   
went right back into her deep sleep.   
  
Gorna only said, "It's about time someone got that brat quiet." She   
turned and left Shalila's room. Shalila and Dirkan were relieved to see her go,   
and Tayla seemed to be too, for the baby's pink mouth curved into a smile.   
  
  
After that day, Tayla was back to being a happy, contented baby who   
rarely cried. Once that happened, there was nothing that the Palace of Chloe   
residents would not do for her, especially Dirkan. Dirkan would do anything for   
the tiny, feisty baby.   
  
Except change her diapers.   
  
That task was immediately handed over to Shalila or Gracina when it   
was time to do so, and Dirkan would leave Tayla's room until the diaper changing   
was complete. Dirkan had an extraordinary sense of smell, as well as hearing,   
and he had actually keeled over from the stink the first time Shalila had tried   
to teach the old Namek how to change a diaper. After that, whenever Tayla   
needed her diaper changed, Dirkan handed her over to Shalila, Gracina, or any of   
the three nurses assigned to take care of the infant.   
  
Then six months passed, and it was Tayla's first birthday. The   
first birthday is an important one because the baby would temporarily be   
assigned her position in her clan's society as a warrior, healer, or etc. (The   
final decision concerning Tayla's role in her clan would be made between the   
ages of eight and eleven years old.) Tayla would be formally introduced to her   
entire clan in her Initiation Ceremony, which fell on her first birthday. Also,   
as a Clan of Chloe member, Tayla would be assigned two guardians and five   
personal servants, all who would make Seven Moons oaths to protect and care for   
her for the rest of her life.   
  
A Seven Moons oath, which is a vow made by all of Astoria's seven   
moons, was the most sacred oath of all. An Astorian (or anyone else who made   
such a vow) could only be released from a Seven Moons oath by any of three   
people: the one the Astorian made the vow to, the Superior Gran or Granden, or   
any Priest or Priestess. In the case of Tayla's guardians and servants, only   
Shalila could release them from their vows, or Tayla could when Tayla became of   
age.   
  
Dirkan and Gracina were given the honor of being Tayla's guardians,   
and they would remain her guardians until Tayla was married. In a male's case,   
he would have guardians until he turned twenty-one. Once Tayla was married,   
Dirkan and Gracina would become Tayla's servants and bodyguards instead.   
  
Tayla's sister, Marya, performed Tayla's Initiation Ceremony, and   
she and Shalila both heard the vows of Dirkan, Gracina, and the ten servants   
assigned to Tayla. By Earth standards, it would have been a bizarre ceremony,   
but by Astorian standards, it was perfectly normal. No one thought anything of   
Marya pricking baby Tayla's finger with a clean needle and cutting off a snip of   
Tayla's hair. Marya gently squeezed Tayla's finger so that Tayla's blue blood   
was sprinkled on a silver tray. She then cleaned Tayla's finger with antiseptic   
and put a tiny bandage on it. Tayla, cradled in Gracina's arms, was perfectly   
calm and accepting of this, almost as if she knew that her sister was doing   
something important. Marya separated and scattered the snip of Tayla's hair all   
into the blood. Marya slowly stirred the contents in the tray with a tiny   
silver stick, said a prayer to the ancestors for Tayla to have good health and   
happiness, and then asked the guardians and servants to come forward. Shalila   
also came, for she herself would be making a vow to protect and care for Tayla,   
since Tayla was now her ward.   
  
Marya told Shalila and the guardians and servants to dip their index   
fingers into the mixture of hair and blood. Then Marya told everyone to put   
their fingers in their mouths and eat the mixture, which they did. This gesture   
showed everyone at the Ceremony that the people consuming Tayla's blood and hair   
that they were fully committed to Tayla's welfare. Shalila and the others then   
washed their fingers with damp cloths, and Tayla was passed around to be kissed   
on the forehead by everyone who was swearing to care for her. When everyone had   
finished kissing Tayla, Shalila said her Seven Moons oath to protect, love, and   
care for Tayla. Then everyone else repeated his or her vows. And the formal   
ceremony was over.   
  
Then the festivities began, with dancing and music by the Laborers of Arts, the   
sect of almost every clan, which was devoted to entertaining everyone else.   
Shalila carried Tayla around, and Dirkan and Gracina followed her. They   
introduced Tayla to everyone, and Tayla received many fine presents and   
foodstuffs.   
  
Tayla would live in the Palace of Chloe, with a beautiful suite of   
rooms right next to her grandmother's. Her servants would sleep in a couple of   
the rooms in Tayla's suite. Dirkan would live nearby Tayla's suite in his own   
private suite near Shalila's. Gracina would also be living in her own rooms   
near Tayla's suite until Gracina married.


	3. Saiyans Arrive On Chloe

Chapter Three: The Saiyans Arrive On Chloe   
  
Seven years later.   
  
A small spaceship had just landed on the moon that was called Chloe, home of all of the Clan of Chloe members. The ship landed two hundred miles west of the Palace of Chloe, and three young boys stepped out of the ship, all of them proud and arrogant as any boy under sixteen could be. All of them were muscular and super-strong, even for their race. The three boys grinned evilly, as one of them turned on a scouter that was used to pick up ki levels. This young man was Raditz, the second tallest of the three strangers. He was large and bulky with long, coarse black hair that always stayed in one style, no matter what happened to it. The tallest and bulkiest young male of all was Nappa, and his fighting skills made up for his lack of brains, which often frustrated the third young man, the shortest and smartest of all. He had tall, pointy hair, and walked about as if he owned the entire universe, or at least the entire Rosetta Galaxy.   
  
Which, if he had his way soon, would happen.   
  
He and his buddies picked up their tails and shook them free of dust, and then they wrapped them around their waists. The shortest young man of all stood tall and proud and fully confident.   
  
Just as the Prince of all Saiyans should be doing.   
  
His name was Prince Vegeta, named after his powerful father, King Vegeta, who was king of planet Vegeta, which had once been Planet Plant. Vegeta, the shortest of all, was the most powerful of the three boys that had landed on Chloe and their leader. Nappa and Raditz knew better than to go against anything that their prince wanted. Vegeta's motto at that time was simple: what he wanted, he would have. He was the most arrogant and proud of all the Saiyans, except for his father. He had a gigantic superiority complex, and his greatest ambition was to be the most powerful warrior in the universe, not just the Rosetta Galaxy. He had a receding hairline already and a widow's peak, but was considered to be very handsome. (The elite-class Saiyan females were already trying to stake claims to him, and he was only eleven years old.) He could not bear to be weaker than anyone else, and was very competitive, always searching for the extra edge that would keep him on top. When he wasn't destroying the inhabitants of other planets to prepare their planets for sale, he would train constantly, sometimes as long as twenty hours a day. And he loved fighting strong opponents because he knew that he would always defeat them in the end. He was especially looking forward to this new mission that Frieza, his father's partner in the Planet Trade, had sent him and his friends (well, Vegeta didn't really consider himself to have friends) sent him on.   
  
Vegeta anticipated destroying all the people of Chloe and Astoria. Frieza and King Vegeta especially wanted this planet's people obliterated. They had warned Vegeta in advance that killing all the Astorians would be difficult if Vegeta didn't watch what he was doing because of the great powers of the Clan of Chloe. Shalila Chloe would be the greatest threat of all, Frieza had told him. The boy had laughed haughtily when Frieza told him that, much to his father's despair at his son's assumption that Shalila Chloe would be no threat. He himself had barely survived his last few encounters with Shalila himself, and knew that Shalila would be no easy target. King Vegeta was proud of his son, and believed that Vegeta could become the Legendary Super-Saiyan, but he knew that Shalila and her people were a force to be dealt with. Frieza had grinned widely, pleased with the boy's confidence (and even prouder of Vegeta's extraordinary high power level and fighting skills at his age), almost as if Vegeta was his own son.   
  
Frieza had also given Vegeta an additional task, next to destroying Astoria's inhabitants: kidnapping little Princess Tayla of Chloe and bringing her to Frieza to be one of Frieza's recruits. Frieza had heard from his few spies on Astoria about the little girl's supreme intelligence and astounding power level. Tayla was only seven years old now, but Frieza thought that if the child was properly trained, she could become one of his greatest fighters, clearing planets for sale and fending off Frieza's foes. He also realized that little Tayla's intelligence could come in handy as well, for the princess was training to become a healior and also a Scribe (a secondary role assigned to the best healers, healiors and priests or priestesses). It was hard to find a good doctor and a strategist, and Frieza thought that Tayla could be both to him, as well as a powerful fighter. Frieza had difficulty in the past finding intelligent warriors, and even though he would never admit it, he was thankful for the few he did have. All of his men were excellent fighters, but only a quarter of them could be considered truly wise.   
  
Vegeta was particularly confident about this mission when he and his comrades landed on Chloe (they were told to destroy Chloe's inhabitants first because the Clan of Chloe was the most powerful of all the Astorians). Destroying a planet's population and kidnapping a little girl would be no problem. Frieza had instructed the three Saiyan boys to bring Tayla to him alive and unharmed, and they would do so, as long as Tayla didn't give them too much trouble. Vegeta wasn't worried when both Frieza and his father warned him about Tayla's high ki level, for after all Tayla was still just a little girl who was still learning to fully control her powers. Vegeta had already fully mastered his powers; he just needed to continue to remain on top. Capturing one of the youngest Princesses of Chloe would be easy, even though her guardians and family would closely guard Tayla.   
  
Vegeta and his companions, Nappa, eighteen years old, and Raditz, sixteen years old, leaped off the ground and took off flying over Chloe. Chloe was a beautiful moon, all mountains and wilderness and a large ocean, which provided all the water for Chloe. The Astorians were great conservationists, and they didn't believe in misusing their planet's resources, so they took good care of their environment. All Astoria's waters were clean and clear, and not a piece of garbage littered their woodlands, mountains and deserts anywhere on Astoria or her moons. The three Saiyans briefly admired the moon's lovely landscapes, and Nappa said that it was almost sad that they had to destroy the inhabitants there. Vegeta told him to shut up and stop being so sentimental; Chloe was no different from the other places they had previously wasted.   
  
"Raditz, did you pick up any ki levels yet on the scouter?" Vegeta asked.   
  
Raditz smirked. "Of course I did," he told Vegeta. "I sensed a few that are particularly powerful, some as high as five thousand."   
  
"I sense other power levels now too, of those that are with that band on my scouter," Vegeta added. "Apparently that particular group is feeling relaxed enough not to repress their ki levels. We are close to them now; I can feel it."   
  
Unless the band of Astorians that were with Tayla that day were on guard, even they would not be able to detect the three dangerous young Saiyans heading towards them…   
  
***********************************************************************************************   
  
Temple of Chloe   
  
  
Tayla was traveling with some of her family members to the Temple of Chloe, Chloe's most sacred and religious place. In Tayla's party were Gracina, Lektron and their four children, along with Tayla's brothers, Bajal and Raakon, a healer, and Gorna's daughter, Lelina, who was two years older than Tayla.   
  
Tayla was now a tiny, delicate-looking child, who looked as if she could be blown away by a breeze. She was adorable with a tiny button nose, unusually large, chocolate saucer eyes framed with extremely long lashes, waist-length inky hair and clear, olive skin. She was not considered a great beauty yet, but she would eventually become one as she matured, and even those few who really did not think much of her looks had to look at her twice. She was small for her age, but she could more than hold her own in sparring with opponents almost twice her size. Most of the other Clan of Chloe children knew that her frail appearance was only a deception, for the child could almost easily fight a grown adult. She was the strongest child of her age group of any Astorian Clan, including her own. She was very strong for her age and wise beyond her years. Some had speculated on rumors that Shalila would replace Gorna with Tayla, her more favored granddaughter, as the next ruler of Astoria.   
  
She was kind, friendly and likable with a very good and soft heart. This heart was coupled with a fierce temper that thankfully only occurred when she felt that her loved ones were being threatened, insulted, or harmed. And when her temper did flare occasionally, those who knew that they were not her equal stayed out of her way until she calmed down.   
  
Everyone said that she was the grandchild most like Shalila except that she was much gentler in manner. She had Shalila's noble, pure heart, as well as her grandmother's extreme stubbornness. She did not have any of Shalila's looks except for her delicate facial features. She was a little bossy, as well, just like her grandmother, but as with Shalila, everyone tolerated the bossiness because Tayla usually meant well for those that she was ordering around. The little girl had inherited her grandmother's strong pride and mettle; she was a survivor type, definitely built to last.   
  
She worshipped her grandmother, and her trainer and guardian, Dirkan the Namek, and tried to emulate them in every way that she could. To her, their lightest wishes was law, and they were to her the parents that she had never known. She followed them about whenever she could, asking numerous questions and trying to learn their fighting techniques. Shalila and Dirkan were patient and loving with her, and they rarely ever tired of her. In their eyes, Tayla could do no wrong. And the rest of her family adored her and petted her; she was a bit spoiled, but not too much.   
  
She was liked to go almost everywhere with any of her Clan members, even to the quiet, sacred Temple of Chloe, a place that would have normally bored other children like her. But Tayla liked the peace and sanctity of the Temple, and she always behaved herself whenever she was there, although she peppered the Chloe Priests and Priestesses with unceasing questions about their Temple lives.   
  
All the Chloe Priests and Priestesses lived at the Temple, along with some Priests and Priestesses from other clans that had been chosen to serve there. Tayla's sister, Marya, was now the High Priestess there, and Marya was in charge of all the other Priests and Priestesses on Chloe. Priests and Priestesses take Seven Moons oaths not to drink alcohol, marry, or fight. They were to be a peaceful group, and were encouraged to remain neutral during disputes. They themselves were not allowed to carry weapons, shed blood in battle, or even to learn the basic Astorian fighting techniques. Whenever a Priest or Priestess left the Temple, they had to be escorted by a warrior or a healior for protection, since they could not even fight in self-defense. There was a group of warriors and healiors who lived at the temple that were specifically assigned to protect the Priests and Priestesses. Some were stationed there permanently, and some stayed there only once in a while, like Gracina and her husband, Lektron. Both had lived at the Temple to protect the Priests and Priestesses before they had married and moved back home to the Palace of Chloe to watch over Tayla.   
  
Gracina had married Lektron four years after Tayla's Initiation Ceremony, and they were a very happy couple. Gracina already had two lively little warrior boys, Riccan, and Nikon, who were four and two years old, and Gracina also had newborn twin girls named Tila and Tayka, combining both Tika and Tayla's names for the infants' names. Gracina, still as strong a healior as ever, was carrying both twin girls in a double-pouched carrying sack on her back. Lektron was carrying the sleeping Nikon on his back, and Riccan was sparring with Tayla, who, as always, beat him every time. Tayla played with Riccan, but when Riccan got too rowdy, as he often did, Tayla would normally cuff him and pin him to the ground until Riccan agreed to leave her alone. Riccan also made the mistake of touching Tayla's hair (Tayla, like most Astorian females, was particular about who touched her hair, for touching an Astorian female's hair without permission was considered as insulting as touching her breasts or bottom.) and Tayla once again pinned him to the ground until Riccan apologized to her.   
  
Gracina scolded both children: Riccan for touching Tayla's hair, and Tayla for not acting more ladylike. Gracina was proud of Tayla's intelligence and fighting ability, but thought that her favorite little sister could act more like a lady once in a while. Female warriors and healiors had the additional burden of showing ladylike behavior as well when they were not fighting.   
  
"Aw, leave them alone, love," Lektron, a tall muscular male with a golden beard and mustache, laughed. "They're just sparring! Riccan is getting a little too arrogant anyway. It won't hurt him to learn that he is not the only strong fighter around! And Tayla needs a sparring partner once in a while that is close to her own size!" Tayla was very strong, but very small for her age; she looked like she was about four or five years old instead of seven.   
  
"I suppose you're right, Lektron," Gracina sighed, "but how is Tayla supposed to learn to be ladylike fighting and sparring all the time? I'm surprised that she actually enjoys to read and study as well!"   
  
Lektron kissed his wife's hair. "She'll grow out of it, love," he told her, "just as you did. I remember a certain blond princess who used to think it great fun to throw me into a lake when we were children! And all I did was kiss you!"   
  
"The kiss was fine." Gracina was laughing now too. "But you made the mistake of touching my hair without asking. That was why you were thrown into that lake!"   
  
"You threw Lektron into a lake, Gracina?" Tayla asked. She couldn't imagine too many people, even her own powerful sister, throwing the large, muscle-bound Lektron into a lake. Riccan laughed and pointed at his father.   
  
"Ha, ha, Daddy! You didn't tell us Mommy threw you into a lake!"   
  
Tayla and nine-year-old Lelina, one of Tayla's closest friends, giggled uncontrollably.   
  
"Very funny," Lektron grumbled, but with a small grin. "Now look what you've done, love! You made me out to be a laughingstock in front of the children!"   
  
"I didn't bring it up, Lektron. You did!" Gracina crowed.   
  
"Gracina, do you think that I could throw Lektron into a lake?" Tayla asked seriously.   
  
Gracina was mildly shocked; Tayla always had a way of surprising or shocking someone, just like their grandmother because Shalila herself would often come up with shocking things to say like that---and say them!   
  
Lektron laughed louder than ever, along with Bajal. "Maybe, I'll let you try it after we leave the Temple, child!"   
  
"Works for me! Thanks!" Tayla cried happily.   
  
"And then maybe you can throw me in!" Bajal added. "It is hot today! I could go for a swim!"   
Gracina shook her head in dismay and amusement. "Must you two encourage her in things like that?"   
  
Bajal and Lektron both roared with laughter, ignoring Gracina's question. They knew that Gracina was a proper lady when she was not in combat, and they often teased her about it when they were not ignoring her concerns about Tayla's not becoming a lady anytime soon.   
Lelina shouted, "I want to see Tayla do it!" Lelina, a healior, was as ladylike as Gracina, but she enjoyed her young aunt's antics. Lelina was a younger, much prettier version of her mother, Gorna. She was Gorna's second oldest child.   
  
"I want to see it too!" Riccan yelled. "Do it now, Tayla!"   
  
"Not yet, you two!" Lektron said, "We promised to have dinner with your Aunt Marya, the High Priestess."   
  
"Aunt Marya can wait!" Riccan responded. He was like his father in almost every way, stubborn and a bit boastful.   
  
"Not now," Gracina said sternly, like a schoolteacher. "And I mean it." The three oldest children of the band did not protest further. When Gracina spoke in that tone of voice, very few opposed her, including her own husband, who was as strong as Gracina himself. Gracina and Marya had a strong bond, and she didn't want to keep Marya waiting any longer than necessary.   
Finally, they reached the long flight of one hundred steps leading up to the Temple of Chloe. It was a long, winding flight of stone stairs winding around a steep mountain that led up to the pink marble, three stories tall temple. The temple used to be the former Palace of Chloe in Shalila's great-grandfather's time before the newer, larger, more easily accessible Palace of Chloe was built. The temple's mountain was nestled in a thick wilderness surrounded by the famous purple-misted Chloe Mountain Range. The temple's mountain was itself decorated with coniferous trees very similar to Earth's pines.   
  
The children could have easily flown up to the Temple, but sometimes they thought it was more fun to run up the many stairs. They decided that today was a good day to do so. Tayla challenged Lelina and Riccan to a race up the flight of stairs, as she normally did when they came to the temple. Nikon awoke and demanded to be allowed to go to, but Riccan told his brother that he was too small to race. Nikon became angry and threw a temper tantrum while he was still on his father's back. Riccan threatened to throw him off of the mountain until Tayla offered them both chocolate sugarplums to stop fighting and for Nikon to stay behind (Tayla knew that he was not very fast, and Nikon would just slow them down). So Nikon chewed on the sugarplum while Tayla, Lelina, and Riccan raced up the flight of steps. The adults were content to just stroll quietly up the flight of stairs despite Gracina's insistence that they go faster.   
  
"I won again!" Tayla shouted triumphantly when she and her two friends reached the top of the stairs.   
  
"No fair!" Lelina shouted, for she was never as fast as Tayla was. Riccan didn't think it was fair either, but he accepted it only because Tayla was bigger (by two inches and ten pounds), stronger, and older. Lelina and Riccan were both out of breath, but only slightly, for Astorian children generally had more stamina than Earth children did. Tayla wasn't out of breath at all, and was as energetic as ever.   
  
Lelina was suddenly sad, and Tayla noticed this instantly. "What's wrong, Lelina?" she asked.   
  
"My mother will be so disappointed in me."   
  
"Why?" Tayla asked sympathetically. "If it is about me winning, she won't care. It is just a race."   
  
"It is not that, really," Lelina sighed sadly. She bribed Riccan with a chocolate sugarplum to go away for a few minutes, so that she and Tayla could talk alone. Riccan demanded two sugarplums, so Tayla gave him a second one. But when Riccan ordered a third one, Tayla threatened to throw him down the flight of steps, so Riccan finally left the two girls alone.   
  
When Riccan was out of earshot, Lelina began, "My mother is to be Superior Gran of Astoria after Great-Nama dies, you know that right?"   
  
"Of course I do," Tayla said, a bit impatiently. Everyone knew that, and Gorna didn't hesitate to remind them every chance she got.   
  
"She's always favored Rojal, and she loves him the best. I wish I knew how to get her to love me."   
  
Tayla wished she knew as well, but she couldn't even get Gorna to love her, much less get her to love her own daughter. Tayla didn't think much of Lelina's brother, Rojal. Rojal, who was twelve, was a strong boy for his age and very fast, but not very smart. Tayla thought that Gorna treated him like a baby; Gorna even selected his clothes for him every day, and would also cut up his meat for him. And Rojal was content to let his mother completely dominate him, never once insisting that she treat him with some dignity once in a while. But then, Gorna dominated all her children, especially Lelina, whom Tayla already knew was a disappointment to her mother.   
  
Rojal was also a bit snobbish and condescending towards both Tayla and Lelina. He was completely submissive to his mother, but he treated the two girls as if they were idiots. He always seemed to be talking down to both of them, and while he tolerated Lelina, he treated Tayla with the same coldness and aloofness that his mother did. This was mainly Gorna's fault, for Gorna had tried to hammer it into both Rojal and Lelina's heads that Tayla was beneath them and unworthy of their attention and consideration. She had succeeded with Rojal, but she had failed to get Lelina to see things the same way.   
  
Lelina adored Tayla and thought of her as the little sister that she had always wanted. Lelina and Tayla's close friendship bothered Gorna a good deal, but she tolerated it. Gorna was jealous of her grandmother's too obvious favoritism towards her youngest sibling, and she was also envious of Tayla's potential strength and intelligence.   
  
"He will always be stronger than me," Lelina sighed. "For my mother has decided that I can no longer train as a warrior. I can only be a healer now."   
  
"Isn't that our grandmother's decision to make?"   
  
"The Superior Gran Heiress Apparent can also make that decision too. After all, Mother is second-in-command, really. She has already decided, and I don't believe Great-Nama will oppose her on it. But maybe it is just as well; I am not a good fighter like you and Riccan are."   
  
Tayla didn't say anything at first. As much as Tayla hated to admit it, Gorna had a point, for Lelina was not that great a warrior. Lelina did not even like to kill an Astorian housefly, and her heart was gentle, even gentler than Tayla's, although Tayla was already reputed to have a tender heart too. Tayla had a very good heart, but more courage, power and stamina than Lelina had.   
  
"Don't worry about it too much," Tayla told her. "You can still be a great healer. We can never have enough healers in this galaxy." She had heard her grandmother fret about the lack of decent doctors in the Rosetta just the other day.   
  
"I guess you're right," Lelina sighed. "Well, shall we enter?" The adults had finally caught up to them.   
  
Tayla nodded. She then heard Lelina say under her breath as the family entered the Temple, "If only my mother would love me…I'd be anything she wanted me to be, just as long as she loved me. That is all that matters. She doesn't love me yet, but she will. I will do anything to make her love me…by the Seven Moons of Astoria, I will!"   
  
This puzzled Tayla. She thought that all mothers loved their children, and that a mother's love was the most unconditional love of all. That was what Nama had told her. Tayla knew that her mother had loved her dearly, even though Tayla had been only a small, helpless infant at the time.   
  
Tayla's heart grieved for Lelina and Lelina's hurting heart. At the same time, she was also furious that Gorna could not love Lelina unconditionally. This mixture of anger and grief would stir in Tayla's heart, but would not manifest itself for a long time.   
  
After a sumptuous lunch that Gracina had prepared for Marya and the others, the adults sat around quietly and talked. Nikon was still sleeping, but now he was sleeping on a giant pillow stuffed with feathers from the wild blue rexcon bird (a bird built like an ostrich with peacock-like feathers). Riccan himself had finally fallen asleep on another giant rexcon pillow. The twin girls, Tila and Tayka, were sleeping in a small crib nearby their brothers. Tayla and Lelina were watching the two sleeping baby girls, as they talked about Marya asking the ancestors for blessings. Plus, standing around the babies was a good chance for them to pick up interesting bits of adult conversation.   
  
While Marya went outside the Inner Court to say her daily prayers in private to their Astorian Clan of Chloe ancestors, the adult men decided to discuss things a bit more freely, much to Gracina's despair that Tayla and Lelina would hear things that they shouldn't. The conversation drifted to Lelina's mother. Lelina, by that time, had fallen asleep herself, but Tayla stayed awake because finally her brothers and sister were going to discuss something worth hearing.   
Raakon, one of the best healers at the time, as well as the handsomest male of the Mantros Chloe siblings, asked, "What is Nama thinking allowing Gorna to become Superior Gran Heiress Apparent? There are those more qualified to rule in Nama's stead."   
  
Lektron grumbled, "Only because Gorna is the strongest warrior of us all, next to Nama and Dirkan. But Gorna doesn't have the brains to rule like our grandmother does. And our grandmother has a good heart; Gorna doesn't have as good as one. Gorna wants to expand Astoria beyond this planet, and that includes allying ourselves with those horrid monkeys that call themselves Saiyans."   
  
"Maybe that isn't such a bad idea," Bajal argued. He was one of the few Mantros Chloe siblings that got along well with Gorna, mainly because their power levels and egos were similar. The rest just tolerated Gorna, and that was only because she was their sister, as well as the next ruler of Astoria.   
  
A visiting healer, Sakron, greatest healer from the Clan of Ruben, spoke up, "Why not let Astoria become the greatest planet in the Rosetta? Why couldn't we rule the Rosetta Galaxy as well, as long as we ruled it wisely and well? If we got other planets to ally with us, we could destroy Frieza and the Saiyans once and for all! Maybe Princess Gorna's suggestion that we make peace with the Saiyans isn't necessarily such a bad idea. If the Saiyans were our allies, then perhaps we could---"   
  
"Sakron, how dare you agree with my sister on that?" Gracina would have shouted this louder, if it weren't for the sleeping children. "The Saiyans killed my parents and my grandfather! And they killed half of my siblings! There are only ten of us left now! Seven years ago, the Saiyans killed half of my immediate family! Don't you remember that my siblings, Ralia, Tracina, Dejal, Bytron, Corpros, Leron, Makal, Necron, Fejal, and Nieca perished that day! And I was unable to save them! And Dirkan told me himself how poor Mother and little Nieca died! To Hades with Saiyans! Nama is right to refuse to make peace or to ally with them!" Gracina burst into tears and began to cry. Tayla immediately ran over to comfort her favorite sister and hugged her from behind. The little girl began to chew out Sakron for upsetting her sister.   
  
"Why'd you make her cry, Sakron?" Tayla demanded angrily. "Saiyans are nothing but monkeys! Nama says so, and Nama is always right! We don't want anything to do with horrible, nasty Saiyans! The only good Saiyan is a dead one, for that's what Dirkan and Grandmother always say! Dirkan is teaching me how to fight against them, and you want to ally with them?" Sakron quickly fled the room from Tayla's ire.   
  
The adults, including Gracina, were surprised by the child's outburst. Then Lektron chuckled softly, as he went over to calm his wife down. He held Gracina close to him, and smoothed her hair. "I see our Superior Gran has the girl well-trained! She must hear her and that old Namek, Dirkan, constantly belittle those monkeys!"   
  
"Dirkan isn't old! He'll never be old!" Tayla shouted indignantly, now going off in a new direction. Dirkan was Tayla's idol, and Tayla worshipped the dirt that the Namek tread in. Most of the time, she followed Dirkan everywhere when she wasn't with her family. He was Tayla's main teacher in the martial and fighting arts. Dirkan was everything to Tayla: teacher, uncle, friend, father, counselor, and potential husband, for Tayla already had a huge crush on the Namek. Tayla's siblings already knew that last part, and they began to tease their baby sister about it, forgetting temporarily about Gorna and the Saiyans.   
  
"Lektron," Bajal purred, "You shouldn't call Tayla's future husband old! After all, Dirkan may be a hundred and twenty years old, but he can still fight harder and move faster than you can!"   
  
"True. But he can also move faster and fight harder than you as well, Bajal!" Lektron threw Bajal's remark right back at him. Bajal grumbled under his breath, for it wasn't easy for Bajal to admit that there were warriors on Astoria stronger than him, like Dirkan, and Dirkan wasn't even an Astorian.   
  
"But you know that I'm right, Lektron!" Bajal crowed. "You can't put down the father of Tayla's future children!"   
  
"Bajal!" Gracina gasped, shocked. "You mustn't say things like that! Besides, you know that Dirkan can't have children!"   
  
"Oh yeah, that's right! I forget that Dirkan can't-"   
  
"Reproduce the same way we can," Gracina interrupted. "Nameks can only create children by spitting eggs out of their mouths, and from what I have heard, Dirkan can no longer do even that, thanks to a virus!"   
  
"It's a pity that there are no such things as female Nameks," Lektron said. "I don't see how Dirkan can go for a hundred and twenty years without getting himself any loving!"   
  
"Lektron!" Gracina punched her husband in his right arm. "Not in front of Tayla!"   
  
"What does Lektron mean by Dirkan going that long without getting himself any loving?" Tayla wanted to know.   
  
"Loving, little sister?" Bajal asked. "You know, the kind of loving that produces babies!"   
  
"No, I don't know," Tayla said seriously. "Tell me!"   
  
"Tell you what, sis?"   
  
"How that kind of loving produces babies? Speaking of which, how are babies produced?"   
  
Gracina nearly fainted. She didn't think Tayla would ask that question so soon, even though   
  
Tayla had always been a precocious child. Tayla, blissfully unaware of her sister's shock, continued:   
  
"And how come Dirkan can't get loving with someone other than a Namek?"   
  
Gracina paled. She knew that Tayla had no idea what she was really asking, or what Lektron really meant by "loving". She was trying to think of a way to answer Tayla's questions without giving too much information. Unfortunately, her brothers and husband were not as discreet around Tayla as she was.   
  
"Well Dirkan could," Bajal began, "if he wanted to. After all, he's been seen around our grandmother's bedchamber quite a lot lately! And our grandmother's still a nice-looking lady! Dirkan isn't built that much differently below the belt than Astorian men are, so I'm sure he keeps our grandmother well satisfied!"   
  
"Bajal!" Gracina cried in horror. "That is our grandmother, the Superior Gran, that you speak of so crudely! Have some respect! And Nama certainly would not stoop to have a casual affair, especially with someone of another species!"   
  
"Calm down, sweetheart," Lektron told her. "If your grandmother wants to have a new love, why can't she?"   
  
"It would be fine…except that well, this love could become our next Superior Granden…"   
  
"And Dirkan would not make a good Superior Granden?"   
  
"He'd make a fine Superior Granden," Gracina replied, "but many of our people would not approve, particularly Gorna. You know our people: they'd expect our new Superior Granden to be from the Clan of Chloe."   
  
"Since when do you care what Gorna thinks?" Raakon asked. "Her opinion has never concerned you too much before."   
  
"I don't really, except that Gorna is to be the next Superior Gran…"   
  
"Until then, she has no real power except for what Nama gives her," Lektron assured her.   
  
"True, but if what they are saying about Nama and Dirkan are true, shouldn't they do the right thing and marry or break up?" Gracina asked.   
  
"What are they saying about Nama and Dirkan?" Tayla asked. "If they are saying something bad, I'll make them shut up real quick! Just let me go get my sword!" Tayla ran outside the Inner Court building to retrieve it, for no weapons were allowed inside the Inner Court.   
  
"Tayla Chloe, you come back here!" Gracina ordered, but Tayla was already gone. And Bajal then told everyone to be quiet, for he could feel some repressed ki levels, but he couldn't make out what was causing them.   
  
The ki levels were not Astorian, for that much they knew. Then Gracina grew pale, for she was able to sense different ki levels or "ki signatures" as the Astorians call them.   
  
"Saiyans!" she screamed.   
  
"Tayla! Marya!" Bajal cried. "We've got to get them out of here!"


	4. Tayla's First Battle

Chapter Four: Tayla's First Battle  
  
Outside the Inner Court, Tayla had just retrieved the tiny sword that Shalila had given her. Tayla could handle a larger weapon, but a large sword would have been too much right now for her tiny body to carry around.  
  
Just as she was putting her sword (a small steel blade with a gold handle) in its sheath on her back, Tayla's heart stopped. She was just learning to sense other people's ki levels, but she could sense these strange repressed ones. The little girl could not tell whom or what was causing them, but she knew in her heart that the unfamiliar presences were evil. The child cautiously approached the other side of the Temple, repressed her ki level (which is not the same as concealing it) and heard a terrified scream.  
  
Marya!  
  
Tayla forgot her caution, and raced to where Marya had screamed. She ran so fast that she didn't watch where she was going, and she ran smack into a large, muscular boy with a monkey-like tail, the tallest one of the three boys there. This giant boy was holding Marya up in the air by her neck (he was taller than Marya), but he turned around abruptly when he saw who had bumped into him.  
  
"Watch it, brat!" the big boy ordered her.  
  
"You let my sister go!" Tayla shouted at him. "Or you'll taste my blade!" she continued, using a favorite battle cry of Dirkan's.  
  
The large boy and his two companions laughed at the little girl's command. Then the shortest boy strode towards her and grinned evilly. Tayla then noticed the boys' tails, and for the first time, she realized that these young men were...Saiyans!  
  
Tayla gasped in horror, but she bravely tried to hide her fear from these boys. Dirkan had always told her never to let her enemies know that she was afraid of them. The moment your enemy sees your fear, your chances for victory become reduced. Never let them see your fear. Tayla heard Dirkan's voice reverberate through her brain.  
  
"You leave here right now, you no-good monkeys!" she commanded them.  
  
All three boys laughed at her again, even though the name "monkey" would have normally angered them. They didn't recognize the child at first, so they considered her to be no real threat. Marya grew pale, for she was about to faint. She was not allowed to fight because of her vows, so she silently prayed that Tayla could either drive them away, or go for help. She could barely breathe because of the large boy's hand around her throat...what was his name again...Nappa?  
  
The shortest boy's name was Vegeta. He had already told Marya that he was the Prince of the Saiyans, and that he and his comrades had come to destroy Chloe and Astoria and take Princess Tayla with them. He and his partners did not know yet that Marya was Tayla's sister, and Marya did not tell them, for she feared for Tayla's safety. Marya also knew that the three boys would try to torture her to get her to reveal Tayla's location. After all, Saiyans had no mercy for anyone.  
  
Please, Tayla, get out of here! Marya thought silently. Don't let these boys know who you really are. You are one of the last hopes for Astoria!  
  
But Marya also knew that Tayla would not run away, even if she pleaded with the child to. Tayla was loyal and tenacious, and she would not let anyone hurt someone that she loved. The child was not very familiar with fear. Like most young Clan of Chloe children training to fight, Tayla thought that she was invincible.   
  
My little sister still has much to learn. Please, Tayla, run away!  
  
But Marya knew that Tayla would not run. Tayla had no idea yet what or whom she was facing.  
  
"Let my sister go! Now!" Tayla ordered the boys again, as she drew her sword as a warning. The boys laughed once again, and Vegeta told the little girl:  
  
"You better go home to your mother! This battle isn't for babies!"  
  
Tayla bristled at being called a baby, but she told Vegeta loftily, "Thanks to you, monkeys, I don't have a mother! You Saiyans killed my parents when I was just a baby! I know what you all did! Seven years ago, when I was on the ship, Korin, your people killed many of my people, including my parents and my grandfather!"  
  
"Boo-hoo-hoo!" Nappa hooted, still holding Marya by her throat. "What do you want us to do, brat? Give you back your family?"  
  
"That would be nice," Tayla replied sarcastically.  
  
"Go home, brat!" Vegeta ordered her. "Before I blast you into the next dimension!"  
  
"Oh, I'm so afraid!" Tayla kept her sarcastic tone of voice. "And I'm not leaving without my sister!" she added. "I'll leave when you release her!"  
  
"Well, what if we don't want to release her?" Raditz asked the little princess smoothly. "What if we like her and want to keep her?" He squeezed Marya's breast, and picked up a lock of Marya's hair and kissed it. Tayla cursed under her breath in Astorian (with words that would have shocked the proper Gracina), and drew up to her full height of three feet and eleven inches. She was angry and ready to fight Raditz.  
  
"She's too old for my taste!" Nappa told Raditz. "You can have her!" He threw Marya into Raditz's arms.  
  
"You're going to pay for that!" Tayla screamed at Raditz. She then ran at him with her sword drawn, but again she forgot her caution, and Vegeta caught the child and threw her to the ground. Tayla fell face down, and her sword nearly left her hand, but she held on to it. Unfortunately, Tayla had hit her head on a stone when she fell, so she was knocked unconscious.  
  
"Aw, Vegeta, I'm disappointed," Raditz moaned. "I was looking forward to dealing with the brat myself."  
  
"Please, Raditz, why would you want to waste your time with a mere child?" Vegeta asked. "The only brat we are interested in on this planet is Princess Tayla." Vegeta turned to Marya, still in Raditz's arms. "Now, woman, I'm only going to ask this question once: where is Princess Tayla?"  
  
"Princess Tayla who?" Marya asked. "Why would you ask me? I am just a Priestess. I live here at the Temple."  
  
"The Temple of Chloe, so you are obviously Clan of Chloe," Vegeta told her. "That means that you are also a Princess of Chloe, like the little Tayla. You have to be related to Tayla. Where is she?"  
  
"Why would I know?" Marya asked as calmly as possible, although she was trembling terribly. "Priestesses do not raise children. What do you want with the child anyway?"  
  
Vegeta smirked. "We are taking her away to work for us-or rather Lord Frieza. He thinks the child has great potential. It will be a pity that she will be the last living Astorian around after we demolish every living thing on Astoria, but it can't be helped."  
  
"Why must you Saiyans continue to terrorize us?" Marya asked, trying to reason with the boys. "Why can't you just be content to be one of the most powerful races in the Rosetta Galaxy? We Astorians just want to live in peace, but you force us to fight you back, otherwise we would all perish. Why must you work for a monster like Frieza? You three are just boys; you should be enjoying your youth instead of destroying other races to take their planets to sell to others. Why must this feud between our planets continue?" Marya was near tears by then, for she already knew that none of her words were reaching the young men.   
  
The boys looked at Marya, as if she was insane, but Vegeta quickly recovered and responded:  
  
"First of all, we are not content to be just one of the most powerful races in the Galaxy; we want to be the most powerful race in the Galaxy, and the entire universe! And even if we held no particular grudge against your people, which we do, because Shalila Chloe had banished our people from this planet, we would destroy your people anyway! We enjoy fighting and conquering other planets, and Astoria will be no exception to that!" He grinned again and stared down at Marya, even though he knew that Marya was taller than him. Marya instinctively cowered beneath Vegeta's intense stare, even though she knew that Vegeta was only a boy. How can a boy be so evil?   
  
"Now," Vegeta continued, "I will ask you this one last time: where is Tayla Chloe? If you don't tell me, you will be my first victim."  
  
Marya only shook her head in fear. "You are asking the wrong person. I cannot help you there."  
  
"Then say good-bye!" Vegeta walked up to Marya and put his hand on her chest. He intended to send a fatal blast thorough the woman's heart, but he got an unexpected surprise, for someone had jumped onto his back and held her sword to his throat. Vegeta had been too absorbed with Marya to pay attention to the unexpected presence.  
  
"Take your hand off my sister." The voice was low and even. "Or I'll cut your throat."  
  
Vegeta slowly moved his hand away from Marya's chest. He then growled at Raditz, "Why in the universe didn't you tell me that this brat was behind me?"  
  
Raditz stammered, "She came so fast, that I had no time to warn you!"  
  
"I ought to blast you into the next dimension," Vegeta growled at Raditz, "for not telling me that the child woke up!" He then said to Tayla in a threatening tone of voice, "Get off of my back now, brat, or I will kill your sister for real! Your blade means nothing to me, for I can kill your sister faster than you can cut my throat. Nappa, grab this whelp!"  
  
Nappa immediately snatched Tayla off of Vegeta's back before Tayla had time to react. He also seized Tayla's little sword and threw it in some nearby bushes. He held the child tightly in his grip, but he released the child in pain when Tayla electrocuted him by touching him with a finger. Nappa howled, and his howls alerted the rest of the Temple's inmates to their location. Tayla's siblings were already on their way.  
  
Nappa made another grab for Tayla, but Tayla was too quick, and Nappa fell face down onto the stone ground when Tayla jumped out of his way. Tayla laughed at Nappa and mocked him.  
  
"I guess monkeys can talk faster than they can move!" she cried happily. But her happy smile faded and turned into a scowl, as she looked at Raditz angrily. "Release my sister now! Unless you want to end up like your friend!"  
  
Raditz was about to respond, but he didn't get a chance to because Vegeta moved quickly and leaped upon Tayla and grabbed her by her wrists. Tayla struggled in vain, but it was no use, for an Astorian cannot electrocute someone if he or she is held tightly by both of the wrists. Raditz was a bit smarter than Nappa, for he held Marya by her wrists, so that Marya could not electrocute him. And now Vegeta had succeeded in capturing Tayla by seizing her wrists.  
  
"Now, brat, we'll see who can talk faster than they can move!" Vegeta said to Tayla. Vegeta was short, but his hands were large. He then transferred Tayla's other wrist to his other hand, and his left hand then held both of Tayla's small wrists. Vegeta now had one hand free, and he used that hand to seize Tayla's neck while he dangled her off the ground.  
  
"Okay, brat," he told her triumphantly, "since your sister won't tell us where Princess Tayla is, perhaps you will. The princess is probably one of your playmates. Where is she?"  
  
Tayla was smart enough not to reveal her true identity to Vegeta. "Why would I know?"  
  
"Do you want to die, brat?" Vegeta asked her. "Don't think that I'm going to be nice to you because you're a little girl. I have no qualms about killing children. I've done it before."  
  
"Even if you're still a child yourself?" Tayla asked him. This surprising question threw Vegeta off guard. For the first time in a long time, Vegeta remembered that he was still only eleven years old. He had brief memories of being just a child and playing with toys instead of people's lives. That phase of his life didn't last for long, for Vegeta had only been five years old the first time he had been sent to destroy a planet. After that time, Vegeta had lost what innocence he had. Most Saiyan children were sent to destroy people when they were babies, but King Vegeta and Queen Muriella, Vegeta's mother, had kept their royal, spoiled son with them for various reasons.  
  
"You shouldn't be killing children. Or anyone else," Tayla told him angrily. "Who do you think you are? You're just a boy! And I'm just a little girl! Why don't you and your friends go home and leave us alone?"  
  
Vegeta was still speechless, as he was trying to recover from the shock that Tayla's first question had given him. But Raditz wasn't in shock. He started to mock Tayla, "Yeah, Vegeta, we should just go home! We should leave Chloe and go home and play with our teddy bears! We shouldn't destroy the people of Astoria! No, for now on, Prince Vegeta, we should be good little boys and play hopscotch and ride hover bikes instead of conquering planets! Or better yet, we can take up Saiyan ballet!" Raditz roared with laughter, as he continued to hold Marya by her wrists. Nappa and Vegeta joined in the laughter, and Vegeta recovered from his shock.  
  
"Nice try, brat," Vegeta told Tayla, "but we aren't going anywhere until every living thing on this planet is destroyed. Starting with you and your sister. I think we will just destroy you two first, since we can't get any information out of the two of you. But before you die, I'll give you something to remember me by." With that said, Vegeta grabbed Tayla's long waist-length, silky black hair and pulled her face to his. He then kissed her hard on the lips. Nappa and Raditz howled with laughter. Marya was horrified.  
  
Tayla responded to her first kiss by kicking Vegeta hard in his crotch. Vegeta cried out in pain, and Tayla's assault forced him to release her. The tiny princess grabbed Vegeta's wrist and electrocuted him. Her electric blast nearly threw Vegeta off of the mountain, but Vegeta grabbed a wall just in time. He leaped on the wall with very little damage done to his short, buff body. He was furious now, and he would show no more mercy to anyone!   
  
Vegeta prepared himself to do a Final Flash on the little girl, but Tayla jumped at him from the stone ground before he had the chance. She grabbed him by his ankles and knocked him off the wall outside the Temple, and the two started wrestling and pummeling each other. Vegeta grabbed Tayla's hair, but Tayla kicked him repeatedly, forcing Vegeta to let go of her hair. The two finally jumped off the ground, flew into the air and used some of their best martial arts skills on each other. Vegeta flew higher into the air and launched a Final Flash on the child, but Tayla reflected that back onto him with her first ever Mirror Shield attack used in a real battle, blasting Vegeta off the mountain and into a nearby ocean.  
  
Tayla thought that she had driven Vegeta away for good and decided to forget about him for right now. She then quickly landed back onto the Temple grounds, ready to face Nappa and Raditz, whom Tayla had already realized to be weaker than their prince.  
  
"Guess your Prince of all Saiyans was the Prince of all Fools!" Tayla cried out, as she found her sword and prepared to face the remaining Saiyans. She scrubbed her lips with the back of her tiny hand, trying to scrub away any reminders of Vegeta's kiss.  
  
Tayla wasn't alone when she returned to face her enemies, for her siblings and brother-in-law had finally arrived. But they were paralyzed in their tracks, for Raditz had threatened to kill Marya should any of them attack.  
  
"Let Marya go, you savage monkeys!" Bajal roared, after he recovered from Raditz's threat. "Why not fight a warrior instead of terrorizing a helpless Priestess? I'll take the bald one first." Bajal meant Nappa. "Lektron, you can have the hairy one," Bajal added, meaning Raditz.  
  
"With pleasure," Lektron said. He then told Raditz, "Release her now, and come see what a true Astorian warrior is like!"  
  
"Gracina, help me with Bald Boy here," Bajal ordered. "He is stupid, but he is the stronger of the two."  
  
"Stupid, am I?" Nappa roared angrily. "I'll show you stupid!"  
  
Marya interrupted everyone quickly. "Please, don't shed blood on the Temple grounds. The ancestors will not approve! Let us take all of this outside!"  
  
Raditz grinned. "May as well go along with the woman's request. There isn't enough room up here for all of us to fight anyway."  
  
"Release our sister before you leave!" Gracina ordered.  
  
"I don't think so," Raditz told her. "We do need some collateral."  
  
"Do as she says, hairy monkey!" Tayla screamed. "Or I'll do to you what I did to your prince!"  
  
"Ooh, I'm so afraid," Raditz mocked her again. "And don't think that you defeated our Prince! One stupid Mirror Shield isn't going to dispose of him so quickly! He'll be back in no time to finish you off, you little wench!"  
  
"I'm looking forward to it," Tayla said arrogantly, as arrogantly as Bajal, who was the haughtiest of all of Tayla's surviving siblings, next to Gorna. "He can come back anytime!"  
  
Bajal and Lektron chuckled softly at Tayla's assertiveness, but Gracina and Marya were concerned, especially Marya. Marya was certain that once Vegeta had returned, he would take his full anger out on her tiny sister. Tayla still had no idea of what these Saiyans were truly like.  
  
Bajal continued to roar with laughter. "She takes after her big brother!" he said proudly. Gracina groaned loudly, for in the past, Bajal's enormous ego had put them in more danger than reasonably necessary. The second Bajal was exactly as conceited at times as the first Bajal, his grandfather and the deceased Superior Granden, had been.  
  
Bajal added, with more laughter, "That's our little Tay-"  
  
"Bajal, no!" Marya screamed, but it was too late.  
  
"---la Chloe!"  
  
Raditz and Nappa heard that right away. "Is she the Tayla Chloe, Shalila Chloe's granddaughter?" Raditz asked.  
  
For the first time since she had discovered the Saiyans, Tayla was seized with terror. What had Bajal been thinking by revealing her identity? Gracina kicked her brother in the shin for his stupidity. Marya fainted in Raditz's arms.  
  
"Of course she is! She's Shalila Chloe all over again, you savage monkeys!" Bajal shouted proudly, unaware now that he just put his baby sister in further peril. Unfortunately, most of the time, Bajal's brawn greatly outmatched his brains, and what a time for him to allow it to happen again! Gracina had to restrain herself from using her sword's blade to knock some sense into her oldest brother's head.  
  
Tayla was paralyzed with fear. As long as the Saiyans had not known who she really was, she had been confident. But she knew that these horrible boys wanted to take her away from her family and home. Gracina quickly ran to little Tayla, picked her up, and held her close to her bosom, cuddling her. "Do not fear, little sister, we will not let them take you away. Be brave, little one."  
  
"I'm not afraid of a few monkeys," Tayla told her bravely, but with much less conviction in her voice. "I'll be okay."  
  
"So the brat I've been sparring with is Princess Tayla! I can see now why Frieza wants her!"  
  
Everyone quickly looked up into the sky where Vegeta was now standing on air, grinning evilly as usual. Vegeta laughed triumphantly because now he knew whom the little girl truly was. "Goody! Looks like this is our lucky day, boys! We've found our princess much sooner than we thought!"  
  
Raditz and Nappa matched their grins with Vegeta's. "Okay, we'll tell you punks what," Raditz said, addressing Bajal specifically and looking right at him. "How about a trade? We'll exchange princesses! Give us Tayla, and we'll give you this woman, and we might even spare all of you!"  
  
Bajal roared angrily, "Over my dead royal body! Release Marya now and leave!" He raised his sword in the air.  
  
"It will be over that woman's dead royal body, if you don't give us who we want!" Vegeta told Bajal, indicating Marya. "She is just a child; she can't be that important to your family. Surrender Tayla to us now, or all of you will perish, starting with the priestess!"  
  
Tayla started to tremble. Her body was nestled close to Gracina's for protection, and Gracina was still holding her up. Gracina loved Tayla, as if she was her own child. Tayla was still managing to hide her fear. She was still brave, but after all, she was just a little girl, seven years old and small for her age. She had no experience in battle yet, unlike her siblings and brother-in-law. Tayla did not want to go with the Saiyan boys, even if it meant saving Marya. She had heard all the horror stories of the evil deeds of Frieza and the Saiyans. Tayla bit her lip hard. She knew that she would have to fight the Saiyans one day, but she had not expected that day to come so soon. Astorian children were normally not allowed to fight in battles until they were about twelve or thirteen years old. Tayla's breathing was heavy, and she was fighting back tears.  
  
"Blond woman," Vegeta told Gracina, who was still holding Tayla in her arms, "give us the girl now!"  
  
Gracina feared for Marya's life, but deep down she knew that the boys would not kill her sister right away. She refused to surrender Tayla to these savage boys. "You'll have to fight me first to get to her," she told Vegeta angrily.  
  
"And Lektron and I as well," Bajal added confidently. He then told Vegeta, "There are three of us and three of you. We are evenly matched. I'll forget about Bald Boy for right now, for I can sense that you are more powerful than him. Let's you and me fight first! I'll be glad to pound and blast you into rubbish, you Saiyan brat!"  
  
Vegeta laughed loudly at Bajal's assertion. "Very well then; you seem like you'd be quite a challenge! And I love challenges! Let's go! Raditz, spare the woman for right now, for we'll still need her for insurance! Alright, punk, let's get it on!"  
  
"Gladly," Bajal purred. "And when I turn you into a corpse, your buddies here will release my sister and leave this planet!"  
  
"Yeah, whatever. I don't care," Vegeta told Bajal.  
  
Bajal jumped off of the ground and flew into the air to meet Vegeta. They both grinned widely at each other. Then they leaped onto each other like rabid dogs, punching and kicking. They didn't resort to ki blasts right away, for there was no need to just yet. Vegeta slammed his fist into Bajal's chest while Bajal kicked the prince hard in his stomach. Bajal kicked Vegeta there again and pushed back the boy in order to get behind him to hit him in his back.   
Tayla and the others never took their eyes off of the fight for a second, and Tayla remembered an old Astorian rhyme about fighting Saiyans:  
  
Grab a Saiyan by his tail,  
And then he'll scream and cry and wail!  
  
Tayla watched as Bajal did just that. Vegeta howled with pain and agony, as Bajal laughed at the boy's anguish. Vegeta cursed Bajal in his native Saiyan language, and Tayla regained her courage after seeing Bajal take on the strongest Saiyan. She concealed her ki, jumped down from Gracina's arms and ran out of the Temple grounds.  
  
"Tayla!" Gracina screamed in fear. "Come back!"  
  
"No, let her go, love!" Lektron told her. "It is her that they are after, and it is best that she not be around. Let us worry for now about these monkeys!"  
  
But Tayla was not actually running away from the battle; she had just concocted a plan to save Marya. Tayla ran to hide behind the Temple's stone walls surrounding the Temple, and it was then she remembered a hole that was in it. This hole in the wall was directly behind Raditz's back, and it was too small for an adult to crawl through, but not too small for a tiny girl like Tayla. Raditz and Nappa could not detect Tayla anywhere now because Tayla had hidden her ki. Tayla crawled through the hole in the Temple wall on all fours and continued until she reached Raditz. Raditz and Nappa were busy watching Bajal squeeze their prince's tail. Raditz's tail swished about in the air, tempting Tayla to grab it. Like a sneaky, playful kitten that had found a nice piece of string to toy with, Tayla quickly grabbed Raditz's tail and squeezed it hard like only a small child could. Raditz screamed in pain, and in his agony, dropped his captive. Marya revived quickly when she was dropped to the stone ground and arose. She ran away to her sister and brother-in-law. Marya was gasping for air after her terror, and Gracina embraced her and tried to calm her down. Lektron laughed and pointed at Raditz, who was crying in terror during Tayla's tail squeezing.  
  
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Lektron crowed, using one of Shalila's favorite Earth expressions. "Ha, ha, monkey, our tiny princess has you beat!"  
  
"Nappa!" Raditz yelled. "Help me!" Tayla was now squeezing Raditz's tail harder than ever.  
  
"Gladly." Nappa ran towards Tayla and Raditz. He leaped at Tayla, but the small girl released Raditz's tail and jumped away from Raditz just in time. Nappa landed on top of Raditz and totally missed Tayla, who quickly ran away from the two evil boys. Nappa nearly crushed Raditz with his huge muscular body.  
  
"Stupid fool!" Raditz roared at Nappa. "Get off of me! Now you let the brat escape!"  
  
"Shut up!" Nappa growled back. "I'll deal with the brat myself!" He jumped up off of Raditz and flew into the air. He saw tiny Tayla run back to her sisters and brother-in-law and dove towards her. Tayla leaped out of his way just in time, and Lektron jumped in this fight and interfered. He placed himself right in Nappa's path. "Okay, Bald Boy, you like to pick on little girls, now deal with a man for a change!" Lektron drew his sword and shouted at Gracina, "Get Marya inside and then come back!" Gracina and Marya left right away. Little Tayla drew her sword and joined Lektron to fight Nappa. In her concern for Marya (who was now crying), Gracina forgot about Tayla, something that she rarely did.  
  
Meanwhile, Vegeta, in his pain and suffering, finally decided to use a Final Flash attack on Bajal. Vegeta turned around and punched Bajal in his face hard, forcing Bajal to release Vegeta's tail. Then he launched a Final Flash before Bajal could respond. The near-fatal attack blasted Bajal right out of the skies. Bajal plunged to the ground rapidly, and crashed into the hard ground like a meteor.  
  
"Bajal!" Lektron screamed. 


	5. Raakon's Involvement

Chapter Five: Raakon's Involvement   
  
"Bajal!" Raakon shouted in terror. His usually pale face became even paler.  
  
"Uncle Bajal!" Riccan cried.  
  
In the Inner Courtroom, Raakon, Riccan, and Nikon had been watching the battle from the windows of the room while Lelina tried to calm down Gracina's crying baby twin girls. Riccan wanted to join the battle, but Raakon grabbed the boy and made him stay inside. Lektron and Gracina had specifically ordered that Riccan not be allowed to fight, for Riccan was only four years of age and had not learned to control his powers fully. Riccan threw a temper tantrum at his uncle.  
  
"Tayla gets to fight, and I'm just as good as she is! How come she gets to fight the monkeys and I don't?" Riccan pounded on Raakon's chest, but Raakon held onto his nephew firmly. Raakon was strong enough to be a fighter, and he had once trained to be a healior like Gracina and Tayla, but he was traumatized so badly after his first battle that Shalila had allowed him to become just a healer. Raakon, who had been only seventeen at the time, was horrified by the lives he had taken; he had learned during that battle just how much he hated killing anything. Raakon nearly went insane fourteen years ago after the battle between the Saiyans and Astorians that had happened on Chloe. Shalila pitied her grandson, and did not hold Raakon's distaste and horror of bloodshed against him, for she was wise enough to know that not everyone was meant to be a warrior or a healior. Raakon's conscience would have never allowed him to live in peace if he had been forced to take any more lives, good or bad. So Raakon had been living in peace since then with his wife, Natala, also a healer. He had become one of Astoria's best healers, and he and Gracina were both training Tayla in her healer studies. Raakon was pleased with Tayla's rapid progress with her studies. Raakon was also of the minority of Clan of Chloe members to have a spouse who was not from his own clan. Natala was from the Clan of Cornsilk (which lived on the moon called Cornsilk) and the best healer of her clan. Raakon and Natala were very happy together, and they had two children, an eleven-year-old son named Kekron, a young Technician and an eight-year old daughter named Arlina, a future Priestess who would take her vows when she turned fourteen. Arlina lived at the Temple most of the time, and when she lived there, she trained under her aunt Marya in the ways of the priesthood. Raakon had come to the Temple mainly to visit his daughter, and she was with her father now.  
  
"Daddy, will everything be okay?" Arlina asked anxiously, holding baby Tayka. She had just joined her father, and she shared her father's distaste and horror of war and bloodshed. Her heart was gentle. She had been helping Lelina to calm and soothe Tila and Tayka down. She, Lelina, and Tayla were also good friends.   
  
Raakon did not know how to answer his daughter's question. He had seen Bajal fall from the air, and although Raakon knew that his favorite brother had not died, Bajal was now badly injured. Raakon did not want to worry Arlina or the other children. He was very worried now himself, for Bajal had been the strongest warrior among their particular group, and everyone had been counting on him to wipe out the Saiyans. Raakon only heard some of the conversation between his people and the Saiyans, but he had learned the two most important things: that the Saiyans were planning to wipe out Chloe and Astoria, and that they were planning to take Tayla prisoner. Raakon began to breathe heavily, and Arlina placed her small hand on her father's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. Riccan broke free from his uncle's grip, so that he could go fight the Saiyans. Raakon tried to catch him in a half-hearted attempt, but failed to. Nikon began to cry loudly, and his wailing voice mingled with his baby sisters' voices. Lelina paced the floor nervously with baby Tila in her arms, singing to her and trying to calm her.  
  
Gracina and Marya entered the room then. Riccan and Nikon raced to greet their mother, with Riccan demanding that he be allowed to fight the Saiyans. Gracina sharply told him no, and she ordered the boys to stay with their Aunt Marya and Uncle Raakon. Riccan did so sulkily, but Nikon clung to his mother as she started to leave and begged her to stay with him. Gracina gently told him that she couldn't, for she had to battle the Saiyans. She promptly placed him in the still trembling Marya's arms, and told him and Riccan to be good boys, that Mommy would be back soon (she hoped).  
  
"I'm coming with you," Raakon told her. "I can get Tayla out of there and take her somewhere safe. Plus, I need to find Bajal."  
  
Gracina asked him, "Are you sure you want to get involved in this mess? I know that you gave up warring forever."  
  
Raakon trembled and hesitated before he spoke. "Yes, I did say that, and I will try not to battle unless I absolutely have to. But Lektron is fighting those horrible boys alone, with only little Tayla to help now. I will get Tayla out of there, and we will go and find Bajal before that horrible little Saiyan brat kills him. I haven't completely forgotten my fighting skills."  
  
Gracina gasped for air, for she had now sensed Bajal's defeat. "You be careful, for both of your sakes." She was secretly glad that Raakon was going to help them, even though Raakon was not violent by nature. Gracina knew that Bajal and Lektron, a close friend of Raakon's, had tried to encourage Raakon to go back to being a warrior as well as a healer, but Raakon had steadfastly refused to do so. Raakon truly believed that it was not right to take lives, no matter if the lives involved had been good or evil.  
  
He would have made a good Priest, Gracina thought. It is a pity that they don't allow those who have engaged in war to become a priest or a priestess. But Raakon would have had to take a vow of celibacy and never marry, and he would not have gone for that, especially after meeting his Natala. Raakon had been a good fighter before that horrible battle with the Saiyans on the moon of Chloe.  
  
Gracina closed her eyes for a few minutes and unconsciously herself to be distracted from their peril by remembering the past...  
  
She, who now was twenty-three years old, had been nine years old the last time the Saiyans and other of Frieza's minions had invaded Chloe. She had still been in training at the time, and she had been considered too young to fight in that battle. She had been kept at the Palace of Chloe with her mother and the other non-fighting siblings. Gracina remembered seeing Raakon, one of her favorite brothers, being so proud and excited about fighting the Saiyans and Frieza's men for the first time. Gracina wished then that she could have gone and joined him, to fight by his side. She looked up to him and at times wished that he wasn't her brother, so that she could grow up and marry him. Gracina had harbored a minor crush on her brother, and she had to remind herself at times that she could never have him for a husband. Raakon had been so newly handsome then, so fresh-faced and innocent and eager to engage in his first battle. Raakon had been, and still was, slight in build, yet surprisingly muscular. He had their mother's beautiful, large clear blue eyes. He had been trained all his life as a fighter, yet his soul and face was gentle. Raakon could never succeed in looking fierce, even when he tried.   
  
His siblings and cousins had referred to him as a jenteel warrien, which was Astorian for "gentle warrior", even though he had yet to fight his first battle. (They also referred that name to Gracina, as well, and much later, they would also give Tayla that name.) A jenteel warrien was someone who was naturally gentle of heart, but fierce in combat when necessary.   
  
Raakon and Gracina's older brothers, Bajal (twenty at the time) and Cletos (eighteen at the time) were proud of their younger brother and were eager to see him show his stuff. Their first cousins, Etros (twenty-two at the time) and Lektron (nineteen at the time) were also fighting this battle. Lektron had also been looking forward to seeing his old friend, Raakon, engage in his first battle. Gorna (twenty-three at the time and already married to Etros) thought that Raakon would bungle things up even though the lad had great promise as a fighter. (Gorna did not think much of jenteel warriens; she thought that they were weaker fighters, and she only had respect for fighters as fearless and ruthless as herself.) She also had thought the same of their younger brother, Jaypros, who had been thirteen at the time, who had been ready for his first battle as well. Raakon and Jaypros had been more than willing to prove their worth as warriors.  
  
Gorna, Bajal, Cletos, Etros, and Lektron had already proven their worth in battle when they had helped their grandparents, Dirkan, and some other warriors and healiors save the smaller planet, Dijon, from some Saiyan invaders three years before. The Astorians had won a spectacular victory there and had easily killed all of the Saiyans that had dared to destroy that planet. Raakon had been very badly injured at the time (he had been caught in an explosion when one of the Technicians' new inventions had gone wrong) that his family had saved Dijon from the Saiyans, so he had been unable to go and fight them. Jaypros had wanted to go fight as well and had been furious because he had only been ten years old and too young. Both boys had been sorely disappointed that they hadn't been able to fight in that last battle.   
  
Gracina skipped ahead in her mind to the aftermath of that bloody conflict on Chloe, where many of the Clan of Chloe Astorians of her grandparents' generation had been killed. The Clan of Hagen had nearly been wiped out; almost all of them had been strong warriors or healiors, but they weren't as strong as the Chloe fighters. Other than that, Astoria had won that battle---barely, just by the skin of their teeth.  
  
Raakon had fought fiercely and well, and he and Jaypros had proven their worth as warriors during those five days of the Battle of Chloe. Raakon himself had been one of the main heroes of the Battle of Chloe, but unlike his comrades, he did not relish his victory or regale everyone with tales of warring glory. Instead, he had returned very troubled and saddened by the battle, and particularly by the lives he had taken. Even if those lives had been Saiyan or Frieza's minions, Raakon was horrified and guilt-stricken over what he had done. Everyone at first put it down to shell shock; many new fighters had a hard time dealing with their first battle, but they were eventually able to move past it and remain warriors. But there was a small minority of Astorians who were unable to cope with their first warring engagement at all, and Raakon happened to belong to this group.  
  
Raakon had nearly gone insane---literally.  
  
The cheerful, peaceful warrior they knew had vanished, leaving in place a depressed, agitated young man who no longer cared to live. Tika had been deeply worried about her favorite son and had temporarily neglected her other children to tend to him. Mantros did everything from reassuring his son to try to cajole him out of his misery by taunting him. Gorna nitpicked and nagged at him, telling him how he was bringing everyone else down with him. Shalila took some time out to comfort her grandson and console him that he had done the right thing. But nothing worked.  
  
The shell shock and depression lasted for another two years until a young sixteen-year-old healer from the Clan of Cornsilk came to live on Chloe permanently. It was she who helped Raakon regain dignity and hope and give him the courage to give up his fighting career...  
  
...Gracina smiled wistfully at that last memory of Natala Cornsilk coming to live at the Palace of Chloe. Raakon had been so happy when he finally realized that he had fallen in love and equally as happy when he gave up fighting for good.  
  
Gracina was uncertain that she wanted her brother put through another battle.  
  
"Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?" Gracina asked for the last time.  
  
"Yes," Raakon told her as firmly as he could. Gracina nodded, pleased. She then turned to Marya. "Marya and Arlina, I want you two to take all of the children and go down below to the Temple's underground shelter. Except for you, Lelina." She then addressed her niece, "Lelina, you know now how to fully conceal your ki and fly, right?"  
  
"Yes, Aunt Gracina."  
  
"Lelina, I have an important task for you. I need you to fly to the Palace of Chloe to alert Great-Nama and Dirkan of what is going on. We may need reinforcements the way things are going now. The three Saiyans may have others following them here. Can you do this, child?"  
  
"Yes, Aunt Gracina." Gracina could sense the little girl's fear, but she was glad that Lelina was not letting it get to her. "You can do this, Lelina," she told her niece firmly. "I trust you. Just remember to conceal your ki and fly quickly, and you should be fine. The Saiyans are not interested in you."  
  
Lelina nodded. She headed towards the back door, when Riccan caught her arm.  
  
"I want to go too!" the boy insisted.  
  
Gracina was about to say no once again, but before she could do so, Riccan spoke up, "I can conceal my ki too! And I can fly just as well! Please let me go!"  
Gracina sighed. Riccan had both his father's stubbornness and his Uncle Bajal's arrogance. But it was rare that he said "please", and the boy seemed capable of what he was doing. But again, Riccan was her son…her oldest child…  
  
"Please, Mamma!"  
  
Gracina bit her lip and frowned.  
  
Raakon spoke up then. "Let the boy go," he told his sister. "I believe that he and Lelina can do this."  
  
"Very well then, Riccan," Gracina told her boy reluctantly. "But do not use this time as an opportunity to fight the Saiyans. Just help Lelina get help for us."  
  
"Yes, Mommy."  
  
Lelina and Riccan hid their ki levels, crept out the back door of the Temple and flew away into the skies. By then, Marya and the rest of the children were safely enclosed in the underground shelter along with the other priests and priestesses.  
  
Gracina and Raakon left the Inner Courtroom. Gracina found an extra sword and gave it to Raakon. Raakon's hand shook as he held the cold gold handle of the sword; it had been years since he had held one. He had thanked the ancestors every day after Shalila had released him from being a healior that he would never have to fight again. Raakon prayed that he was making the right decision, for it had been many years since his first and last battle. But Raakon decided that his family came first, and if he had to kill a Saiyan or two to protect them, then that's what he would have to do. He thought of that horrible short Saiyan boy nearly killing Bajal...of that cruel Saiyan boy holding his innocent Priestess sister hostage...of little Tayla bravely grabbing that Saiyan's tail and squeezing it, allowing Marya to escape...of Lelina and Riccan going off to warn the others about the Saiyans. I have to stop those savage monkeys! I have to stop them from destroying us all! If those younger than me can be brave, then so must I! Raakon thought, thinking about Tayla, Lelina, and Riccan.  
  
Raakon was still trembling, as he followed his younger sister back to the wicked Saiyans, where a horror beyond horrors awaited.  
  
The Saiyans were gone!  
  
And Lektron lay on the ground, badly beaten and barely alive. Gracina screamed in horror, and Raakon took deep gulps of air.  
  
Gracina ran to her fallen husband and began to cry. "This is all my fault!" she cried to Raakon. "I waited too long to return!"  
  
After saying a few words to reassure Gracina against that assessment, Raakon quickly took his medical bag off of his back (all healers and healiors carried one with them, filled with essential medical supplies), and began to treat Lektron's wounds. Gracina helped her brother clean her husband's wounds and sew up the nasty gashes that the Saiyans had inflicted on her beloved.  
  
"Stop!" Lektron cried suddenly. "Don't worry about me now! Worry about Tayla!"  
Tayla! No! Where was Tayla?  
  
"They took Tayla away... couldn't stop them...I tried...too strong they were...too strong...so strong...poor Tayla...so sorry am I...forgive me...thought we had a chance before Bajal was defeated...they...took...Tayla...away...minutes after you and Marya left..." Lektron choked the words out and fainted. Raakon, shaking with fear, tried to revive him, but Gracina screamed to the heavens.  
  
"Tayla! No!" Gracina began to cry, and Raakon and the revived Lektron shed a few tears themselves. They could not forgive themselves for failing to protect Tayla.  
  
"How could I have forgotten Tayla?" Gracina cried in horror. "I am supposed to be her Guardian, and I abandoned her to those monsters! I should have made her come with Marya and I!"  
  
Raakon tried to speak as calmly as possible, for he too was worried about Tayla, "The Saiyans were after her, Gracina. They would just have destroyed the Temple and everyone in it, trying to get to Tayla. At least this way, there was no loss of life, not yet. And they will not kill Tayla, for Saiyans and other minions of Frieza do not take prisoners unless they have a specific purpose for them." Raakon was the next wisest of the Mantros Chloe children after Gracina and Marya.  
  
"But what could they want with Tayla?' Lektron gasped after awakening. "She is just a child! She is too young really to be any use to the Saiyans or Frieza!"  
  
"It is probably Frieza that wants her," Raakon answered. "Unfortunately in this case, Tayla's youth would be an advantage to him. Frieza probably thinks that if he catches Tayla when she is young and trains her to fight for him, then she will turn to his side. Children are easily impressionable, even intelligent, kind-hearted ones like our Tayla. Tayla is still young enough that Frieza could train her to become evil, emptying planets and killing innocent people. The child has a high ki level and a high intelligence level, both useful to Frieza. She would be a valuable asset to any warlord."  
  
Lektron and Gracina paled at Raakon's words. The impossible thought that Tayla could one day grow up to become a powerful assassin for Frieza was enough to break their hearts. Had Tayla been spared from that last battle with the Saiyans only for this horror?  
  
"We have to save her!" Gracina cried. "We have to find her!" She tried to sense the Saiyan ki levels. "They are repressing their ki levels, they must be, for I cannot detect them at all. Can you two?"  
  
"Saiyans can't repress their ki levels, or even sense the ki of others," Raakon pointed out. "They, like all of Frieza's minions, have to use scouters. The Astorians are one of the few races in the universe that can sense ki unaided--and tell the difference between different people's ki signatures."  
  
Lektron and Raakon told her that they could now sense the Saiyan ki levels, and they could sense Tayla's. And now so could Gracina. And Tayla's ki level, like the Saiyan boys, felt like it was coming very, very far away.  
  
Raakon then spoke up, "We must find Bajal and get him to safety first. The Saiyans are not going to take Tayla off of Chloe anytime soon. They still want to destroy our people and won't leave until that is accomplished, or until they are destroyed. And they can't do her any harm just yet, for I am sure that Frieza would expect her to be brought to him in good condition. So Tayla will be all right for a few hours or so, and then we can gather reinforcements and go rescue her. But this battle to save our sister will be difficult." Raakon shuddered at the thought of warring again.  
  
"So you're in with us again, Raakon?" Lektron asked. "You know that we never held your decision to be only a healer against you."  
  
"I am in, Lektron," Raakon said firmly. "My Arlina is not much older than Tayla, and if someone took her, I would want all the help I could get in rescuing her. Tayla is my sister, and I love her as if she were my own. We all do. We cannot let the Saiyans and Frieza use her for their evil purposes."  
  
Lektron and Gracina murmured in agreement. Gracina helped her husband to his feet, and Raakon went to gather Marya, the children, and the other priests and priestesses. The entire party leaped into the air and flew to the Palace of Chloe. Raakon and Gracina had decided that Marya and the others would be safest at the Palace, the most secure place in all of Astoria, so the Temple was emptied completely of its inhabitants.  
  
  
  
Palace of Chloe's Royal Courtyard.  
  
"How in the Hades did you fools allow this to happen? Three powerful fighters couldn't defend one child against three Saiyan teenage brats? No telling what they are doing to Tayla at this moment! What you idiots thinking? Especially you, Bajal, for revealing Tayla's true identity to those savages! I know that your brawn and your ego normally outmatch your brains, but did you have to pick today to allow that to happen again?" Dirkan was furious, as he angrily paced back and forth on the floor. Lelina and Riccan had arrived before Raakon, Gracina, Lektron and the others, and they had told Dirkan and Shalila everything, but the two children did not say (or know at the time) that Tayla had been abducted. "How in the Hades am I supposed to explain to Shalila that her favorite whelp is gone? I knew I should have taken the day off and went with you all to the Temple, but I figured that Tayla would be safe enough with her own siblings! One of the few times I leave her with others, and this happens!" Dirkan had spent the last ten minutes chewing out Gracina, Lektron and Bajal for Tayla's abduction.  
  
Raakon (who had been one of Dirkan's favorite students when he was young) once again spoke. "You cannot blame them, Dirkan, for those Saiyans were very fierce, even though they were only boys. And at the time, they were holding Marya hostage, so they had to be careful. This Prince Vegeta, from what Bajal has told me, is the most powerful of them, even though he is shorter and smaller than his two companions. From what Lektron told me," he added, for the three fighters were too nervous now to speak to the mighty Dirkan on their own behalf, "these young Saiyans are as strong and terrible as a whole army of weaker Saiyans. Bardock's strength and power does not even compare to theirs, and you know Bardock had been the strongest Saiyan we had ever fought."  
  
Great, Dirkan thought, just great. He did calm down a little though when Raakon told him his theory about why the Saiyans captured Tayla, and Tayla not being in absolute danger just yet. Once he started to understand Raakon's belief that the Saiyans would keep Tayla alive and well to deliver her to Frieza, he agreed with the former fighter's words. Dirkan closed his eyes, sat down and meditated for a few minutes, and Shalila's descendents had learned long ago never to interrupt Dirkan during his meditating, no matter what. Bajal secretly thought that Dirkan was wasting his time doing this meditating stuff when Tayla was now the Saiyans' captive, but even he left Dirkan alone. Bajal had learned the hard way not to bother Dirkan during his meditating when he had been younger and even more arrogant than he was now. When Bajal had been a teen, he had dared to bother Dirkan by asking the old Namek a nonessential question, and Dirkan had rewarded him for his interrupting by throwing him into a tree.  
  
Superior Gran Shalila entered worriedly, dressed in her full battle uniform of a red tunic and pants with a gold belt that had a white cloth rose on it. She looked around the courtyard, immediately searching for Tayla. Tayla? Where was she?  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila called. "Where are you?"  
  
Dirkan had finished meditating by then, and so he arose to meet Shalila. He took a deep breath and had Shalila sit down on a stone bench. He sat next to her, took her hand, and explained as briefly and calmly as possible what had happened to Tayla, even though he was deeply worried about the girl himself. He had meditated to calm himself down, so that he could think more clearly on how to save the little princess. Shalila took this news exactly as Dirkan expected: by nearly fainting and crying out with horror.  
  
"How did this happen?" she screamed in terror. Shalila was normally a strong, efficient woman who could control her emotions, but when it came to those she loved, like her favorite granddaughter, she was vulnerable.  
  
Dirkan tried his best to reassure his old friend (and lover?) that Tayla was not going to die anytime soon because she was probably valuable to her captors. "They are not going to harm her right away, not if they are taking her to Frieza. If Frieza is recruiting her, he will expect the Saiyan boys to deliver her to him in good condition."  
  
"But Saiyans are merciless! What if they don't do as Frieza asks?" Shalila asked worriedly.  
  
"They will, if they wish to prevent Frieza's wrath, love."  
  
"If those savages harm one hair on Tayla's head, I'll-I'll-" Shalila was trying to find a punishment vile enough to enact on the Saiyan boys. "I'll filet them with my sword!" Shalila's emotions turned from horror and shock to pure anger. "I'll destroy those Saiyan punks! I don't care if they are just boys! Who do those monkeys think they are?" Shalila could feel her old rage erupting, a rage that had not been there since she had been a small child. Shalila could remember the fury and helplessness she had felt right after Darbura had killed her mother…the wrath that had consumed her when the nasty human hunters had killed her pet rabbit for sport…the anger and anguish when the Saiyans had killed her husband, her son, and half of her son's family.   
  
Because of those monsters, Tayla and her siblings were now orphans. Tayla would never know how strong and good and proud her father, Mantros, and her grandfather, the first Bajal, had been. She would never know Tika's love and pride when Tika first held her youngest daughter in her arms or of Tika's sacrificing her life so that Tayla could live. (Shalila had seen Tika and Tayla right after Tayla's birth on that computer screen in Shalila's computer room. The happy images of mother and child had been sent through satellite video.) Tayla's mother, Tika, had been a good, sensitive woman that Shalila had always fully approved of for Mantros. Shalila had never forgotten the happiness on Tika's face when her daughter-in-law had boasted of and fussed over little Tayla, just as if Tayla had been Tika's first baby. Shalila remembered Mantros bragging about the child's beauty, brains and high power level for her age. Mantros and Tika had considered every child they ever had a miracle each time.  
  
And then the anger and helplessness arose further when Shalila then remembered the horrible day and way that Tika and little Nieca had died. There was no cause for them, or the rest of the Astorians to die like they did! Shalila clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth, as she gripped the sword's handle in her hand. To Hades with all the cursed, blasted Saiyans! She would destroy those young savages if they even thought of harming her little Tayla! Shalila had now come to consider Tayla as her own daughter and favored her above her other descendents, although she tried not to show it when others when around. But the other grandchildren knew and did not resent Tayla for Shalila's favoritism towards her, for they all loved and adored the little girl themselves (with the possible exception of Gorna).  
  
Shalila hated all Saiyans, and she firmly believed that once the cursed race died out or was destroyed, the better off the entire universe would be. She had taught little Tayla her abhorrence of the Saiyans until the child shared the same prejudice as her grandmother. Shalila had recently (and reluctantly when Tayla had demanded to know why and how her parents had died) told the little girl the entire story of what the Saiyans had done to her family. Tayla wanted to one day avenge her family against the Saiyans, and Shalila understood her goal, although she did warn Tayla that vengeance could not happen for a long time yet. Also, Shalila did not want to start an all-out war with the Saiyans unless she absolutely had to, and she even told Tayla that it was better to worry about protecting Astoria than destroying the Saiyan race. The Saiyans seemed to be growing stronger every time the Astorians and the Saiyans fought, and this fact had constantly worried Shalila and Dirkan.   
  
Shalila had reluctantly tried to make peace with the Saiyans seventeen years ago, but King Vegeta, Prince Vegeta's father, had told Shalila that the Astorians would have to pledge allegiance to the Saiyans and become subordinate to them. Shalila refused, of course, and King Vegeta had been furious. Shalila had just wanted to live in peace with the Saiyans, so that her people would no longer have to fear them, but she was not having her people become the Saiyans' slaves either. And the Saiyans had also demanded twenty thousand Astorian brides for their men in order for them to even consider peace with the Astorians. Shalila furiously said that she was not forcing any of her women into unwanted marriages. So the summit between the Astorians and the Saiyans at the Temple of Chloe had dissolved into disaster, with King Vegeta vowing to conquer Astoria once again, like his father, King Dayrus, once had. Superior Granden Bajal told him to try it if he wanted to sentence his men to early deaths because the Astorians would show no mercy for those who would try to conquer and destroy them. Shalila never forgot the look on Queen Muriella's face when the new queen of planet Vegeta realized that the conflict between the Astorians and the Saiyans would continue. The young and beautiful Queen Muriella had just married King Vegeta, and the eighteen-year-old queen had tried to urge her husband to make peace with the Astorians and leave them alone. She did not want any more wars with the Astorians or anyone else. She shared Shalila's former goal of peace between their feuding planets. Superior Granden Bajal and King Vegeta had only agreed to the summit at the Temple of Chloe because their wives had pushed them into it. Before the king and queen of Vegeta had left Chloe, Muriella had spoken privately to Shalila and Bajal, telling them that she was sorry that things could not have been different between them, but there was nothing more that she could do. Shalila understood and wished the young queen well. Shalila and Muriella had clasped hands and shook them, but Bajal spent the entire time glaring at Muriella's pig-headed husband. Shalila had pitied the young Saiyan queen, especially if she was married to a lout like King Vegeta... 


	6. Raakon's Decision

Chapter Six: Raakon's Decision  
  
...Raakon was watching his grandmother struggle with her memories and her fury over Tayla's abduction, and even though he could read his Nama's thoughts, he could sense that she was thinking about her past problems with the Saiyans. Raakon excused himself for a little while, so that he could go talk to his wife, Natala, and think. On the way to his and Natala's Palace quarters, Raakon himself was thinking about that fateful summit at the Temple of Chloe seventeen years ago. He, Cletos, Gorna, Marya, and Gracina had attended it with Dirkan and their grandparents and parents; he had been fourteen, Gorna had been twenty, Cletos had been fifteen, Marya had been eight, and Gracina had been six at the time...  
  
...At the disastrous summit, Tika had formed a rapport with the young, nervous Saiyan Queen Muriella (Tika's prejudice against the Saiyans was not as strong as her in-laws', and she was a bit more open-minded than they were). She had been motherly towards Muriella, who had not been much older than Cletos and Raakon, her own sons. Raakon remembered that was the first time he had fallen in love-with the Saiyan queen. Muriella had been beautiful then, with long swishy black hair and eyes the color of black onyx. King Vegeta's new wife had been Raakon's first crush. Raakon remembered the easiness between his mother and the new Saiyan queen, but sadly, he remembered the tension between everyone else even more.   
  
Bajal, Shalila, and Mantros had been very edgy around the Saiyan king, Vegeta, who had looked down his nose at all of the Astorians, whom he considered to be sappy weaklings despite their powers. Tika and Muriella served everyone goodies from their separate planets and tried to keep things cheerful and everyone happy and contented, but they were unable to ease the tension. Dirkan (who had been Raakon's guardian until Raakon had turned twenty-one) had been silent for most of the summit. His grandmother had done most of the talking, pleading (something unusual for Shalila to do) with the Saiyans to let peace grow between the two planets. But King Vegeta, more arrogant than even the first Bajal (up until that time, Raakon had thought that no one was more conceited than his grandfather.) King Vegeta had made it clear that day that unless the Saiyans' demands were met, that there would be no peace between the Saiyans and the Astorians.  
  
Raakon and the others sat in horror as King Vegeta listed his demands: twenty thousand Astorian brides, the rights to all of Astoria's resources and moons, and the most shocking last two: for Astoria to become subordinate to planet Vegeta, and for all of the Astorians to be subject to the Saiyans forever. King Vegeta told Shalila and Bajal (who was ready to murder the Saiyan king) that Astoria should be his by right because Astoria had once belonged to the Saiyans before Shalila, Bajal, and Dirkan defeated his uncle, King Dayrus. Bajal angrily pointed out to King Vegeta that Astoria belonged to the Astorians long before it belonged to the Saiyans, and that the universe would freeze over before he or any of his people became slaves to the Saiyans again. Bajal roared out the long list of atrocities that the Saiyans had committed against the Astorians under King Dayrus' rule. Bajal had grown up on Astoria as a slave to the Saiyans, and he had been the one to lead the revolution against the Saiyans before his then-fiancée, Shalila, had returned to Astoria to help him and their people.   
  
King Vegeta then threatened Bajal's life, and that was when Shalila stepped in and told him to come back another time if he was going to behave like that. King Vegeta arose then and ordered his servants to gather their belongings. He told Muriella that they were leaving, and he told Shalila the next time the Astorians and the Saiyans met, there would be bloodshed. Both Shalila and Dirkan had to restrain Bajal from attacking King Vegeta after that. Dirkan had thrown Bajal against the wall and warned the proud Superior Granden that killing the Saiyan king would bring the Saiyans' full wrath upon Astoria. Bajal had shoved Dirkan away and charged after King Vegeta anyway, but Raakon intervened and pleaded with his grandfather not to do anything so rash. Raakon had been near tears then, begging his grandfather not to bring the Saiyans' anger down on them. Bajal had been furious with Raakon for interfering with his fight, and King Vegeta had roared with laughter and told Bajal to listen to the boy, even though it was obvious that the boy was a weakling.  
  
Bajal growled at King Vegeta for calling his grandson a weakling, but by then, Muriella had ushered her angry husband out the Temple door before Bajal could do anything else. Later that night, before leaving for the royal Saiyan ship, Muriella had returned to the Temple briefly where Shalila was. She said that she was sorry for her husband's behavior, but there was nothing more that she could do to change his mind about conquering Astoria. Tika and Raakon were the only ones left with Shalila other than the priests and priestesses. Muriella wished them all luck and kissed Tika on the cheek to thank her for her kindness. Then she turned to the young Astorian prince and looked him straight into his sky-blue eyes with her soft black ones.  
  
"I pray that your generation will have better luck making peace between our fighting planets than our generation has. Good luck, young Prince of Chloe, and may you never have to fight us. Pray to your ancestors that the conflict between our worlds will be resolved in your lifetime," Muriella told Raakon before kissing him on his cheek as well. "Your heart is gentle; I can tell that. You are not meant to shed blood; don't go into war if you can prevent it."  
  
Muriella left forever, but Raakon never forgot her words, or the way he had felt about her. He never told anyone about that first time he had fallen in love because he knew that everyone would scorn him for adoring a Saiyan. His mother, Tika, would have understood, but his father, Mantros, would have thrown him through the Palace roof if he ever thought that any of his sons loved a Saiyan woman. He had never even told the two people closest to him: his brother Bajal and his first cousin, Lektron. His tiny affection for Muriella had stayed locked in his heart forever, never to be released. The only other woman that had possessed his heart more than Muriella was his own wife, Natala. He would always have a soft spot for Muriella, but Natala was the true love of his life.  
  
Ah, Natala, his beautiful healer wife. She had been sixteen and he had been nineteen when they had first met. For a gentle girl, she had been feisty and spirited. Natala had been of the small minority of Astorians who had still wanted peace with the Saiyan race, and of the even smaller minority that still believed that it was possible. Some of the Clan of Chloe members, including Shalila, and especially the first Bajal, had thought that Natala was a little daft at first.  
  
But other than her presumed insanity and her tendency to disagree with the proverb that the only good Saiyan was a dead one, the Clan of Chloe had no real problems with her.  
  
Natala had not been intimidated at all by the Clan of Chloe's elite royal status. She had acknowledged them and respected them as the leading Astorian Clan, but was not at all unsettled by their enormous power and intelligence, like so many Astorians of other Clans had been (and still were).  
  
She had just lost her entire family, her parents and her three oldest brothers, all valiant warriors, but weak ones, to the Saiyans and Frieza's minions during the Battle of Chloe. (Her mother, Keda, had committed suicide by hanging herself in one of the Palace's gardens.) Natala had been the only immediate member left of her Clan of Cornsilk family. Superior Gran Shalila had requested all of the Clans to send their spare healers to Chloe to help treat and care for the many injured shortly after the Battle of Chloe. Natala had been sent to replace her healer mother after her suicide. The Clan of Cornsilk had lacked any real fighting powers or skills, but they had produced some of Astoria's best healers, and Shalila had specifically requested that Natala Cornsilk be sent to her because of the girl's already remarkable doctoring abilities.  
  
Natala had resided the in the medical suites of the Palace of Chloe where most of the healers and healiors lived, and she had immediately formed a bond with one of the head healers, Raakon's own mother, Princess Tika.  
  
Tika decided that the girl was just what her moody, depressed son needed to cheer him up, and she introduced her to her royal son, who also had been living in the medical suites. It did not matter to Tika that Natala had no royal blood in her; Tika was not as particular as some of her Clan was about not mixing royal and common blood together. (This was one of the main reasons that she and Shalila got along so well, for Shalila was not so snobbish about her royal blood either.) Raakon had tried not to acknowledge Natala too much at first, but his mother's insistence and Natala's friendliness and peacefulness won him over.  
  
Natala became one of Raakon's best friends, doing everything that she could to bring Raakon out of his doldrums. She had fallen in love with him shortly after they had met, but it took Raakon a while to catch on to Natala's feelings. Raakon had unintentionally fallen in love with the girl, but he did not want to admit it because he did not feel that he was worthy of someone so good and decent as her. He still had felt that he was not deserving of anything good because of the lives he had taken. It had been Natala who had convinced him to finally forgive himself and move on with his life.  
  
And she had supported him when he had finally gathered enough courage to approach his parents and grandparents and tell them that he had no longer wanted to be a healior, but just a healer instead.  
  
Everyone had tried to convince Raakon to change his mind, but Raakon, with Natala backing him up, stood his ground, and said that he was not going to kill anyone anymore because he could not live with himself, if he had to take any more lives. Dirkan hid his disappointment and supported Raakon's decision, and it was he who had finally convinced Raakon's parents and grandparents that perhaps not everyone was meant to be a warrior. Tika had been the most supportive of all, and she was secretly pleased that her son would live a life of peace. Superior Granden Bajal and Prince Mantros had not been happy with Raakon's decision, and it took them a little while to reconcile themselves to it. But it was Shalila who backed up Dirkan and said that Raakon was released from his vows as a healior and could go to being just a healer.  
She and Bajal argued about this for a few minutes, but Shalila won out, as she did most of the time. (Very few people ever opposed her on anything, even her own husband, who was as stubborn and assertive as his wife.)  
  
Raakon became a healer only, and he finally realized his true feelings for the Cornsilk girl. There was some grumbling among a few of the Clan of Chloe members when Raakon had announced that he was going to marry Natala. But those closest to Raakon supported his decisions, and Shalila declared that the marriage would take place, and anyone who opposed it could go to the stars. Of course no one went against Shalila on this point, and Raakon and Natala were happily married...   
  
..."Sweetheart? Are you alright?" Natala was standing in the doorway of their private quarters. She was always happy to see her husband and was sensitive to his feelings. She already knew that Raakon was troubled.  
  
"Not really, love," Raakon told her honestly, as he followed her inside to their private bedchamber. He briefly explained about Tayla's abduction. Natala was horrified.  
  
"That poor little girl! How could boys so young be so vile?" she asked. "Even if they are Saiyans."  
  
"There's something else that I have to tell you, love," he told her gently. "I am going with the others to fight the Saiyan brats to save my sister."  
  
"What? Oh, Raakon, I understand that Tayla is your sister, but you told everyone that you gave up warring forever. Superior Gran Shalila even released you from you obligation to be a fighter. I was very happy to hear that you had given up fighting and started just healing lives instead of taking them. And I don't want to lose you either!" Natala, a lovely, slender woman with light-brown hair and eyes bluer than her husband's, shared her husband's belief that it was wrong to take lives and be violent. Kekron also shared his parents and sister's beliefs. They also wanted the war between the Saiyans and the Astorians to end, and shared a small belief that not all of the Saiyans could be evil. They didn't necessarily believe in the proverb that the only good Saiyan was a dead one.   
  
Tika had also shared their beliefs, although she didn't express them as freely as her son and daughter-in-law did. Tika and Natala had been close when Tika had been alive, and Tika had thought that Raakon couldn't do any better than Natala. Tika and Raakon had also been close, and Raakon had been Tika's favorite son; they were similar in personality and values. If Marya was the one who resembled Tika most on the outside, then it was Raakon who was most like Tika on the inside (although Marya was also similar to Tika in personality and values). Everyone in the Clan of Chloe always said that Raakon and Marya were the ones most like their mother.  
Raakon had wanted to remain peaceful like his mother and wife had wanted and not do any more fighting, but he could not idly stand by and allow evil young men to carry off his sister and make her Frieza's prisoner.  
  
"I have to do this, my love," he told her firmly. "If it was Arlina in Tayla's position, you would want everyone to try to rescue her. Tayla is my sister, and we both love her like she is our own. And in a way, she is. I can't let the Saiyans take her away from us, even if it means having to destroy them to stop them!"  
  
Natala nodded, for she knew that her husband was doing the right thing. She did not fully approve of her husband going back into warring, but she had fallen in love with him because he was kind and brave and always willing to stand up for what he believed in. If he had to go back to fighting in order to protect Tayla and their planet, then she would send him off with her full blessing. She kissed him lightly on his lips and said, "Do what you have to do then, but come home alive!"  
  
"I will, love," he told her confidently. He held up seven fingers. "Seven Moons Oath. Make sure you have some of Tayla's favorite cookies made when we return."  
  
Natala smiled gently. "Of course." She kissed her husband again, only more passionately this time. Raakon returned her kiss, kissing her fiercely. They stood there like that for five minutes until Dirkan arrived. Dirkan banged on the Raakon Chloe family's door and shouted, "Raakon, if you are going to fight with us to save Tayla, it's time to come on! We've wasted too much time already!"  
  
"Yes, Dirkan!" Raakon called. "I am coming." He grinned sheepishly at his wife. "His Green Greatness awaits. He was my teacher and guardian!" Natala laughed softly and pulled him to her for one last kiss.  
  
"Raakon!"  
  
"Alright already, teacher!" Raakon pretended to grumble as he exited his quarters. Dirkan patted the former fighter on his back.  
  
"Glad to know that you're coming out of retirement, kid," Dirkan told him proudly. "Even if it probably only temporary."  
  
"It is," Raakon told him firmly. "I go back into retirement when Tayla is safely returned to us."  
  
"Your call, but we appreciate your services anyway." Dirkan slapped his former student on the back. Dirkan had really wished that Raakon had remained a fighter, but he had long ago accepted and respected Raakon's decision to quit fighting. He and Raakon had always shared a special bond. They left to join the others who were going to rescue Tayla.  
  
The rescue party would include Dirkan, Raakon, Shalila, Gorna, Gracina, Cletos, Jaypros and Tayla's two other brothers, Arlon and Lukan, who were fifteen and fourteen. (Shalila was also raising Arlon and Lukan along with Tayla.) Bajal and Lektron also wanted to go, but they were too badly injured. The two stubborn men demanded to go anyway, but Dirkan threatened to blast both of them, if they tried to throw their lives away foolishly, so they grudgingly agreed to remain behind and have the Chloe healers take care of them.  
  
The rescue party entered the courtyard and jumped off of the ground. The nine rescuers flew off into the sky.  
  
"Conceal your ki levels," Dirkan ordered the others. "We don't need to advertise to the monkeys right away that we're coming." 


	7. The Saiyans' Prisoner

Chapter Seven: The Saiyans' Prisoner  
  
Tayla's head hurt.  
  
She had just awakened from being unconscious. Prince Vegeta had hit   
the little girl hard in the back of her head when she was helping Lektron   
sword-fight with Nappa. Other than the minor fact that Nappa had no sword,   
Nappa had no experience in sword fighting or dodging swords, so for a while,   
Tayla and Lektron had the advantage over him. Nappa had to fight back with   
punches and kicks, and he finally had knocked Lektron's sword out of Lektron's   
hand. Raditz and Vegeta had stood back and watched the show for five more   
minutes before Vegeta finally decided that enough was enough. Vegeta had flown   
into the air, hovering right above little Tayla. Vegeta dived from the air and   
seized the little girl by her wrists before she had time to respond. Her sword   
fell out of her hand when this occurred. Vegeta hit the child with a sharp blow   
to her head, knocking the girl unconscious. Lektron had tried to stop Vegeta,   
but Vegeta managed to hold both of Tayla's wrists in one hand and blast a Big   
Bang attack on Lektron with the other. Lektron had become unconscious himself   
and he had barely lived.  
  
Vegeta then had ordered Raditz to bind Tayla's wrists with the   
strong wire the three boys had brought with them. They already knew that if   
both of Tayla's wrists were bound tightly, then she would be completely   
helpless. It is hard for any Astorian to defend him or herself once the wrists   
were bound, for the wrists were an Achilles' heel to the Astorians, and the   
Saiyans knew this fact. Most of the time, the Astorian fighters wore strong   
steel cuffs on their wrists to prevent their enemies from gaining an advantage   
over them, but of course no one expected the Saiyans to attack that day, so none   
of the Astorian fighters in Tayla's party had worn their cuffs.  
  
Tayla was now fully awake, and she was aware that she was lying in   
the dirt with her wrists bound tightly together with some strange wire. She   
wondered where Lektron was, and why Gracina had not come back. Was Bajal still   
alive? Marya?  
  
Then Tayla realized something.  
  
She was no longer at the Temple of Chloe...and...that she was now   
the Saiyans' prisoner.  
  
The three Saiyans had taken her to a forest deep in the mountains   
near their ship. They were camping there for tonight, and were eating some   
half-cooked birds that Raditz had killed (he was the best hunter among them).   
Tayla smelled the food, and realized that she was hungry, but she suspected that   
the Saiyans would not give any of their food.  
  
Vegeta noticed that Tayla had awakened and chuckled. "Looks like   
our little princess has risen from the dead." He took a huge bite out of a   
drumstick and ate with his mouth open.  
  
Tayla was still in shock. She was not aware yet of just how dire her situation   
had become. She didn't know what to make of this scary situation. Then she   
discovered that she couldn't move her wrists at all. She was powerless! She   
was the Saiyans' captive!   
  
"Help!" she screamed. "Somebody help me! Help!"  
  
Vegeta dashed over to the terrified girl and shook her. "Shut up,   
brat, or I'll give you something to really scream about!"  
  
"You let me go, you savage monkeys! When my Nama and Dirkan find   
out that you brutes kidnapped me, they'll make you pay! My Nama and Dirkan   
won't show mercy to anyone who hurts me!" Tayla cried, ignoring Vegeta and the   
earlier shaking.  
  
"Shut up, wench!" Vegeta snapped.  
  
"No, I won't shut up!" Tayla shouted. "No monkey can make me shut   
up! Do you cretins know who my Nama is? She's Superior Gran Shalila, the   
strongest fighter in the Rosetta Galaxy! And Dirkan is as strong as she is!   
They'll both roast you and toast you for what you monkeys did to us! They're   
stronger than you, and they're even stronger than Frieza. One day Frieza's   
going to get roasted and toasted just like you will be when Nama and Dirkan find   
out! You three are going to get it! And I'll laugh when it happens!"  
  
Vegeta shook the girl harder then and pulled her hair even harder   
than that. "Didn't I tell you to shut up?" He then grabbed Tayla's throat and   
stuck his face in hers. "One more outburst like that, brat, and I'll blast you   
to the next dimension! Now shut up! Do you understand?"  
  
Tayla nodded weakly. Now that her wrists were tightly bound, she   
could not even electrocute her captor. She was completely defenseless. "Yes."  
  
"Yes who?"  
  
Tayla didn't know. She had forgotten this boy's name.   
  
"Say 'Yes, Prince Vegeta'".  
  
Tayla didn't respond. She finally realized exactly whom she was   
dealing with.  
  
"Say it now!"  
  
Tayla sighed wearily and fearfully. "Yes, Prince Vegeta."  
  
Vegeta smirked then. "That's better." He turned away from Tayla   
and ate more of his drumstick. Tayla smelled the bird cooking on a spit above a   
fire. The food smelled good.  
  
Without thinking, she asked, "May I have some, please?"  
  
"Some of what?" Vegeta demanded to know.  
  
"Whatever you boys are eating. I'm hungry."  
  
"And what do you expect me to do about that?"  
  
"Well, could I have a couple of little bites, please? I haven't   
eaten anything since lunch." Tayla's stomach growled loudly.  
  
Raditz interrupted then. "May as well feed the brat, Vegeta," he   
told him. "You know that Frieza said that the girl was to be brought to him in   
good health. He'll be mad if we starve her to death."  
  
"And your point is?"  
  
"Well, you know what Frieza will do to us."  
  
"Fine. Give the brat a drumstick, but no more than that. She's   
going to have to learn to play nice if she expects any more food." Raditz   
handed Vegeta a drumstick to give to Tayla. Tayla squirmed on the ground like a   
caterpillar in order to get closer to her small dinner.   
  
"You've got to untie me if you expect me to eat, you know."  
  
"No, I don't think so," Vegeta told her. He turned to Nappa.   
"Nappa, feed the brat. Hold the drumstick to where she can bite off of it."  
  
Nappa did as he was told. He held the drumstick while Tayla quickly   
ate off it. She devoured the meat within eight bites.  
  
Raditz laughed. "The kid has a good appetite."  
  
Vegeta scowled. "She's not getting any more. That will do for her   
until breakfast."  
  
Raditz and Nappa rose up, so that they could go spar and practice to   
fight the Astorians, but Vegeta stopped them. "It's time to go to bed. We have   
a long day tomorrow, but it will be a fun one! I'm looking forward to blasting   
everyone on this pathetic moon." Nappa grabbed some blankets made out of animal   
skins and tossed a couple of them to Raditz and Vegeta.   
  
Nappa asked, "Whose turn is it to watch the brat first?" He and   
his buddies made their pallets. No one made a pallet for Tayla except for   
giving her a thin blanket to lie on.  
  
"I will watch her first," Vegeta told him. "Then it will be you, then Raditz.   
I'll tie her to me." He gathered some more of that horrible wire that had been   
used to bind Tayla's wrist. Tayla saw this and tried to crawl away like an   
inchworm, but Vegeta grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up to him. Tayla   
ignored the pain of having her hair pulled, and that was only because Vegeta's   
audacity at touching her hair had angered her. How dare he! No one touched her   
hair without her permission! Her Nama and Gracina had taught her that her hair   
was an intimate part of her body.  
"No more escape attempts, brat, unless you want to die young," Vegeta growled at her.  
  
Tayla regained a tiny bit of courage. She gave Vegeta her dirtiest look and   
cried, "Don't ever touch my hair again! No one touches my hair unless I say   
it's okay!"  
  
"You belong to us now, brat, and we'll touch whatever we please!"   
Vegeta snapped at her. He tied Tayla's wrists to his left wrist and dragged her   
with him down onto his pallet. He turned over on his side away from the little   
girl. Tayla squirmed again, but for a different reason.  
  
"I've got to pee."  
  
"You can hold it until morning," Vegeta told her. "Now go to   
sleep!"  
  
"I'm about to pee right now!" Tayla protested. The only thing that she was   
concerned about at this moment was emptying her bladder. "I'm sorry that I   
yelled at you, but I have to pee!"  
  
Vegeta grumbled under his breath in his native Saiyan language.   
Would Shalila Chloe's royal brat ever give him any peace? She was lucky that   
Frieza had insisted that she be brought to him alive. Vegeta privately wondered   
why Frieza was about to waste his time with the Astorian brat. Yes, Shalila's   
granddaughter was already a good little fighter (this was something that Vegeta   
grudgingly admitted to), but still Frieza had him, Vegeta! Why would Frieza   
really want this loud-mouthed, tiny wench to fight for him? It would be years   
before Tayla Chloe would be any good to Frieza's forces.  
  
Vegeta dragged Tayla to her feet and led her over to a hollow tree   
stump.  
  
"Make it quick," he ordered her. He undid the fastenings that had held Tayla's   
pants on from behind. Tayla let her pants fall to her ankles, and Vegeta turned   
away (he had no desire to watch any Astorian brat urinate). Tayla sat down and   
quickly relieved herself into the stump. Vegeta pulled her pants back up,   
snapped her fastenings back on and made her go to bed. He lay down next to her   
and turned over on his side away from the child.  
  
Vegeta was almost asleep when Tayla's voice awakened him.  
  
"Could I have some water, please? I'm thirsty."  
  
Vegeta growled. He was never going to get any sleep! He was a   
warrior, not a blasted babysitter! He mentally counted the weeks until he could   
turn this brat over to Frieza. Frieza had better make this trip worth it for   
Vegeta!  
  
"Please? Nama always lets me have milk or water before I go to   
sleep, but since you don't have any milk, water will do." Tayla had learned   
quickly that her chances of surviving these awful boys would be to be nicer to   
them---at least until Nama and Dirkan came. Then they would pay!  
  
Vegeta grumbled, "This is your last request for tonight. Do not   
wake me up again!"  
  
Tayla nodded weakly, as Vegeta shouted over to Nappa, "Nappa, go get   
this brat some water!"  
  
Nappa had been in a deep sleep when Vegeta's voice woke him up. He   
cursed in Saiyan, but did not do anything beyond that. Vegeta was younger and   
smaller than he was, but three times more powerful. Nappa had learned long ago   
never to defy or question Vegeta's orders. Still cursing, he arose and grabbed   
his canteen that was filled with water. He brought it over to Tayla and stuck   
the bottle's neck into her mouth. Tayla drank thirstily, emptying the canteen.   
The water contained no salt, but Tayla was grateful for it anyway.   
  
"Thank you," she told Nappa.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Nappa grumbled. He went right back to bed and hoped   
that Vegeta would not wake him up again. His snores could already be   
heard---loudly. Vegeta threw a rock at him and told him to stop snoring. But   
Nappa was sleeping too deeply now to feel the effect of the rock or to hear the   
sound of Vegeta's angry voice. Vegeta decided to let it pass for now and   
silently vowed that Nappa would be the one to suffer with Tayla later.  
  
  
  
Finally, Vegeta was asleep, and that was when Tayla decided to make   
her first escape attempt. She kept trying to pull her wrists apart to free them   
from the wire that bound them. The wire cut into her wrists, but Tayla bravely   
bit her lip and ignored the pain. She continued to squirm and struggle with the   
wire holding her wrists together until she almost had her left wrist loose. Her   
wrists chafed from the sharp edge of the wire, but Tayla continued trying to   
work her left wrist free. If she could just try a little bit longer...a little   
bit harder...that wrist was just about free...  
  
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Vegeta was now awake. He   
had always been a light sleeper, unlike Raditz and Nappa.  
  
Tayla froze. Her heart began pounding very fast. She sucked in her   
breath.  
  
"I said, 'What do you think you're doing'?" Vegeta repeated.  
  
Tayla trembled. No telling what Vegeta or his friends would do, if   
they knew that Tayla had been trying to escape. They might kill her after all;   
Nama said that Saiyans were merciless.  
  
"I need to get comfortable," she said quickly.  
  
"Well, stop squirming; you're keeping me awake. You're not giving   
me this much trouble every night, is that clear?" Vegeta told her sharply. "I   
do have a planet and her moons to start emptying tomorrow, starting with your   
precious Chloe."  
  
Tayla's heart froze. She just remembered then the other reason why   
the Saiyans had come to Chloe. "Why do you want to hurt us?" she asked. "Why   
are you so mad at us?" Maybe she could reason with him; Raakon had told her   
that sometimes it was better to talk things out rather than fight.  
  
"Why do you care?" Vegeta didn't feel that he owed Tayla an   
explanation for why he was doing what he was doing. He didn't care how his   
victims felt before destroying them and sometimes their planets. He never felt   
that he had to tell them why he was killing them or demolishing their homes.  
  
"Because Chloe is my home. My family lives here. My people live   
here. Why do you Saiyans have to keep killing my people?"  
  
"It's nothing personal, other than that scuffle we got into with you   
and your family earlier today. We are acting under Frieza's orders. Frieza is   
the one who wants you; we Saiyans could personally care less what happens to   
you."  
  
"What does Frieza want with me? I'm just a little girl. And I   
don't want to leave Chloe or Dirkan or my Nama! Or any of my family!"  
  
"Do you really think we care what you want?" Vegeta asked her.   
"Frieza doesn't care what you want, and neither do I! You are going to work for   
him for now on, although I can't imagine what use that he thinks he has for a   
brat like you. Frieza thinks he's going to make you into a great fighter for   
him. If he has his way, you'll grow up to be doing what we do: clearing planets   
for sale."  
  
"Doesn't that mean killing all the people on the planets? Why do   
you have to do that? Why can't you just buy the planets from them if you want   
their planets that badly?"   
  
Vegeta laughed loudly at such a ridiculous idea. Children could come up with   
the stupidest things to ask, especially Astorian children! "Are you trying to   
amuse me tonight, wench?"  
  
"My name is not brat or wench! It's Tayla! Since you know what my   
real name is now, you should say it instead of calling me those mean names. My   
name is Tayla, Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe of Chloe,   
Astoria."  
  
"I didn't need nor want to know that much about you! And why in the   
heck do you have 'Tayla' twice in the same name anyway? And also, why do you   
have four extra names?" The brat was keeping him awake, but Vegeta's curiosity   
now had the best of him, so he didn't order her to shut up and go back to sleep   
just yet.  
  
"Tayla is my birth name. Tika is my mother's name, and Shalila is   
my Nama's name. Tayla is also the name of my great-grandmother, and Rosynthia   
is my great-great grandmother's name!" Tayla said, a bit triumphantly. It was   
an Astorian tradition throughout all the Astorian clans for Astorian females to   
have their own name, plus the names of their mother, paternal grandmother,   
paternal great-grandmother and or paternal great-great grandmother. For the   
males, they also had their own name, plus the names of their father, paternal   
grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, and paternal great-great grandfather.   
"My father gave my Nama the honor of naming me, and she named me after her   
mother." Tayla was also a bit proud of her name because she knew that all of her   
sisters and nieces had her name somewhere in theirs, thanks to her   
great-grandmother!   
  
"Ridiculous!" Vegeta exclaimed, carefully hiding his fascination   
with Tayla's name. "Only one name is necessary! I'll never understand   
Astorians, and frankly I don't want to try! On Planet Vegeta, we keep things   
simple. One name for one person."  
  
"Aren't you named after your planet?"  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"Just curious."  
  
"If you must know, I am. I am also named after my father, and when   
I have a son, I will also name him Vegeta."  
  
"Is your son going to kill people too?"  
  
"Of course! Saiyans are warriors, and fighting and killing is what   
we do best."  
  
"But why? Why do you have to hurt innocent people, like us? My   
Nama even tried to make peace with you Saiyans, even though she doesn't like   
Saiyans and thinks that they are all bad. She says that she really just wants   
the Saiyans to leave the Astorians alone. My mother was even nice to your   
mother before and made her feel at home."  
  
"How does your mother know my mother?"  
  
"My brother, Raakon, told me about the meeting between the Saiyans   
and the Astorians at the Temple. After all, isn't your mother named Queen   
Muriella? Raakon told me that our mother and your mother became good friends,   
even though Astorians aren't supposed to be friends with Saiyans. Raakon told   
me that your mother was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, next to   
his wife."  
  
Vegeta was silent for a few moments, forgetting for now how much   
Tayla was annoying him. He was now interested in what the little girl was   
saying, especially the part about his mother and hers. He then briefly   
remembered the few times he had actually been home long enough to visit his   
mother, and those times had been pleasant. He had heard his mother mention the   
name, "Tika Chloe", a few times. He asked his mother who Tika Chloe was, and   
his mother told him that Tika was Shalila and Bajal Chloe's daughter-in-law.   
His mother had also mentioned the name, "Raakon Chloe", Tika's fourth oldest   
child. Muriella had then told her son the entire details about the summit   
between the Astorians and the Saiyans, and she mentioned how much she missed   
Tika and Raakon, even though she had only met them once. Muriella began   
describing Raakon to Vegeta, and Vegeta's father, King Vegeta had dropped in on   
their conversation at that exact moment. He had laughed at his wife's glowing   
description of the Astorian prince, and told his only son that Raakon had been a   
weakling who had prevented his grandfather from fighting him. King Vegeta also   
told his favored child (he had three older daughters named Soira, Silka, and   
Journa) that he was thankful that Vegeta was nothing like Raakon, and he hoped   
that little Vegeta would never be anything like the Astorian boy. Muriella   
became very sad when her husband said that, and Vegeta saw her sorrowful   
expression and pitied her. But Vegeta agreed with his father that Raakon was a   
pathetic weakling who was no true warrior. He also agreed with his father that   
his mother's idea of peace with the Astorians was ludicrous. His mother   
constantly pestered her husband to make peace with the Astorians and allow them   
to live in peace and keep their planet. Vegeta was glad his father had stood   
his ground and refused. King Vegeta indulged his mother in many things, but he   
drew the line at making peace with the Astorians and ending the Saiyans'   
partnership with Frieza. (The Saiyans' alliance with Frieza was another thing   
that Muriella strongly disapproved of because she thought that Frieza would one   
day cause the Saiyans great harm.)  
  
He looked at tiny Tayla staring at him, as if she was trying to read   
his thoughts. Vegeta winced under that intense stare, for no child should be   
able to stare like that, especially at a powerful warrior such as himself. He   
should have intimidated her, and he had, but only to a certain extent. He   
sensed that Tayla could someday grow up to become as powerful as he was. If   
Tayla had not had her wrists bound, she could cause some more serious damage to   
Vegeta, even though she was only a little girl. She had nearly defeated him   
earlier by blasting that stupid Mirror Shield attack, using Vegeta's own Final   
Flash attack against him. How can a tiny girl be so strong already? Is she   
really afraid of me, or is she only stalling for time until her family arrives?   
Vegeta was now starting to realize that Tayla was trying to survive until she   
could find a way to escape, and since she could no longer fight him with her   
fists and powers, she was fighting with her words instead. Vegeta chuckled   
softly to himself; maybe the brat wasn't so bad after all. Maybe Frieza would   
one day make Tayla join Vegeta and his comrades on their conquests; the girl   
might just come in handy---as a slave as well as a fighter. Shalila's whelp   
certainly had nerve, even when she was terrified. It would be many years before   
Tayla would be any good to Frieza or the Saiyan boys, but she could be trained   
in the meantime...  
  
"So your mother knew my mother, eh? I wonder how our mothers would   
feel if we were to go fighting together."  
  
"What???" Tayla asked, puzzled.  
  
"Simple, brat. You could join us and fight on our side. We could   
use a strong brat like you on our side, even if you are just a pathetic   
Astorian. You could be just as good a warrior as us---well never as good as me,   
of course, for I am the strongest of all---but you'd be useful to us. You don't   
even have to work for Frieza; you could just be my slave instead of his."  
  
"Why would I want to be your slave?" Tayla asked indignantly. "I   
don't want to be anyone's slave, especially a Saiyan's! And why would I want to   
kill innocent people and blow up planets? I don't want to hurt people or kill   
them, and I don't see why you do! My Nama says it's not right to kill innocent   
people and conquer their planets! My Nama helps other planets and allies with   
them, so that we all won't be killed! She tries to save lives, not destroy   
them, and I want to be just like her! I don't want to work for the Saiyans or   
Frieza!"  
  
Vegeta didn't know whether to be angry at Tayla's quick refusal of   
his "offer", or amused by her display of spirit. He finally just laughed at   
her. "You won't have much of a choice, brat! If you give in to us without   
causing us trouble, things will go easier for you."  
  
"Why would I want to be one of Frieza's flunkies, like you Saiyans   
are?" Tayla asked him angrily, finally losing her composure completely. "That's   
all Saiyans are: flunkies for Frieza! I bet if Frieza told you to cut off your   
tails and eat them, you'd do it! When Frieza tells you to jump, all you would   
do is ask, 'How high?' Your lips must be raw from kissing Frieza's tail all the   
time!"  
  
Vegeta gnashed his teeth in anger. The fear of Frieza's wrath was   
the only thing that prevented him from blasting Tayla into the next dimension.   
Frieza's flunky indeed! How dare the brat call him that! How dare she insult   
his people! Why Vegeta was planning one day to take his father's place and rule   
in his stead! Vegeta suddenly leaped onto the little girl and pinned her to the   
ground.   
  
"You're lucky that Frieza wants you alive, brat, or I'd kill you   
right now!" he growled at her. He was furious and was ready to pound the   
smart-mouthed brat into rubbish. Vegeta's surprising attack startled Tayla, but   
she was now careful not to let Vegeta see that she was frightened.   
  
She then replied sharply, "You're just mad because I'm telling the   
truth!"  
  
Vegeta raised his fist at Tayla, ready to punch her hard in her face, but   
something stopped him. Something that was deep within in his conscience that   
was telling him that it would be wrong to punch the child's face. Vegeta held   
his fist in mid-air, wanting to hit the little girl, but that tiny part of him,   
the part that was still humane, the part that Vegeta had successfully managed to   
smother, would not let him. Tayla glared at him defiantly, daring him to do it,   
but there was something in her brown eyes that let Vegeta know just how afraid   
she was of his potential assault. Tayla was trying not to let Vegeta know that   
she was scared of a punch in her face. Vegeta instead punched the ground right   
next to Tayla's face.  
  
"I spared you this time, brat!" he told her. "Next time, I won't   
show you any mercy! You say one more word for the rest of the night, and I will   
hurt you! Is that clear?"  
  
Tayla kept her defiant stare, but she nodded. She had already gone   
far enough telling Vegeta off.  
  
"Now go to sleep, brat," Vegeta ordered her, "and don't forget what   
I said."  
  
He gripped Tayla's left wrist in his hand, unaware that Tayla had managed to   
loosen the wire around it, and he fell asleep instantly. Even in his sleep,   
Vegeta's grip on her wrist was tight. Tayla sighed in despair. There went her   
chance for escape. Nothing she could do now, but go to sleep like Vegeta said.   
She closed her eyes and fell into a light, uneasy sleep. 


	8. Tayla Escapes

Chapter Eight: Tayla Escapes  
  
The next morning, Tayla awoke quickly. The three Saiyan boys were   
already awake and eating. No one offered her any breakfast. Vegeta had untied   
himself from Tayla, and he was still unaware that the wire binding her left   
wrist was loose.   
  
She could sense some familiar power levels. Her family and Dirkan   
were coming to save her! Yay! She was going home soon, and the nasty Saiyans   
would be defeated!  
  
But were they really all that nasty? After all they did feed her,   
even if it was only a drumstick. And they did give her water and let her pee.   
But that was only because they were scared of what Frieza would do to them if   
they didn't keep her alive and in good condition. Tayla couldn't imagine   
Saiyans being scared of anything. Frieza must be really strong, she thought.   
  
Tayla shuddered at the thought of having to go live with Frieza and work for   
him. That very thought had seized her little heart with terror. She had heard   
all of the horror stories from her family and Dirkan about the evil, wicked   
things that Frieza had done to innocent, helpless people. Frieza was five times   
as worse as the Saiyans were.   
  
Dirkan had told Tayla privately that Shalila literally had a heart   
attack the day she found out that the Saiyans were planning to become partners   
with Frieza. Shalila had nearly died that day. It was a dark day for her and   
all of Astoria when they learned of that horrible information. The Saiyans and   
Frieza could land on Astoria anytime they wanted to and destroy their planet.   
That was the main reason Shalila had insisted on the summit at the Temple of   
Chloe with the Saiyans. She was desperate, and when Shalila was desperate, it   
was time for everyone else to be as well. Dirkan himself had been deeply   
terrified at the thought of Frieza and the Saiyans joining forces with each   
other. The whole universe was now in great peril, and even the Astorians, the   
most powerful force of good in the Rosetta Galaxy, were now unable to help.   
  
Shalila and her people had always helped other planets in the Rosetta fend off   
Frieza and the Saiyans in the past, but now the two evil powers had become much   
stronger. After hearing of the Saiyans' alliance with Frieza, Shalila, the   
first Bajal, and Dirkan had mutually agreed that it would best to now worry   
about Astoria first and concentrate mainly on defending their planet instead of   
assisting everyone else. So from then on, Shalila only helped the other planets   
against Frieza and the Saiyans when it was absolutely necessary and possible for   
her to intervene. Most of the time, however, she was now concerned about   
Astoria alone. Frieza and the Saiyans seemed to be growing stronger each year   
that passed.  
  
Tayla remembered all of her grandmother's worried conversations with   
Dirkan about Frieza and the Saiyans. Her Nama was the most fearless woman that   
Tayla had ever known, and if something or someone was strong enough to worry   
her, it meant real trouble.  
  
But Tayla tried to push these horrible thoughts aside for right now, and she   
began to raise her power level to alert her family to her location, just like Dirkan and her Nama had taught her to do. The Saiyans told her to lower it, but she bravely ignored them. After all Dirkan and Nama were coming to rescue her, and no one was more powerful on Astoria then they were. Dirkan and Nama would be able to beat up the Saiyan boys and make them go home in no time. Tayla tried to relax a little, for who could really defeat Dirkan and Nama? Certainly not three boys, even if they were Saiyans! She would be okay, after all! That mean Vegeta and his friends were going to pay for what they did to her! She would tell Dirkan and Nama everything, and they would get the boys for her. Dirkan and Nama never let anyone bother her or treat her badly, not even   
Gorna, and Gorna was the next ruler of Astoria!   
  
Tayla thought at times that Gorna was as mean as the Saiyans, for   
Gorna fully disapproved of her and despised her, and Tayla still didn't   
understand why. In a palace where everyone adored her and catered to her,   
Gorna's loathing really hurt. She was just a small child; what could she have   
done to make Gorna so mad at her all the time? (Tayla was unaware at the time   
that Gorna was deeply jealous and resentful of Tayla's great power and   
intelligence at such an early age. Also, Gorna was jealous of Shalila's   
attention towards her youngest sibling. Tayla was ten times more popular on   
Chloe than Gorna had ever been, and Gorna deep down feared that Shalila would   
replace her with Tayla as Astoria's next ruler.)  
  
But she could also sense Gorna's ki nearby. Gorna and the others   
were almost here! If Gorna was coming to help rescue her, then maybe Gorna   
didn't hate her after all! Maybe Gorna really did care about her! She could   
also sense the ki levels of Raakon, Gracina, Cletos, Jaypros, Arlon, and Lukan   
as well. They were coming for her!  
  
Unfortunately, the Saiyans also picked up on the ki levels. The   
Astorian rescue party had revealed their ki levels now that they were nearby.   
And Tayla could now see them in the sky, and Dirkan's loud voice booming,   
  
"Release Tayla now, or you'll taste our blades!"  
  
Vegeta was both furious and amused at the same time. He was about to meet the   
so-called great fighter, Dirkan, for the first time. Vegeta had heard stories   
about Shalila's Namek bodyguard and how powerful he was. Dirkan was reputed to   
be one of the greatest fighters in the Rosetta Galaxy, and now that Vegeta had   
seen the strong Namek for the first time, he was actually looking forward to   
fighting him. Vegeta loved challenges, and the Namek would prove to be a   
worthwhile one.  
  
"Are you okay, Tayla?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
"Just fine, now that all of you are here!" Tayla cried happily. The   
Saiyans were going to get just what they deserved now! When Vegeta's back was   
turned on her, Tayla started to once again work with the wire that was binding   
her wrists together. Her left wrist was almost free! Just a little longer...  
  
"If you want her, Namek, come and get her!" Vegeta crowed at Dirkan.   
"I can't promise that I'll spare you though! You'll be dead before you reach   
her!"  
  
"Not if you don't die, first, brat!" Dirkan shouted back, his sword   
already drawn.  
  
"Release Tayla now!" Shalila yelled, "And we may even spare you   
nasty boys!"  
  
Vegeta had a quick conference with Nappa and Raditz while Tayla continued to   
struggle with the wire binding her wrists. The three young Saiyan warriors   
spilt the Astorian rescuers among them: Vegeta would take on both Shalila and   
Dirkan, and Nappa and Raditz could have the rest.   
  
"Nappa, before we began defeating these weaklings," Vegeta ordered,   
"I want you to tie Tayla to a tree. Make sure her wrists are still bound, so   
that she can't escape and help her family."  
  
Nappa grunted, "Sure." He turned around and went to do Vegeta's   
bidding, only he couldn't do as Vegeta had told him to. There was a slight   
problem...  
  
"Tayla's gone!"  
  
"What?" Vegeta roared. "Where is she?"  
  
A pile of wire lay on the blanket where Tayla should have been lying   
down. Tayla had escaped!  
  
"Blasted girl!" Vegeta shouted in fury. Now he and his partners had   
two problems! Now that Tayla was no longer their hostage, the Astorians would   
fight them harder than ever now that their princess was out of danger. Vegeta   
could have used Tayla as insurance so that he and the others would not be harmed   
or conquered; now he nothing to use against them.  
  
"Nappa and Raditz, why weren't you two idiots watching her?" Vegeta   
growled, determined to blame someone for his new misfortune. "How could you two   
let her slip away?"  
  
"We thought that you were watching her," Raditz retorted, "so why   
would we need to pay attention? Frieza mainly wanted you to capture her, not   
us."  
  
Vegeta raised his hand to pull a Big Bang attack on Raditz, for   
Raditz's insolence, but then thought better of it. He could have easily   
destroyed Raditz, but he needed Raditz now, and Vegeta didn't want to waste his   
time or ki on the longhaired Saiyan.  
  
"Raditz, go hunt for the brat now before I blast you!" Vegeta   
ordered. "Nappa, come with me!"  
  
Raditz grudgingly went to do as Vegeta told him. Nappa and Vegeta   
leaped off of the ground like rockets and took off into the sky to meet the   
Astorian fighters.  
  
"Don't waste a lot of time on the others," Vegeta told Nappa,   
meaning everyone except for Shalila and Dirkan. "They are of no real   
consequence. Just destroy them quickly."  
  
"With pleasure." Nappa grinned.  
  
"Shalila and Dirkan are mine. I will deal with them personally,"   
Vegeta added. "Do not intervene with my battle. I am looking forward to   
defeating these two on my own. I will always be known as the greatest warrior   
because I will have destroyed Shalila Chloe and her precious Namek!"  
  
He looked straight at Shalila and Dirkan. "Which one of you two   
wants to die first?"  
  
Dirkan laughed loudly at the Saiyan prince's idiotic question. The   
Saiyan prince was powerful, but basically an arrogant boy who needed a good   
beating.  
  
"I guess I'll take you on first, brat of King Vegeta!"  
  
Vegeta smiled, pleased. "Let's go then, Namek! You don't know how   
I've been looking forward to meeting you!"   
  
"Same here," Dirkan asserted. "Now I hope that you are looking   
forward to your early grave!"  
  
Vegeta chuckled softly. That elder brother of Tayla's had been as   
self-assured as Dirkan, and Vegeta had nearly finished him off! The Namek would   
be no different.  
  
"This battle is between me and you only," Vegeta told Dirkan. "Your   
Superior Gran is not to interfere, or I will call Raditz and Nappa to join us.   
And when Raditz eventually finds Tayla, I will order him to kill her should   
anyone intervene in our battle. When you die, then your precious Astorian   
leader can take me on, and I will destroy her as well!"  
  
"You won't live long enough, brat, to touch Shalila or Tayla!"   
Dirkan told the boy. "But for now, I will agree to your terms! This is between   
me and you alone!"  
  
Dirkan and Vegeta flew to an uninhabited cliff for their battle.   
Dirkan lunged at Vegeta and Vegeta lunged back. The two mighty warriors began   
punching and kicking each other. Vegeta flew into the air and launched a Final   
Flash attack on the Namek, but Dirkan easily dodged it and used his spare few   
seconds to prepare for a powerful ki attack to use on the Saiyan prince. He   
then blasted his attack at Vegeta, hitting Vegeta before Vegeta had a   
chance to escape it. Vegeta was blasted out of the sky, and he crashed into the   
cliff like a meteor.  
  
"BOOM!" The explosion could be heard throughout Chloe. Nappa and   
the Astorians stopped fighting temporarily to watch Vegeta's defeat. They all   
stood the air in amazement.  
  
"That's it, Dirkan-love," Shalila whispered in relief. She smiled,   
drew her famous Sword of Chloe, and went to search for her granddaughter, Tayla.  
  
Tayla had her ki level concealed, but she sensed that Raditz was   
following close behind her. She had to keep moving. If she tried to fly to her   
family now, the Saiyans would certainly gang up on her, and she no longer had   
her sword, which she also could have used to fight ki blasts.  
  
While Vegeta had his war conference with Raditz and Nappa, Tayla had   
finally freed both of her wrists of that horrible wire and slipped away quickly.   
Once again able to conceal her ki level, she had been able to get a head start   
ahead of the persistent Raditz. She was flying low beneath Chloe's tall trees,   
trying to outrace Raditz in hopes of leading him to an open field.  
  
Finally, she found what she was looking for. There was an open   
green meadow just beyond the trees. Tayla flew faster until she reached the   
meadow. There was none of her family living nearby, so she knew that this would   
be a safe place to face down Raditz.  
  
Tayla landed on a rock in the middle of the meadow and raised her power level to   
lure Raditz to her. She knew that even with her power level concealed, Raditz   
would have eventually found her, so she would have to fight him sooner or later.   
She had no intention of being captured again.  
  
Raditz found the child quickly. He smirked evilly at her, as he   
stood in mid-air, looking down on the determined little princess. "Well, well,   
looks like you didn't get too far, did you? Now come with me, nice and quietly,   
and I promise that I won't hurt you! Come to Raditz now!"  
  
Tayla gave an unladylike snort of contempt that would have appalled   
Gracina. "Come with you? Please! I'd sooner kiss Frieza's tail like you do!"  
  
Raditz snarled at her. "Don't make me hurt you, brat! Come back   
with me now!"  
  
"Never!" Tayla cried at him. "If you want me, come and get me!" The   
girl jumped off of the rock and hopped into a hole deep underground.  
  
Raditz cursed in Saiyan, and dived towards the hole where Tayla had   
leaped. This brat wasn't going to outsmart him so easily. Raditz ducked into   
the hole and began digging his way through the piles of dirt that Tayla had   
deliberately made to delay him. Raditz continued threading his way through the   
tunnel underground, and then he came to a fork in the tunnel. Which way should   
he go?  
  
Raditz looked at the smaller of the two openings. "The brat must   
have used the smaller of the two," he thought, with a rare flash of insight. He   
wasn't as smart as Vegeta, but he was definitely smarter than Nappa. Raditz   
crawled through the smaller tunnel, but got him stuck. He was like a giant   
cork, plugging up the tunnel. Raditz squirmed and struggled to free himself,   
but finally he decided to use a ki blast to widen the tunnel. But before he   
could do so, he screamed in tremendous pain!  
  
Someone was squeezing his tail!  
  
Tayla!  
  
"Let me go, brat!" he cried in his agony. Did that girl really have   
to squeeze his tail so tightly?  
  
"Not after what you did to Marya!" Tayla shouted angrily. She   
continued to squeeze, and she raised her free hand at Raditz. She launched a   
powerful ki blast right at the near-helpless Saiyan, blasting him right out of   
the ground and straight into the sky.  
  
Raditz crashed into a nearby mountain like a boulder. He was now badly injured,   
and barely alive. Where had that kid learned such power? Raditz groaned, as   
his face brushed against hard rock. He was covered in blood, and his arm was   
bent at a strange angle. Raditz moaned out loud in pain, and he lay still,   
fearing that moving would hurt him further. Blood poured from his face, but he   
would live. The longhaired Saiyan decided to rest his eyes for a few moments;   
Vegeta would have a fit, if he knew that Raditz was taking a break, but Raditz   
needed a little time to recover before facing Tayla again.   
  
Raditz's shock turned into pure fury. That squab was going to pay   
for what she had done to him! How dare a little girl get the best of him? He   
was Raditz, the second most powerful Saiyan boy next to Vegeta! People trembled   
in fear just to hear his name, for crying out loud! Who did Shalila's brat   
think she was?  
  
Raditz tried to get up, but the pain was too much for him. But his   
anger was giving him new strength. In just a few minutes, maybe, just maybe, he   
could go back and take care of that brat!  
  
"You'll pay, Princess Tayla of Chloe!" he screamed angrily. "You   
will pay for what you did to me!"  
  
  
  
  
Shalila found Tayla, a few minutes after Tayla had sent Raditz   
flying into a mountain. The exhausted child was crawling out of the hole that   
she had just made. Tayla's face was dirty and her little red, white and gold   
uniform was torn and tattered. Her grimy face lit up with happiness when she   
saw her grandmother.  
  
"Nama!"   
  
"Tayla! Oh, my Tayla!"  
  
"Nama!" Tayla flew right into Shalila's arms, nearly knocking the   
older woman down. She wrapped her arms around Shalila's neck and hugged her   
tight. Shalila hugged her back, and she shed rare tears. Her brave little   
Tayla was safe! Shalila had seen Tayla throw Raditz into the sky, and she was   
proud of her. But even if Tayla hadn't fought, Shalila was still glad to see   
her, for she was mainly thankful that her favorite was alive and well. She   
covered Tayla's dirt-smudged face with kisses, and Tayla hugged her tighter than   
ever.  
  
Tayla asked if everyone was still alive, and Shalila assured her   
that they were, except for possibly Raditz and Vegeta. Tayla began telling her   
Nama all that occurred during her night with the Saiyans, and Shalila comforted   
and sympathized with her. Tayla's stomach growled noisily, for she had not   
eaten since last night when she received the drumstick. But she ignored her   
hunger for now; the Saiyans still had to be stopped.  
  
"So there's only one more Saiyan left to fight, right?" Tayla asked.  
  
"I hope so, child, I hope so," Shalila replied. She continued to   
cuddle Tayla close to her, holding her up in the air when suddenly Shalila's   
heart froze.  
  
Dirkan!  
  
"Dirkan!" both Shalila and Tayla cried in fear. Something terrible   
had happened to their favorite Namek! They both could feel it.  
  
Shalila was shaking all over. She took a deep breath and told   
Tayla, "I have to go to Dirkan, child. Tayla, I want you to fly straight home   
to the Palace and stay there."  
  
Tayla shook her head firmly, for she was as stubborn as her   
grandmother was. She wasn't about to run from a fight. Everyone always said   
that Tayla was the one most like Shalila.   
  
"I can't, Nama. You and Dirkan and the others need me. I can't run   
away."  
  
"Tayla, the Saiyans are after you! I am not going to lose you to   
them! I want you to go home! And that is final!"  
  
"No, Nama, I can't!" Tayla persisted. Her refusal to follow her   
grandmother's orders stunned Shalila too much for the Superior Gran to be   
angered. Tayla had never disobeyed her before, never. She was about to   
reprimand the girl, when Tayla continued to speak:  
  
"The Saiyans are just going to follow me there anyway, and then   
everyone else will be in danger because they will fight to protect me. More   
people would just get hurt or killed. No matter where I go, they will try to   
find me. I am not safe yet, no matter where I may hide. And they're planning   
to kill everyone on this planet anyway, Nama, so you're going to need all the   
help that you can get. I can't leave. I will not leave."  
  
"Tayla, I said---" Ah, what was the use? Tayla was as stubborn as   
she was. Shalila Chloe was the strongest, proudest, and most stubborn woman in   
the Rosetta Galaxy, yet her own granddaughter's will matched her own in every   
way. Tayla was definitely Shalila all over again, although much gentler in   
manner. Shalila sighed in frustration and fear. She knew that Tayla was right,   
but Shalila was not happy about her youngest granddaughter staying around in the   
midst of battle. Tayla was only seven years old and little for her age,   
although at her age, she was very strong. Shalila had to decide fast about how   
she was going to handle Tayla and save Dirkan before it was too late.   
  
Finally she said, "Alright, Tayla, you may remain for now. But you   
are to stay near me until this is over, and do exactly as you are told."  
  
Tayla nodded humbly. "Yes, Nama."  
  
"AHHHHH!" Dirkan's loud cry of pain echoed across the land.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila screamed. "Tayla, we have to go!"  
  
She and Tayla launched off of the ground like rockets and soared   
into the air. They flew towards the cliff where Dirkan and Vegeta had been   
fighting. That was when Tayla saw a giant ape-like creature standing on the   
cliff, holding Dirkan in its huge, gorilla-like hand.  
  
"Nama!" Tayla shrieked. "What is that monster?"  
  
Shalila's heart stopped beating for a second. No! Anything, but   
this! How could it even be possible?  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila screamed.  
  
"Dirkan!" Tayla cried in terror when she saw the ape-monster flick   
Dirkan repeatedly with his thick index finger. "Nama, what is that?"  
  
Shalila choked out the answer. "It is an Oozaru, child! That is   
Vegeta, in his strongest form ever!"  
  
Tayla was shocked. "That giant monkey is Vegeta?" She had never   
seen a real Oozaru before.  
  
"That's right, Tayla. I want you to stay here while I go rescue   
Dirkan. And I mean it. Stay here!"  
  
"But Nama-" Tayla began to protest, but Shalila gave her an   
'obey-me-or-else' look, a look that she rarely gave her granddaughter. Tayla   
recognized the look from when she had seen Shalila scold her servants or snap at   
Gorna, and so she reluctantly submitted, for her grandmother's lightest wish was   
law to her.  
  
"Yes, Nama," she sighed.  
  
"Conceal your ki level, and stay out of sight," Shalila continued.   
"And do not leave here until I return unless the Saiyans find you."  
  
Tayla nodded. She wanted to go help Nama, but even she rarely went   
against her grandmother's orders. "Are you going to be okay, Nama?" she asked   
worriedly.  
  
Shalila infused some of her arrogance and confidence in her next   
statement, although she was not entirely sure she could give Tayla a positive   
answer. "Of course I am, child. I am Shalila Chloe, one of the greatest   
fighters in this galaxy. Since when have I ever really been defeated?   
Good-bye, little dandelion; I will return soon."  
  
Shalila prepared to leave, but Tayla caught her arm. "Nama, I   
thought that Saiyans could only become Oozarus if they had light from a full   
moon. But it's daytime, and none of our moons or our planet would be full!"  
  
"I don't know, child, but it doesn't matter now. I have to get to   
Dirkan now. Farewell!" Shalila took off into the sky quickly, leaving Tayla   
behind.  
  
"Don't die, Nama, Dirkan," Tayla whispered tearfully. She was   
scared for them both. She sat down and hugged her knees, trying to hold back   
her tears. 


	9. The Oozarus

Chapter Nine: The Oozarus  
  
Shalila had her sword drawn when she neared the cliff where Dirkan's   
life hung in the balance in Vegeta's ape-like hands. Vegeta, unlike most   
Saiyans-turned-Oozarus, was able to fully control his powers while in Oozaru   
form. He had created a Power Ball from his own ki that emitted the exact same   
light as moonlight. This allowed him (and unfortunately Nappa as well) to   
transform into a giant Oozaru without a full moon. Vegeta only used the Power   
Ball as a last resort because it took some of his ki to create it, but there was   
no full moonlight, so he had no choice. He was going to destroy everything and   
everyone on this piece of rock if it was the last thing he ever did.  
  
Nappa, in his Oozaru form had grabbed Arlon and Gracina in his   
hands, and he was now squeezing them tightly. He easily kicked away the other   
Astorians who were trying to chop off his tail with their swords. He kicked   
Lukan hard with his foot, causing Lukan to fly seven hundred feet away from him   
and almost into a nearby mountain. Lukan crashed into the ground hard and was   
knocked into unconsciousness. He was now out of the battle, just barely   
clinging to life.  
  
Cletos was flying and slicing at Nappa's arms with his sword, hoping   
to distract Nappa long enough until Gorna, Jaypros and Raakon could cut off   
Nappa's tail. Once Nappa's tail was removed, Nappa would shrink down back to   
his normal size and become a regular Saiyan once more. Then the Astorians'   
chances against him would greatly increase once more.  
  
Unfortunately, Cletos did not succeed at distracting Nappa for long.   
Nappa used his long tail to grab Jaypros, squeeze him hard, and then toss him   
into Chloe's one and only ocean. Nappa tried the same method to rid himself of   
Gorna and Raakon, but both of them dodged his swinging tail.  
  
Gorna flew right up into Nappa's gorilla face and charged at it with   
her sword. She was the fiercest and strongest female fighter of the Mantros   
Chloe siblings (Bajal was the fiercest and strongest male fighter). She stabbed   
Nappa in his cheek, and this angered Nappa further. Nappa threw Arlon away into   
a nearby canyon, and Arlon barely survived that. He too was now out of the   
battle.  
  
Nappa tried to grab Gorna, but Gorna dodged him and laughed right in   
his face. She had managed to yank her sword out of Nappa's face and decided to   
stab him through the heart instead. But this time, Nappa managed to seize   
Gorna, and he gave her a good shaking.   
  
Gracina managed to free one of her hands from Nappa's grip and she electrocuted   
him with all of her remaining ki and might. But Gracina's electric touch was   
now only a mild shock to the giant Oozaru. (Electrocution has little effect on   
an Oozaru unless many Astorians are electrocuting him at once. One Astorian   
electrocuting him would hardly work.)  
  
Nappa laughed at Gracina's attempt to harm him further. He and   
Vegeta were among the few Saiyans that could speak while in Oozaru form, and he   
said to her: "Good try, blond woman, but it won't work! Here, go join your   
brothers!" And with that he threw a screaming Gracina towards the same ocean   
where he had thrown Jaypros.   
  
But Gracina was able to stop herself in mid-throw. She took a few   
breaths to recover and tried to raise her power level to make it last longer.   
She had to stop Nappa. She stood there in mid-air and began to gather ki for a   
decent blast at the giant ape-creature. The glowing pink ball grew as large as   
an elephant's head. When it was this size, Gracina threw the ki ball towards   
Nappa's back like volleyball.   
  
"Fireworks Ball!" Gracina shouted loudly. The ball stopped just a   
few inches of Nappa's skin. Then the ball suddenly exploded into hundreds of   
smaller ki balls, and all of these balls pummeled into Nappa's back like bullets   
mixed with fireworks. Nappa screamed in pain and released Gorna, who flew away   
rapidly.  
  
Gorna and Cletos charged up their own Fireworks Balls and tossed   
them at Nappa from the front. Nappa cried in agony, and then he felt himself   
shrinking-rapidly.  
  
Someone had cut off his tail!  
  
Nappa continued to shrink quickly back into his normal size, and the   
fur began to transform into normal flesh. When the shrinking was complete,   
Nappa's body was covered in sweat, and his clothes were torn. He turned around   
and charged up a ki ball to attack the cretin who had dared to chop off his   
tail.  
  
Raakon.  
  
That man would soon be toast, if Nappa had his way.  
  
But Raakon was well prepared for Nappa attempting vengeance. Raakon   
had his sword drawn, and he was ready to face down Nappa. He charged at Nappa   
with his sword, but Nappa lunged at Raakon's stomach, knocking Raakon off of his   
feet. Raakon's sword fell out of his hand, and he then decided to resort to   
hand-to-hand combat. He and Nappa began kicking and punching each other, using   
their superb martial arts skills on each other. The two fighters flew into the   
air and continued to fight hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot.  
  
Gorna, Cletos, and Gracina just watched in amazement because this   
fight was now evenly matched. Cletos then left to go fight Vegeta, and Gorna   
joined him, although Gorna could honestly have cared less about Dirkan. Gracina   
flew away to find her fallen siblings to rescue them after finding her lost   
medical bag and sword.  
  
Raakon and Nappa continued battling each other. Nappa kicked Raakon   
hard in his face with a roundhouse kick, but Raakon used that opportunity to hit   
Nappa hard in his shin. Nappa nailed Raakon in his stomach with his giant fist,   
but Raakon socked Nappa hard in his jaw, and the punch was so hard that it sent   
Nappa flying a couple of miles away. Raakon flew right after Nappa to finish   
their battle.  
  
Meanwhile, Vegeta the Oozaru was crushing Dirkan in his giant grip.   
Dirkan repeatedly stabbed Vegeta's fist with his Light Blade, but Vegeta merely   
laughed at him, for the sword jabs hurt him no more than needle pricks. Gorna   
and Cletos were now attacking the ape-prince, but their efforts were   
ineffective, for although they were among Astoria's strongest warriors, Vegeta   
was the most powerful Oozaru the two had ever fought. Vegeta smacked Cletos   
away, as if he had been no more than a fly, but Cletos flew back and aimed for   
Vegeta's tail. Vegeta turned around rapidly and kicked Cletos hard, as if   
Cletos was a small rock, before the Astorian prince had a chance to slice off   
Vegeta's tail. Cletos came back again quickly, but Vegeta filled his lungs with   
air, and with a strong wind from his mouth, he blew Cletos far, far away into a   
giant cliff. Cletos was smashed into the cliff, and he fell down rapidly, where   
he crashed into the ocean. The ocean was the only thing that saved poor Cletos   
from death.  
  
Gracina was still searching for her fallen comrades, so the only   
ones left to fight Vegeta were Gorna and Shalila, who had arrived in the nick of   
time. Dirkan was now piercing Vegeta's skin with his eye lasers, and these were   
causing some damage to Vegeta, but not enough for Vegeta to release him.  
  
"Gorna," Shalila ordered, "go for his tail. I will free Dirkan."  
  
"Right, Nama," Gorna told her. Even though she and her grandmother   
didn't always get along, Gorna respected Shalila and almost always followed her   
orders.  
  
Shalila began shooting ki blasts at Vegeta in order to force him to   
release Dirkan. Vegeta reflected some of them away with his free hand, but   
Shalila pulled a Solar Flare attack on him, temporarily blinding him and Dirkan   
as well. While the light blinded Vegeta, Shalila decided to chop off Vegeta's   
hand, the one that was holding Dirkan. She raised her sword and brought down on   
Vegeta's wrist, but the ape-prince managed to flick Shalila away before she was   
able to fully succeed. Shalila flew back rapidly, shot another Solar Flare   
attack, and made another attempt to free Dirkan. This time, she cut a deep gash   
in Vegeta's hand with her sword. Shalila's attack had been so quick and sharp   
that this time Vegeta suffered real pain and he roared in agony. Finally, he   
had to release Dirkan, and Dirkan escaped quickly.  
After taking a few moments to catch his breath, Dirkan fired his eye lasers at   
Vegeta once more, heading them right at his face. Shalila released another   
Solar Flare attack, and Vegeta's temporary blindness gave the temporarily   
blinded Dirkan a chance to fire up for his own version of a Makansappo attack.   
Dirkan opened his green hands and shot the beam cannon right at Vegeta's chest.  
  
This attack would have worked, if Vegeta hadn't dodged it in time.   
He jumped out of the way of the Namek's beam cannon, and when he landed again on   
the moon, he caused a minor earthquake that shook one quarter of Chloe's lands.   
Dirkan cursed himself for missing, and he prepared to fire up for another one,   
but before he could do that, Vegeta pulled one of his last desperate stunts.  
  
Vegeta cupped his hands together openly and shouted, "Final Flash!"   
He aimed it right at Shalila and Dirkan. The Final Flash was ten times more   
effective when created by a Saiyan in Oozaru form.   
  
"BLAST! BOOM!"  
  
The Final Flash crashed right into Dirkan and Shalila, knocking them   
both right out of the sky before Shalila was able to use a Mirror Shield to   
reflect it back. Astoria's two strongest fighters crashed into the earth like   
meteors, and their crashing caused a minor explosion.  
  
Their ki levels could no longer be felt.  
  
Gorna screamed when she saw her grandmother and Dirkan fall in   
defeat. Now it was all up to her. Gorna was basically selfish and   
self-centered, but deep down, she did care for her grandmother. Gorna feared   
the worst.  
  
Could her grandmother really be dead? Gorna, like all the other   
Astorians, believed that Shalila Chloe was invincible.  
  
She could not sense Shalila's ki level at all, and Gorna was not   
concerned about Dirkan at all.  
  
Gorna trembled with her sword in hand.  
  
If Nama is dead, she thought, then this must mean...  
  
I am now Superior Gran!  
  
Gorna aimed her sword towards Vegeta's tail. She would take down   
this monkey once and for all and make her fallen grandmother and the ancestors   
proud!  
  
She and Nama had never really been close, but her grandmother was   
still family and the former Superior Gran. Gorna knew it was her duty to avenge   
Shalila, even though Gorna had been looking forward to the day when she would   
become the ruler of Astoria.  
  
"Say your last prayers, savage monkey," she hissed quietly at   
Vegeta, as she prepared to slice off Vegeta's tail.  
  
But the tail was too fast for her. The Oozaru-prince's tail coiled   
itself around Gorna like a hungry snake, and it began to squeeze her hard.   
Gorna bit her lip to prevent from screaming. Her arms and legs were now encased   
in the tail's grip. Gorna could not move, as Vegeta continued to squeeze her   
tightly. He used his powerful tail to slam Gorna into a nearby tree, over and   
over!  
  
Gorna gave one last scream before she was knocked unconscious. When   
she was knocked out, Vegeta spat on his captive and used his tail to fling Gorna   
into a giant rock.  
  
Gorna crashed into the rock, and all of her ribs cracked, but she   
clung to her life--barely.  
  
Gorna only regained consciousness long enough to wonder what had   
happened and how she could have been so easily defeated by a mere monkey.  
  
She closed her green eyes, and then everything went black....  
  
  
  
  
"NAMA! DIRKAN! GORNA!"  
Tayla felt Nama and Dirkan's horrific defeat. She could still sense   
Gorna's ki, but not her beloved Nama's or her sensei's. She had not fully   
mastered ki level sensing yet, and she could no longer sense their ki levels at   
all.  
  
Were they dead?  
  
No! It couldn't be!  
  
Not Nama and Dirkan!  
  
Tayla screamed aloud, the grief threatening to rip her heart and   
chest opened.  
  
"NAMA! DIRKAN! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! NO! DON'T BE DEAD, PLEASE!"  
  
The little girl burst into tears and deep sobs. Her whole small   
body shook. Nama and Dirkan were definitely gone now. They had to be, for   
Tayla could not sense them-anywhere.  
  
"NO! NAMA! DIRKAN!"  
  
The grief and the anger rippled throughout Tayla's tiny form, and   
then something strange and terrifying happened.  
  
Her power level began to rise rapidly, so rapidly that the power   
increase caused the girl tremendous pain. Tayla screamed again, as the rising   
ki shot throughout her body. She felt as if she was on fire; she was burning up   
on the inside. She was certain she was going to explode; her body felt as if   
were encased in white-hot flames. Her flesh felt as if it were going to melt   
off of her.  
  
Her body glowed a bright yellow-orange color, and the pain and   
burning intensified. Tayla shrieked in horror and terror. She had no doubts   
that she was going to die, just like Nama and Dirkan.  
  
Then just when Tayla could no longer stand the excruciating pain and   
agony, it began to suddenly ease quickly. The fire within her began to cool   
down, but her power level remained high, ten times as strong as it was before.  
  
Tayla was crying and sweating afterwards, but she felt stronger than   
ever. She had more ki than ever, and she knew just what to do with it.  
  
She had to avenge Nama and Dirkan and all of her fallen family   
members.  
  
I'm sorry to disobey you, Nama, Tayla thought, trying to hold back   
her tears, but I have to fight them now. I'm glad that I didn't make a Seven   
Moons oath that I wouldn't fight them.  
Tayla wiped away the last of her tears. She would have to mourn later. Right   
now, Astoria and her family's lives were at stake.  
  
"I'll make them pay for hurting us, Nama, and for killing you and   
Dirkan," Tayla whispered. "I swear that by the Seven Moons of Astoria."  
  
And with that promise, she held up seven fingers to seal her oath   
and flew off to face her Nama and Dirkan's murderers. 


	10. Tayla Returns

Chapter Ten: Tayla Returns  
  
Shalila and Dirkan were still alive, but barely. Shalila was   
luckier than Dirkan. She could still stand.  
  
Dirkan was not so fortunate. He was so badly injured and weakened   
now that he could hardly even move. But their clothes had been mostly burned   
away from their bodies, and they both had many broken bones. The two warriors   
tried to struggle to their feet, and Shalila barely succeeded, but Dirkan could   
not manage even this action.  
  
Shalila whispered hoarsely to her old friend, "It's up to Gorna   
now."  
  
Dirkan nodded weakly. Gorna was a good fighter; Dirkan acknowledged   
that, although he did not care much for Gorna, or for Shalila allowing her to be   
the next ruler of Astoria. He just hoped that Gorna would not allow her pride   
or her ego to get in the way of defeating Vegeta.  
  
He and Shalila silently prayed to Shalila's ancestors that Tayla was   
safe, wherever the child was. Dirkan was not particularly religious, but prayer   
never really hurt anyone.  
  
Dirkan wondered weakly how Raakon was doing. Raakon had been one of his best   
students, but Raakon had not fought for a long time. He hoped that Raakon still   
had what it took to be a warrior.  
  
Raakon and Gorna were now Astoria's last hopes.  
  
Or were they?  
  
  
  
  
Raakon and Nappa were still fighting. Both of their ki levels were   
plummeting rapidly, for the battle was taking its toll on both of them. The   
fight was still evenly matched, and Raakon was doing exceptionally well for   
someone who had not fought a battle in seventeen years. The Astorian prince was   
still holding his own, although his ki level had started to drain faster than   
Nappa's. The two men punched and kicked each other repeatedly.  
  
They both flew up into the air, and that was when the tide started   
to turn-for Nappa.  
  
Raakon pulled back his fist to assault Nappa once more, but his effort was no   
longer at his best. Raakon was tiring quickly now, and Nappa, who was tiring   
himself, took full advantage of this. He easily dodged Raakon's fist and moved   
rapidly behind Raakon.  
  
Nappa then punched Raakon hard in the middle of his back with both of his large   
fists. Before Raakon could respond, Nappa hit his opponent again in his head.   
Raakon was not knocked out completely, but he was disoriented. Nappa flew   
farther away from Raakon, raised his palm in a 90-degree angle and shouted, "Big   
Bang!"   
  
Raakon could have used Mirror Shield to reflect it back at Nappa,   
but by then he was too unsettled and weakened to respond quickly. He could not   
move fast enough to use Mirror Shield to protect himself from Nappa's attack.  
  
Nappa's Big Bang smashed hard into Raakon, shoving him out of the   
sky. Below Raakon's rapidly fall towards the ground were some sharp, pointed   
rocks. (Raakon and Nappa had continued their battle over a canyon with many   
rapids and sharp rocks.) Raakon would be killed instantly when he hit the   
ground. Nappa stood in the air, hands on his waist, and grinned evilly. That   
Astorian idiot would get what he deserved. He laughed wickedly and loudly.   
Raakon continued to plummet towards the bottom of the canyon rapidly. He would   
soon die!  
  
"Farewell, Prince of Chloe!" Nappa roared happily. Even Vegeta   
would be proud of him for this one.  
  
Nappa continued laughing...  
  
And laughing...  
  
But then...  
  
The laughter suddenly stopped!  
  
"What?" Nappa shouted when his laughter had ceased. No, this   
couldn't be happening!  
  
No way!  
  
The brat was back!  
  
And she held her fallen brother, Raakon, in her arms while flying in   
mid-air!  
  
Nappa paled slightly when he saw the girl. Raditz was supposed to   
have recaptured that brat. Where in the universe was he?  
  
Tayla ignored Nappa for now. Raakon was her main concern; he was   
near death. Tayla gently carried her wounded brother over to a cliff and laid   
him down on the soft Astorian grass. Although Raakon was a bit slight for a   
fighter, he was still heavy. But his heaviness did not worry the girl, for she   
was strong physically herself. She was a beginning healior, but she felt Raakon   
and examined the best she could without her medical bag, almost like an   
experienced healior.  
  
Tayla was repressing her fury during all of this. Those Saiyan   
savages just didn't know when to stop! She gnashed her teeth and clenched her   
small fists after laying her brother down. She pushed back her anger down   
further.  
  
"Raakon?" she whispered hoarsely. "Are you okay?"  
  
Raakon groaned and nodded weakly. He touched Tayla's hand, and he   
felt the girl's increased power. It was so strong now that it nearly stung him   
just to touch her. The child was unknowingly emitting a soft, golden glow about   
her.   
  
"Tayla," he choked out, "what happened to you? Where and when did   
you get this new power?"  
  
"I'm not sure how---how it happened," his little sister stammered.   
"All I know is that it hurt a lot---and I mean a lot! I felt like I was on   
fire! I thought that I was going to die and burn up!"  
  
Raakon gasped aloud. He used his remaining strength to sit up and   
seize his sister by her thin shoulders. She was so young to experience   
this---so young. But then not many children had to fight a battle at her age...  
  
And that new surge of power---she was so young to have that   
experience. That meant...  
  
"You've had your Awakening, child!" he cried. "Your hidden power   
has been awakened, released! And at such a young age! I was ten years older   
than you are now before that happened to me! It hasn't even happened to my   
children, but then they are not fighters. This is amazing, incredible!" Raakon   
pulled his small sister into a tight embrace. Tayla hugged him back fiercely,   
even though she was still too young to appreciate and comprehend the new power   
that she had just received. For now Tayla only remembered the pain of the   
Awakening and the intense grief she had felt when Dirkan and Nama...  
  
"Dirkan and Nama are dead, Raakon!" she shrieked suddenly.  
  
Raakon shook his head at her, for he could feel their ki signatures,   
although they were very low. "No, child, they are not. They have been defeated   
badly, but they live. Can you feel them now?"  
  
Tayla tried to and found that she could. She could now detect now   
the lowest ki signatures, something that she had never been able to do before.   
They were alive! Nama and Dirkan were alive! She cried tears of happiness. No   
one was dead yet!  
  
"Yes!" she yelled joyously.  
  
However, her joy quickly turned into fear, for at that moment, she   
and Raakon felt an evil presence very close to them.  
  
"Nappa!" Raakon cried when he saw that the muscular Saiyan had   
joined them on the cliff. "Tayla, run, get out of here now!"  
  
Tayla was trembling with fear, but she said firmly, "I'm not going   
anywhere. He is scary, but he has to be stopped."  
  
Nappa smirked at the child. "Okay, brat," he told her, "the fun's   
over. Time to surrender or else!"  
  
Tayla stared at him defiantly, as the new power surged through her.   
"Or else what?" she asked.  
  
Nappa grinned evilly. "Oh, you don't want to know, brat. I suggest   
you surrender to me now!"  
  
Tayla told him icily, "Make me, you flunky of Frieza."  
  
Nappa snarled, "That's it, brat, you've asked for it! NO ONE CALLS   
ME A FLUNKY!" He cupped his hands together to create a huge ki attack that would   
cripple Tayla and kill the wounded Raakon. Tayla quickly folded her arms   
together in Mirror Shield position.  
  
Nappa fired his attack. It wasn't a Big Bang, but it was almost as deadly.   
Before Tayla's Awakening, it would have been too strong for her to deflect with   
Mirror Shield because she had not been as strong or as experienced then. But   
now...  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!" she shrieked, her voice echoing across the canyon,   
as she easily deflected Nappa's powerful attack. The ki beam deflected right   
back onto Nappa and shoved him off the cliff, as if a boulder had crashed into   
him.  
  
"AHHHH!" he cried with horror and pain, as he fell crashing towards   
the jagged rocks of the canyon.  
  
Tayla flew off the cliff after Nappa, as Nappa continued to fall   
into the rocky canyon. But Nappa hit the ground before Tayla could reach him   
to finish the battle. His body crashed into the hard ground, but he missed the   
jagged rocks just by a few inches.   
  
He lay there and groaned when Tayla landed near him. The little   
princess watched the squirming, injured Saiyan warily. Tayla raised her power   
level even higher just in case Nappa should rise up and attack again.  
  
Nappa struggled to his feet to once again face down the meddlesome   
child, but he heard a voice on his nearly broken scouter, "Nappa, forget this   
girl for now. I will deal with her myself personally."  
  
Vegeta's scouter, which amazingly had remained intact after Vegeta   
became an Oozaru, was being used to send a message to Nappa. His voice echoed   
through Nappa's ears.   
  
He signaled back, "Let me do it, prince. I want to finish her off   
myself."  
  
Vegeta's voice roared through the scouter, "Do you dare defy me, Nappa? I said   
that I would take care of her myself. We don't want her dead, just recaptured.   
Apparently, you and that third-class fool, Raditz, couldn't recapture her. I   
should blast you both away for that alone! You two are fortunate that I still   
need you to help me wipe out this planet, or I would eliminate you both! It is   
ridiculous that two mighty Saiyan warriors cannot catch a weakling little girl!   
Now go find Raditz and put yourselves back together quickly! The brat is mine!   
You and Raditz can finish off the others. Start destroying everyone else on   
this planet. We will wait no longer! That brat and her family have caused more   
trouble than I thought they would. NOW GO!"  
  
Nappa grumbled under his breath after the Prince had cut off   
communication. "Put ourselves back together quickly," he mocked Vegeta. Yeah,   
right. Nappa managed to rise.  
  
"You lucked out for right now, brat," Nappa told Tayla. "Vegeta   
wants to deal with you himself personally. I have better things to do. Say a   
final goodbye to your people because by the time Vegeta finishes with you, Chloe   
will be emptied! Farewell for now!" He soared off out of the canyon---barely,   
and off into the sky.  
  
"Stop!" Tayla cried despairingly, but it was no use, for Nappa was   
long gone. Oh, now what was she going to do? Nappa was going to find Raditz,   
if he was still alive, and together they both would start to destroy Chloe's   
citizens. Tayla had to stop them, but how?  
And then there was Vegeta, the Oozaru. If Tayla left to stop Nappa from   
destroying her home moon, Vegeta could easily kill the rest of her family while   
she was gone.  
  
Tayla took a deep breath. She was only seven years old, and now it   
was up to her alone to save Chloe---and the rest of Astoria. She had to decide   
quickly what she was going to do.  
  
She could go back home to the Palace for reinforcements, but Vegeta could follow   
her there and kill the rest of her family, most of who lived near or in the   
Palace. She could not lead Vegeta to them, so that option was out.  
  
Tayla tried to think like her grandmother. What would Nama do in a   
case like this? Then Tayla remembered that the Astorians had secret booths all   
over the planet and the moons that could send emergency messages warning the   
other clans when trouble was afoot. She had to warn her people what was coming   
so that they could prepare themselves to fight Nappa and maybe Raditz as well.  
  
Things were getting worse by the minute.  
  
It was then Tayla remembered that she had seen a white scarf hanging   
from a tree near where she had taken Raakon. The white scarves in the trees   
signaled hidden communicator booths concealed in certain trees. Tayla flew   
quickly back to Raakon and the booth tree.  
  
She checked quickly to see if Raakon was still alive. He was still   
injured, but he would somehow survive. Tayla patted her older brother on the   
shoulder and tried to remain calm. She approached the tree with the white scarf   
and felt around the tree's thick bark for the secret door that would reveal the   
communicator booth.  
  
It took a few minutes, but she found a knot in the tree. She poked   
her finger in the knot and felt a smooth button. Tayla pressed this button and   
a small door opened in the tree's surface. She was startled to see a control   
panel with many colorful buttons. This was the first time that Tayla had ever   
used a communicator booth. She hoped that she knew what she was doing.  
  
Raakon, who had his eyes closed for a few moments, opened them and   
saw his sister trying to figure out how to work the communicator booth. He   
struggled up to his knees and crawled on all fours over to where the girl was.  
  
"Tayla," he choked out, "if you're trying to warn all of Astoria   
about the Saiyans' presence, press that large blue button. It will alert all of   
the Clans at once instead of them individually. Are the Saiyans now trying to   
destroy our world?"  
  
Tayla nodded frantically as she reached for the blue button that   
Raakon had told her about. "Nappa has gone away---to began destroying our   
planet. We've got to hurry!"  
  
Raakon nodded, as Tayla pressed the blue button. The blue button began to glow,   
and Tayla heard a voice through a speaker in the tree:  
  
"Main Communicator Base, Sahara, Astoria. Morkon speaking. May I   
help you?" a polite male Technician's voice asked through the speaker. The   
communicator booths were operated from a small base on Sahara, another one of   
Astoria's moons. The communicators were Technicians who were chosen from every   
clan to send radio messages quickly throughout all of Astoria and her moons.   
The communicators lived on the Saharan base full time, and they used small   
satellites around Sahara in order to quickly send messages to any Clan. The   
Technicians in that area would forward an individual message to an individual   
Clan when that clan's button was pressed on any communicator booth. In this   
case, however, because this was a worldwide message, the Technicians would take   
the message themselves, and if they deemed it necessary, would pass it along to   
every Clan.  
  
Tayla panted out, "You've got to warn your Clans! The Saiyans are   
here! Three of them! One of them is an Oozaru! They are going to destroy   
Chloe first! "  
  
"Oh, sweet Kami!" Morkon, a member of the Clan of Cornsilk, gasped   
in horror.  
  
Raakon added, "They are very powerful, even though they are just   
boys. The Oozaru is the Prince of the Saiyans, or so he claims. Right now all   
three of them are on Chloe, and they have nearly defeated our Superior Gran and   
Dirkan."  
  
Morkon choked out a ragged breath. If someone was powerful enough   
to harm the Superior Gran and Dirkan, that meant real trouble.  
  
Morkon rasped, "I'll warn everyone immediately. Stand by here, if   
possible, so that I may receive more information. I'll see that the Grans,   
Grandens, and fighters are alerted first. Oh, sweet Kami! Oh worlds!" And   
then communication was cut off.  
  
Raakon said frantically, "That Technician will alert everyone on   
Astoria and her moons, but we better send an extra message to our own Clan, just   
in case. Press the red button, Tayla, with the white rose on it. That is for   
our Clan alone. It will reach the Palace of Chloe."  
  
Tayla did as she was told, and a female Technician from the Palace   
of Chloe answered. "Palace of Chloe, Chloe, Astoria. Chlora speaking. May I help you?"  
  
Raakon spoke quickly, "Chlora, warn everyone in the Palace of the   
Saiyans. Tell them to take cover and have our fighters prepare to face down the   
Saiyans. Things are getting bad. Even our Superior Gran was taken   
down, along with Dirkan."  
  
Chlora sucked in her breath in horror. "No! Not our Superior Gran   
as well!"  
  
"She is alive, barely," Raakon told her as calmly as possible. "We   
have to prepare our people for a possible invasion. We have already alerted the   
rest of Astoria. One of the Saiyans is an Oozaru named Vegeta. He claims to be   
the Saiyan Prince. Whether that is true or not, he is twice as dangerous as his   
two companions that are with him."  
  
Chlora tried to keep her voice steady. "Any casualties yet?"  
  
Raakon answered hesitantly, "As far as I know, no. But there sure   
will be soon, if we don't hurry. Listen, Chlora---"  
  
He was cut off by a feminine scream from far away. Raakon and Tayla   
both paled.  
  
"Gracina!" Tayla cried.  
  
Raakon spoke to Chlora again, "Chlora, we have to go. Just get our   
people ready."  
  
"Wait---" Chlora began, but Tayla had already cut the communicator   
off. She and her wounded brother heard a terrible booming voice, a voice heard   
throughout Chloe:  
  
"PRINCESS TAYLA CHLOE! I HAVE YOUR SISTER FOR MY HOSTAGE! SURRENDER   
TO ME NOW, IF YOU WISH HER TO REMAIN ALIVE!"  
  
"Vegeta," Tayla whispered hoarsely. "He has Gracina."  
  
The remaining color in Tayla's heart-shaped face drained from it.   
Raakon cursed under his breath. Curses, he no longer had his sword with him.   
Tayla did not have hers either. Tayla helped her brother to his feet when   
he demanded that she do so, even though Tayla thought that he should lay still   
and rest.  
  
"TAYLA CHLOE! COME OUT HERE NOW! I COMMAND YOU TO SURRENDER TO   
ME!"  
  
Raakon feared for Gracina's life, but he could not allow Tayla to   
surrender to that ape-monster.   
  
"Tayla, do not go," Raakon ordered her. "Help should be arriving   
soon."  
  
"What about Gracina?"  
  
"I am going myself."  
  
"You can't, Raakon," Tayla protested. "You're hurt. You'll get   
killed!"  
  
"That's a chance that I'm going to have to take."  
  
"TAYLA CHLOE! SURRENDER AT ONCE! I WILL NOT WAIT MUCH LONGER!"  
  
Tayla and Raakon felt the Astorian ground shake beneath their booted   
feet. They could feel Vegeta coming closer. Raakon was finally able to see the   
huge, hairy Oozaru as the monster neared. Vegeta was carrying a terrified,   
swordless Gracina in his arms.  
  
"Gracina!" Tayla shrieked.  
  
Raakon shushed her. "Not so loud," he said shakily.  
  
"TAYLA, THIS IS MY FINAL WARNING!" Vegeta's voice boomed throughout   
the moon again. "YOU WILL SURRENDER TO ME NOW, FOR I WILL NOT ONLY KILL YOUR   
SISTER, I WILL BLAST AWAY YOUR PALACE AND ALL OF ITS OCCUPANTS! AND I CAN DO IT   
FROM HERE! ALL I HAVE TO DO IS BLAST IT! I HAVE DESTROYED ENTIRE PLANETS DOING   
THAT ALONE! SURRENDER NOW!"  
  
Tayla trembled, and sweat poured down her grimy face like a   
waterfall. "I have no choice, Raakon. I have to surrender to him." She tried   
to hold back tears.  
  
"No, Tayla, I'm not allowing you to do that," Raakon choked out. "I   
will take care of him myself."  
  
"I can't allow you to do that, Raakon. He means what he says; I   
know he does. I have to surrender, so that he doesn't hurt the rest of us."  
  
"He's going to kill all of us anyway, Tayla, whether you surrender   
to him or not," Raakon told her. "He means to take you captive and destroy our   
world."  
  
Tayla thought for a few moments, trying still to hold back her   
tears. Then she said shakily, "Raakon, do you think that you can get me a   
sword?"  
  
"What??" Raakon asked. "Tayla, what are you about to do?"  
  
"I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help. First, I need a   
sword, any sword. I'm going to chop off Vegeta's tail."  
  
"Chop off his tail? We've already tried to do that, little sister.   
He won't let anyone near his tail."  
  
"TAYLA! I AM LOSING MY PATIENCE!"  
  
Tayla shook her head. "He just doesn't know when to shut up, does   
he?"  
  
Raakon sighed. "Tayla, I have to get you out of here. I can't   
allow you to go up against an Oozaru at your age. Nama and Dirkan would have me   
hung out to dry, if I let anything happen to you. So would pretty much the   
entire Clan of Chloe, now that I think about it."  
  
Tayla said impatiently, "Raakon, would you please just get me a   
sword, any sword?"  
  
Raakon sighed, as he tried to figure out a way to save Gracina and   
keep Tayla from risking her short life. Finally, he said, "Tayla, wait here,   
for I think that I know where my sword is."  
  
"TAYLA CHLOE! THIS IS MY TRULY FINAL, FINAL WARNING! COME OUT NOW   
AND SURRENDER TO ME AT ONCE!"  
  
Tayla trembled, as she saw Raakon leave. She hoped that he would   
find a sword soon.  
  
  
  
  
Raakon found his sword quickly, as well as Arlon's. He had been   
able to just barely fly, and every movement had hurt him. He brought them both   
to the cliff where Tayla was. Vegeta the Oozaru was coming closer to the cliff.   
It wouldn't be much longer before he found the little princess.  
  
Raakon swiftly tossed Tayla Arlon's sword, and Tayla caught it by   
the handle so easily for a young child. Raakon was barely able to stand; his   
injuries were slowing him down significantly.  
  
Raakon began, "Tayla, we should---"  
  
"TAYLA, THIS IS IT! YOU'RE SISTER DIES! YOU ARE OUT OF TIME!"  
  
Tayla said quickly before Raakon could finish. "Raakon, I am sorry,   
but I have to go."  
  
"Tayla, no, wait---"  
  
But Tayla would not wait any longer. She raised her power level and   
screamed out loud: "LEAVE HER ALONE, VEGETA! I AM HERE! I AM COMING!   
YOU DON'T NEED TO KILL ANYONE! I SURRENDER!"  
  
Raakon gasped with horror. "Tayla, no!" He flew up right after   
Tayla and caught the girl by the arm. Tayla did not try to shake her arm away   
just yet.  
  
"Raakon, I know you're hurt and all, but do you think that you could   
still cut off Vegeta's tail while I distract him?"  
  
"Perhaps," Raakon replied, "but child, this is too dangerous for   
you. You need to escape."  
  
"I'm not running away."  
  
Raakon sighed. The girl was as hardheaded and proud as their   
grandmother. She had Shalila Chloe's spirit; Raakon just hoped that she had   
Shalila's nine lives as well. He must be losing his mind, allowing a mere child   
to go up against an Oozaru. Raakon had fought against such creatures before   
when he had been only seventeen, and he had barely lived to tell about it. What   
made his small sister think that she could do it?   
  
If it had been Arlina or Kekron going up against an Oozaru, Raakon   
would have seized them by their wrists and chained them somewhere rather than   
allowing them to do something so idiotic. But then Kekron and Arlina weren't   
warriors or healiors.   
  
And they weren't Tayla.  
  
"Let's go!" Tayla shrieked and flew away quickly before Raakon could   
stop her again. Struggling with his injuries and his sword, he followed after   
his sister. He wouldn't let her do this alone; he'd protect her or die trying.   
Raakon and Natala at times considered Tayla to be one of their own children.  
  
Raakon said a silent prayer to the ancestors that they would come   
out of this unscathed. 


	11. An Unexpected Twist

Chapter Eleven: An Unexpected Twist  
  
Gracina struggled vainly against Vegeta's tight Oozaru grip. He was   
squeezing the life out of her. She had heard Tayla's declaration of surrender,   
and she was now fighting back tears. She felt awful that Tayla was surrendering   
to him for her sake. If Gracina had been able to talk to Tayla, she would have   
tried to talk Tayla out of it. What had the girl been thinking? Gracina wished   
that she could take Tayla and shake the child by her thin shoulders for her   
stupidity.  
  
Tayla must be losing her mind. That had been it. The younger a   
warrior or a healior was when he or she had to fight his or her first battle,   
the harder it was on the mind and body. Gracina remembered briefly about her first battle on that horrible day when half of her immediate family died. She had not been sure whether she would ever want to fight again. Gracina had been sorely tempted at the time to do as Raakon had done and become   
just a healer.  
  
Gracina tried to electrocute Vegeta, but of course it did no good. Vegeta   
merely laughed at her, as she continued to struggle inside his hairy fist.   
Gracina bit him out of desperation, but it hurt him no more than a pinprick.   
Gracina's limbs were almost completely encased inside the fist, and Vegeta's   
grip on her tightened.   
  
Vegeta decided not to continue to wait. He was going to kill her   
and everyone else anyway, so he may as well start with the royal brat's sister.   
Vegeta started to crush Gracina in his grip until a loud, childish voice   
shouted:  
  
"I AM HERE, YOU PRINCE OF ALL MONKEYS! NOW LET OUR SISTER GO!"  
The Oozaru saw Tayla and Raakon floating in the air right in front of him and   
Gracina and grinned evilly. "So," he purred in his Oozaru voice, "you finally   
decided to show. It's about time too."  
  
Tayla lowered her voice, in a deadly tone, "Let our sister go.   
Now."  
  
Raakon backed her up. "You heard her, Vegeta. Let Gracina go!"  
  
Vegeta grinned even wider. "Very well then; your wish is granted."   
He threw back his ape-like arm and threw the terrified Gracina far away, as if   
she was no more than a ball. Gracina screamed in terror, for Vegeta threw   
her away so fast that she was unable to stop herself in mid-air this time.  
  
"GRACINA!" Raakon cried.  
  
"Go catch her!" Tayla cried. "It is me that he wants."  
  
"I can't leave you by yourself," Raakon shouted, "You are a child!"  
  
"She'll die if you don't catch her, Raakon!" Tayla cried. "Now,   
go!'  
  
Vegeta made a grab for Tayla, but Tayla dodged his hand.  
"Go, Raakon!" Tayla cried, as she dodged another one of Vegeta's   
attempts to snatch her.  
  
Raakon was wracked with indecision until another voice from down below shouted,   
the voice of Astoria's leader.  
  
"Do as she says, Raakon! Gracina needs you now! I can handle   
things from here!"  
  
Everyone looked down below to see a weary, injured Shalila bravely   
standing up behind Vegeta's feet.  
  
"Raakon, go now!" Shalila said. Raakon did her bidding immediately.  
  
"Nama!" Tayla shrieked happily.   
  
Shalila shouted, "Tayla Chloe, you are more hard-headed than I am,   
and I thought that only your grandfather had me beat in that area! Bajal Chloe,   
your granddaughter has dethroned you, do you hear me? We now have a descendent   
who is more stubborn than both of us put together!"  
  
Vegeta added, "I agree with you on that subject, but it's too bad   
that you won't live long enough to see where her stubbornness eventually leads   
her!"  
  
Shalila screamed, "We'll see about that!" And with that, the old   
warrior swiftly flew near Vegeta's tail and easily sliced it off with her Sword   
of Chloe without breaking a sweat!  
  
Tayla cried, "Yay for Nama!"  
  
"AHHHH!" Vegeta cried in agony, as he felt himself shrinking   
rapidly. But Vegeta had one last trick up his sleeve.  
  
As he continued to shrink, he grabbed Tayla before Tayla could react   
and held her tight in his one grip. Tayla was dangling from his fist by her   
wrists, the rest of her body hanging below the fist.  
  
"NAMA, HELP!"  
  
"TAYLA!"  
  
Vegeta finally finished his shrinking, but when he was back down to   
normal size, he was still holding both of Tayla's tiny wrists in his one hand.   
Tayla kicked at Vegeta and struggled in vain, but Vegeta only tightened his   
grip.  
  
"You will release my granddaughter at once!" Shalila ordered Vegeta,   
her bloody sword raised in a threat.   
  
She advanced further towards Vegeta, but Vegeta raised his hand at   
Tayla's chest in a Big Bang position. "Come any closer, woman, and I will blast   
her into the next dimension!"  
  
Tayla paled slightly, but Shalila was unfazed. "You wouldn't dare!"   
she told him fiercely. "Didn't your lord and master, Frieza, insist that the   
girl be brought to him alive?"  
  
Vegeta snorted. "Frieza can find himself another little wench to   
fight for him. The brat's life means nothing to me. And come to think of it,   
neither does yours!" He aimed his Big Bang attack towards Shalila instead.   
Shalila swiftly leapt out of the way, for she could not use Mirror Shield to   
deflect the attack because the attack would harm Tayla as well as Vegeta.   
  
Vegeta launched another Big Bang attack, which Shalila again dodged.   
Shalila cursed under her breath, for as long as Vegeta had Tayla as his   
hostage, she could not use ki blasts on him.  
  
Vegeta fired several varieties of ki attacks, with Shalila barely   
avoiding every one. Finally the boy prince decided to play hardball instead.  
  
He began to gather some more ki for his trademark attack-the Final   
Flash!  
  
Tayla struggled harder than ever and tried to kick Vegeta, but   
Vegeta held her at arms' length, and so her feet could not reach him. Shalila   
was beginning to wear down fast; she had had very little ki left to begin with.   
She was moving more slowly than ever, and Vegeta was about to take full   
advantage.  
  
Vegeta decided to use another, smaller ki blast to cripple Shalila,   
as he prepared for Final Flash. It hit Shalila in her hip, causing her to   
tumble and fall.  
  
"NAMA!"  
  
Tayla's fury and fear increased by tenfold. She raised her small   
foot up, and it made contact, kicking Vegeta squarely in the face. Vegeta cried   
in pain, and he was forced to release Tayla. Tayla fled from his grip quickly,   
and she flew at his abdomen to kick him again. But Vegeta punched her in her   
face, causing Tayla to fall to the ground. Blue blood spurted out of her teensy   
button nose.  
  
Shalila was unable to get up now. She continued to try, but her   
efforts were useless.  
  
"FINAL FLASH!" The giant ki blast soared towards Astoria's great   
leader.  
  
"NO!" Tayla cried. She had to hurry!  
  
She flew faster...  
  
...and faster...  
  
...and faster...  
  
...Until she was right of front of her fallen grandmother.  
  
Tayla raised her arms quickly and crossed them into an X.  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!"  
  
The Final Flash came....  
  
...it hit Tayla's arms...  
  
...Tayla struggled against the Final Flash, which was the strongest   
Final Flash ever thrown at her...  
  
...Vegeta laughed...  
  
...but his laughter stopped...  
  
...For the ki blast was deflected right back at him, backfiring!  
  
"NO!!!" It would be Vegeta's last cry.  
  
"FLASH!"  
  
"BOOM!"  
  
There was a mushroom cloud---and silence.  
  
Tayla smiled weakly-and then fainted. The sharp, heavy piece of   
rock that had just flown over and hit her head lay close to her ear. 


	12. Finally, It's Over For Now

Chapter Twelve: Finally, It's Over---For Now  
  
Two days later. The Palace of Chloe's Medical Wing.  
  
She had been sleeping off and on for the past couple of days. She   
had heard the voices of her family and servants talking around her, but she had   
never stayed awake long enough to make out the words. She was, however, aware   
of her Nama's hand stroking her matted hair just now, as the Nurses finally   
began to wash it gently. The Medical Nurses had picked all of the rocks and   
branches that had been tangled in her long, thick hair. Well, it had been long,   
but now it was cut shorter than a boy's. No problem, for the hair would grow   
back at any time.  
  
"Nama," she murmured sleepily. It had been the first word that she   
had spoken in two days, since the day that the Saiyans came to Astoria...  
  
"Nama?" Tayla spoke again. "Where did the Saiyans go?"  
  
Shalila rubbed her granddaughter's forehead. "They are gone now,   
sweetheart," she told her gently. "We were unable to destroy them, except for   
Vegeta, who is probably dead by now."  
  
"Vegeta is dead?"  
  
"As far as we know, child," Shalila answered, rubbing her hip, the   
hip that Vegeta had injured with his ki blast. "And the other two escaped,   
carrying their near dead prince with them."  
  
"Did they go back to their home planet?"  
  
"They went somewhere. Our people from all over Astoria came and   
overwhelmed them. The two living Saiyans took their prince back with them on   
their ship and fled our planet."  
  
"Did they kill anyone?" Tayla asked worriedly.  
  
Shalila smiled widely, as Dirkan walked in. He and Shalila had   
fully recovered quickly, thanks to Astoria's regeneration tanks. Tayla herself   
had just been taken out of one; she just needed to be bathed. Tayla just now   
barely remembered floating a sea of healing liquid two hours ago inside a giant   
metal container.  
  
Dirkan interrupted with a chuckle. "No casualties this time,   
princess. It was a good battle with no lives on our side taken---the best kind   
of battle."  
  
Tayla tried to sit up, but Shalila prevented her from rising. "Not   
yet, child; your maid, Mykia, will take you out of bed again, so that you may be   
bathed."  
  
Dirkan came near Shalila and Tayla. He kissed Shalila on her cheek,   
and Tayla swore that she saw her grandmother's ears and cheeks turn red. Dirkan   
ruffled Tayla's tangled hair and kissed the girl's forehead. "Your Nama would   
not be here right now, if it weren't for you," he told her softly.  
  
"What do you mean, Dirkan?" Tayla asked puzzled. Her memory was   
still fuzzy.  
  
"Don't you remember?" Dirkan asked her. "You deflected that royal   
Saiyan brat's Final Flash, or whatever that attack is called, right back onto   
him, pretty much eliminating him. He would have killed your grandmother, if you   
had not intervened."  
  
"I was afraid that it was going to be the end of both of us,"   
Shalila added, touching Tayla's button nose lightly with her index finger. "But   
you, little Tayla, were so quick with your speed and your Mirror Shield.... that   
it saved us both. You were so brave!"  
  
The memories flowed back and hit Tayla hard. "I wasn't so brave,   
Nama! I was scared! I was afraid that Vegeta would kill you! I was afraid   
earlier that he had killed you and Dirkan! There were times when I was scared,   
scared that everyone was going to die, scared that the mean Saiyans were going   
to take me away to live with Frieza..." Now that it was safe, the little girl   
began to cry the tears that she had repressed for so long. Shalila cuddled her   
to her still firm bosom, and rubbed Tayla's back. Dirkan placed his large,   
green hand on Tayla's arm and began rubbing it.  
  
"And yet you still fought back," Dirkan told her gently. "Being   
brave is standing up for what's right, no matter how frightened you are, no   
matter how great the odds are against you. It is all right to be afraid, just   
as long as you don't let your fears control you."  
  
"And," Shalila added again, rubbing away Tayla's tears with her   
thumb, "it was your first battle, dandelion, and an unexpected one to be sure.   
Most Astorians don't fight until they are about twelve, thirteen, or fourteen.   
No one expected you to have to fight so soon at your age. I am sorry for what   
has happened to you, child, for what has happened to all of us."  
  
Tayla buried her face in her grandmother's bosom. "I don't want   
them coming back any more...I don't want them to kill any of us or take me away!   
Will the Saiyans come back again to take me away?"  
  
"Not if they value their lives," Dirkan said fiercely.  
  
"If they do, we won't allow it to happen again," Shalila promised   
her firmly.  
  
"Seven Moons Oath?"  
  
"Seven Moons Oath," Shalila swore with a gentle smile, holding up   
seven fingers. Dirkan shared her smile, and he too held up seven fingers.  
  
Mykia, a fourteen year old, plain-faced, brown-haired girl Laborer   
from the Clan of Brimmel, came to undress the child for her bath. Shalila   
gently lifted the girl princess out of her hospital bed and placed her on the   
floor. Tayla shivered, for the cold marble floor was ice to her bare feet.   
Mykia removed Tayla's shift (same as a slip), and she was now completely nude.   
Mykia dressed Tayla in a pink robe made out of silken Astorian hair that was   
lined with soft fur. The Nursemaid had Tayla step into some slippers lined with   
warm rexcon bird feathers. Tayla was standing unsteadily, trying to maintain   
her balance. She smiled weakly at her Nursemaid, whom she had only met two   
weeks ago.  
  
Mykia smiled back, and her smile made the girl's plain face almost   
lovely to look at because of her perfectly shaped lips and flawless teeth.   
Mykia was a friendly, capable girl, who had been sent to replace Tayla's last   
Nursemaid, Lyna, who had been released from her vows, so that she could move to   
another planet to marry a man from another species. Mykia was stocky with no   
figure, and it was unlikely that she would ever become naturally beautiful any   
time soon. But Tayla paid little attention to her maid's looks because of   
Mykia's infectious smile and laughter that was like silver wind chimes.  
  
Mykia kissed her mistress's forehead and whispered, "Welcome home,   
princess."  
  
"Thanks," Tayla whispered back, and she threw her arms around her   
Nursemaid's waist, squeezing Mykia tightly. Mykia was uncertain as what to do,   
for Astorian Clan of Chloe royalty normally did not show physical affection   
towards their servants, except for a pat on the shoulder now and then.   
  
But then Mykia remembered that Tayla's mother had been Princess Tika   
Chloe, one of the most friendly and approachable royals of the Clan of Chloe.   
Mykia had lived in the Palace of Chloe since she was three years old, preparing   
to be a Laborer, and she had recalled that Tika Chloe had never looked down on   
anyone. Princess Tika had treated her servants as equally and kindly as she did   
her peers. Mykia's mother, Soyka, had been Princess Tika's personal maid   
(Nursemaids often became personal maids to their mistresses and masters after   
they were grown), and Tika had treated her maid as one of her best friends. And   
Tika had always given Mykia chocolate sugarplums and petted her. Mykia   
considered it a great honor to serve Princess Tika's youngest child. Looking   
after her little charge kept Mykia busy, and it kept her from dwelling on her   
mother's death on the Korin, where Soyka had accompanied and attended Princess   
Tika.  
  
Mykia did the only thing that she could do: she hugged Tayla back   
and smiled. She kept a wary eye on the Superior Gran, who might not have   
approved of such a thing. But the leader only nodded her approval.  
  
Some of Tayla's other family members entered Tayla's room, and they   
gathered around her. Gracina cuddled the girl close to her and kissed her after   
Mykia had released her. Bajal patted her hard on the back. Raakon gravely   
touched Tayla's cheek and smiled. Natala and Marya both kissed Tayla on her   
cheeks and forehead. Lektron ruffled Tayla's still tangled hair, and Mykia was   
secretly despairing about that because she was already going to have a hard   
enough time detangling and brushing Tayla's snarled hair. At least it had been   
cut short, but Mykia would have to fix it quickly before it grew back. All   
Astorian women's hair grew back to ankle length in five days' time after the   
hair had been cut short.  
  
Tayla blushed at so much attention, as her family praised her for   
her victory in battle. She just looked down, smiling shyly, embarrassed and   
extremely modest.  
  
"Aw...she's blushing!" Lektron teased.  
  
"How cute!" Bajal added.  
  
Arlon and Lukan tumbled in then and greeted Tayla by jostling her   
about a bit until Gracina and Raakon cuffed their younger brothers and told them   
to behave themselves. Arlina gently embraced her young aunt and gave her an   
ancient Astorian blessing of good health and safety. Lelina grabbed Tayla and   
squeezed her tightly until Riccan shoved her aside and demanded his turn to hug   
Tayla. Gracina was about to scold her son for shoving Lelina away, but before   
she could, Riccan leaned over and whispered in Tayla's ear:  
  
"Next time, you go fight the monkeys, will you talk my mamma into   
letting me fight them too?" Before Tayla could answer, Riccan spoke up louder,   
"You got to have all of the fun! Boy, I can't wait until I have my first   
battle! I can't wait to fight the Saiyans someday myself! You escaped from   
them and fought them! Wow! I want to come along next time you have to fight   
them! You sure were lucky! I want to have fun just like you did! Someday I'm   
going to be as strong as you, maybe even stronger! So when can we fight the   
Saiyans again?"  
  
"Not anytime soon, Riccan," Tayla told him, "At least not we're   
grown up." Everyone laughed at this for no reason.  
  
"Maybe we can get them to come back!"  
  
"Absolutely not," Gracina told her son firmly. "Now, no more talk   
about you fighting Saiyans for a while. We've had enough of them for a while.   
I never thought that three boys could be so powerful!"  
  
"Do you think that I'll be as strong as them someday?" Riccan asked   
her. "For boys, they sure were mighty! I sure wouldn't mind learning that   
Final Flash trick!"  
  
Gracina was horrified that Riccan would even contemplate wanting to   
be like the Saiyans, and Lektron told their son sharply, "Riccan, you heard what   
your mother said! No more talk about you fighting Saiyans again! We Astorians   
do not want to be anything like the Saiyans in any way, shape, or form---"  
  
"But Father, Vegeta had that really neat Final Flash attack, even if   
he was bad-"  
  
"That will be enough, Riccan!" Lektron said in a near-shout. "No   
child of mine is going to be, or want to be, anything like a Saiyan! Is that   
clear?"  
  
Riccan bowed his head. "Yes, Father." Even Riccan knew when not to   
push his parents too far, particularly his normally affable father.  
  
Dirkan walked over to Tayla, and he put his hand on the girl's hair,   
and he too ruffled her hair. Mykia sighed; she was just going to have to cut   
more of Tayla's already short hair, she supposed, in order to fix it properly.   
  
The Namek warrior spoke quietly, "We should consider this last   
battle a valuable lesson. Frieza sent the Saiyans to our planet particularly to   
destroy our planet and take Tayla back with them to work for him. The evil   
slime ball is now recruiting children to do his dirty work. Who knows whom else   
he might target next? We cannot take the chance of Frieza sending the Saiyans   
or someone else after our more powerful children. It is likely that Frieza may   
try again to have Tayla abducted, and any other child with a high power or   
intelligence level, as well. We must keep a closer watch and guard on our   
children, especially those training to be warriors or healiors. And we must   
especially guard Tayla, who has the potential to become more powerful than any   
of us here."  
  
He addressed Shalila directly, "Shalila, I would suggest that you   
have all of the clan grans and grandens be required to inform us of any child   
with a high power or intelligence level. This way, the other clans can be   
warned to guard their most powerful children in case this situation happens   
again."  
  
"Yes, I agree," Shalila told him. "I will began a registry of all   
children with power levels over three-hundred and of children with intelligence   
levels over two-hundred. Any such child must be closely monitored. To think   
that Frieza would go as far as to try to take innocent children and corrupt   
them! What would he want with children?"  
  
Dirkan replied, "I will let Raakon explain that theory, for he has the best   
explanation. Raakon?"  
  
Raakon briefly informed his grandmother that Frieza could take   
impressionable children and turn them to the side of evil to work for him. He   
said that children were vulnerable and gullible at young ages, and many of them   
would believe anything that they were taught. Shalila was stunned at this, as   
Raakon continued:  
  
"An older recruit would already have his or her own fixed ideas   
about what life and fighting should be all about, but a child who is just   
learning can have his or her ideas changed too easily. Frieza, or his minions,   
could easily talk a child into believing that they are right."  
  
Shalila trembled to hear this, and Dirkan came to her and held her.   
Tayla held her Nama too, to reassure her.   
  
"Don't you worry, Nama. I don't like Frieza or his men, and I'll   
never, never work for them, or even want to work for them! I am not as stupid,   
as they would like to think I am. Why would I want to work for a monster like   
Frieza? He is bad, plus he'd probably make me work with Prince Vegeta and be   
his slave!"  
  
Shalila said nothing, but she leaned down and kissed the girl's   
forehead. Dirkan, and some of the other men laughed at Tayla's last sentence.  
  
Bajal grinned. "That's it, Tayla! That's the spirit! No brat of   
ours is being a Saiyan's slave!"  
  
Tayla rose up indignantly and glared at Bajal. "I am not a brat! I   
don't want to be called a brat! I've heard that mean name enough from Vegeta   
and his friends already!"  
  
Bajal chuckled, "Aw come on, Tayla, I meant that name   
affectionately!" Tayla glowered at her oldest brother, but decided to forgive   
him. Shalila rubbed Tayla's brow to wipe away some of the scowl.  
  
"Yeah, Bajal," Lelina told her uncle impertinently, "Tayla is not a   
brat!"  
  
"That's right, Uncle Bajal!" Riccan added. "But you might be!"   
Bajal responded to that by grabbing Riccan and hanging him upside down. Riccan   
cried in protest and stuck his tongue out at his uncle. Lektron shook his head,   
and Gracina sighed.  
  
"Here Lektron, help me with your squab!" Bajal roared, and Lektron   
grabbed Riccan's arms. Riccan was laughing now, as Bajal and Lektron swung him   
back and forth, as if Riccan was a hammock.  
  
"I'm going to get you two when you let me go!" Riccan cried happily.   
"I'm going to give you two what you deserve if you don't put me down!"  
  
Bajal and Lektron only laughed louder, and ignored Gracina's   
requests to put her son down. The other children, including Tayla and Mykia,   
giggled. Shalila and Dirkan only shook their heads in amusement. Gracina put   
her head in her hands and silently prayed to the ancestors and good spirits that   
her son would not fall and hit his head. Mykia began the laborious task of   
untangling Tayla's hair, and while she was doing that she was also watching the   
handsome princes, Arlon and Lukan, who were paying the Nursemaid no attention.   
Arlon and Lukan were wrestling each other. Marya and Arlina were on their   
knees, thanking the ancestors that everyone was still alive and well, ignoring   
the clamor going on around them. Raakon and Natala were talking quietly and   
holding each other's hand. Lelina was helping Mykia with Tayla's messy hair.  
  
Shalila took Dirkan's hand and leaned her still copper-gold head on   
his green shoulder. Dirkan took her other hand, and they both closed their eyes   
lost in their own world...  
  
*End part 1*  
  
  
  
(Is this the end? Definitely not! Of course, Vegeta does not die,   
but what will happen to him and his comrades when they return to Planet Vegeta?   
And what is Vegeta's family like? How will Frieza and King Vegeta react to the   
unwelcome news that Astoria still exists and Tayla is still free? Part 2 will   
delve more into Vegeta's family and past.  
  
Also, we will see what everyday Astorian living is like. We will get better   
acquainted with Tayla's family and friends around her. And we will learn the   
true nature of Shalila and Dirkan's relationship. Are they really just friends,   
or is it something more?  
  
This next part takes place during a time of peace, over the next five years.) 


	13. PART TWO: ON PLANETS ASTORIA AND VEGETA

PART TWO: ON THE PLANETS ASTORIA AND VEGETA  
  
Chapter Thirteen: When Vegeta Came Home  
  
Planet Vegeta. Royal Palace.  
  
"All hail King Vegeta! All hail Queen Muriella!"   
  
The elite-class Saiyans, dressed in the navy blue suits and gold   
armor of their high status, bowed onto their knees before the king, who was   
impatiently walking through the majestic halls towards the palace's hospital.   
The queen followed behind him like a tense rabbit.  
  
"Out of my way!" he ordered his soldiers and courtiers, as he pushed   
past them. The King tugged at his black beard and mustache impatiently. The   
Queen wrung her hands and mumbled under her breath worriedly, as she and her   
boorish husband wended their way to the hospital wing where Prince Vegeta,   
Raditz and Nappa were floating in medical regeneration tanks. The tanks were   
similar to the Astorian tanks, and they should have been, for King Vegeta's men   
had stolen some blueprints of the tank designs the last time the King and Queen   
had been on Astoria for the summit at the Temple of Chloe.  
  
The royal couple arrived in the tank chambers where the three boys   
were recovering in the tanks. Queen Muriella cried softly, as her husband   
pushed past the doctors to get to his son's tank.  
  
A young girl, dressed in the royal Saiyan armor, was leaning against   
the tank. She was of the small minority of Saiyan females who had red hair.   
(There were no red-haired Saiyan males.) She had large, coal-black eyes, and   
her features were a feminine version of her brother's.  
  
She was a feminine version of her brother, Prince Vegeta.  
  
Her features however were a much pleasanter version of her   
brother's, and on the rare occasions when she was truly happy, she had a bright,   
impertinent smile that was unnatural for a Saiyan, male or female. She had a   
smattering of freckles on her Vegeta-like face, and she did not possess her   
brother's perpetual frown, at least not as often as he did. She was the most   
powerful female warrior of her line, and she could be as ruthless as her   
brother.  
  
She touched the tank where her brother was floating inside. She   
dabbed the corner of her eye briefly and touched the glass right in front of   
Vegeta's face. Then she whispered something inaudible to him, and then she went   
to Raditz's tank and gave him a long, searching look. She traced the glass in   
front of Raditz's face with her finger. She did not pay much attention to   
Nappa's tank, but instead walked back and forth between Vegeta's and Raditz's   
separate tanks, talking softly to each one of them.  
  
Her father interrupted her then. "Journa, will they live?"  
  
Princess Journa bowed before her father, but he commanded her to   
rise. "Yes, Father. All three of them will live." She dabbed the corner of   
her black, Vegeta-like eye, but did not allow any more tears to come, for Saiyan   
warriors were not supposed to cry, not even females.  
  
The king and queen walked over to Vegeta's tank and watched him quietly. Journa   
continued her alternating visits between her brother's and Raditz's tanks.   
  
The king scolded her, "Why are you wasting time visiting that   
third-class Saiyan?"  
  
"Vegeta!" Muriella exclaimed, shocked, "He is the son of Bardock,   
one of your greatest third-class fighters! And Journa seems to---care for   
Raditz."  
  
King Vegeta glared at his daughter. "And why, Muriella, would a   
Saiyan Princess care for a third-class fighter? Anyway, Journa is only   
thirteen. It will be a few years before Journa is old enough to have a mate.   
And no daughter of mine is marrying a third-class fighter!"  
  
Journa gave her father a dirty look, but he chose to ignore it.   
King Vegeta pulled a doctor over to him and asked, "How are they?"  
  
The doctor smiled nervously. "They will live; they are tough, and   
they will become stronger after this."  
  
King Vegeta chuckled proudly, "Of course my son will! He's just   
like his father!" The king did not mention Nappa or Raditz. "He is the   
greatest warrior of our line, and surely he will someday become the Legendary   
Super-Saiyan!"   
  
"And who knows?" King Vegeta added, "Maybe my daughter will become   
the first female Super-Saiyan!" Journa smiled weakly at this declaration, and   
her father touched her shoulder in an extremely rare display of affection.   
  
The light on top of Prince Vegeta's regeneration tank went out,   
signaling that the healing process was complete. Vegeta banged on the glass   
with his newly revived fist and shouted, "Let me out, you foolish doctors! I   
want out! NOW!"   
  
"Yes, yes, my Prince," the doctor stammered, hurrying to do his   
Prince's bidding. The healing liquid drained from the regeneration tank, as   
Vegeta removed his mask and tubes before the door was opened, and he stepped   
out, naked and soaked. The doctor quickly handed him drying cloths to cover his   
privates and to dry himself off. Vegeta tied one of the drying cloths around   
his midsection and ordered the doctor to get out of his way. Vegeta then used   
another drying cloth to dry his hair and body, and then he used a third drying   
cloth to dry off his tail. He ducked his mother's eager embrace, although he   
did touch her and Journa's arms in acknowledgement.   
  
"I told you all that he'd live!" King Vegeta boasted triumphantly.   
He said to Vegeta, "Son, I am proud of you, for I am sure that you and   
those two fools that you traveled with have completely demolished those blasted   
Astorians! And about time too! I wish that I had been there to see Shalila   
Chloe finally get what she deserved! I bet that you three rascals had fun   
blowing away Chloe and the rest of Astoria! It must have been quite a show!   
This ought to shut Frieza's mouth once and for all about Astorians being   
stronger than Saiyans! Now the old fart will have nothing to complain about!"  
  
Prince Vegeta became surly with his father. He and Journa were the   
only two Saiyans on Planet Vegeta that could mouth off to King Vegeta and live.   
"Father," he said sulkily, "haven't you noticed something?"  
  
"What's that, son? That you and those two dolts were badly injured?   
That's all right, son, for Saiyans always become stronger, if they are badly   
wounded and survive and recover! You're going to be stronger than ever, my   
boy!" King Vegeta crowed, as his son looked at him with his signature scowl.  
  
"Father!" Vegeta snapped, "Haven't you noticed that we did not bring   
back Princess Tayla?"  
  
King Vegeta quieted down for a moment, but then he added, "That's   
alright, son; I'm sure that even Frieza will be happy just to know that Astoria   
has been cleared for sale. He can always find another powerful child like her.   
He can do without the little girl. If she perished, so what? Frieza has enough   
strong fighters. Even that old creature will get over it! Who knows, maybe   
Frieza will sell us Astoria at a reasonable discount for all the hard work you   
and your comrades have done! I wouldn't mind having another planet to rule   
over. Vegeta's getting a bit crowded anyway!"  
  
The lights went out over the regeneration tanks of Raditz and Nappa.   
The poor doctor had to go through the same scene with them, as he had to with   
Vegeta. Raditz and Nappa walked slowly over to the royal family and bowed   
before them. Nappa's drying cloth slipped off his waist, and Journa giggled   
until her father told her to be quiet. He ordered Nappa to cover himself again,   
which Nappa did.   
  
Journa brushed her tail around Raditz's neck to greet him, and   
Raditz gave her his characteristic smirk. Journa softly brushed against Raditz,   
loving to feel and stare at his powerful, muscular body. Her father and   
brother, two years younger than her, both scowled at her darkly.  
  
"JOURNA!" they both snapped at once. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Muriella   
paled at their shouting, but neither Vegeta paid her any attention.  
  
Journa huffed. "Fine," she retorted. She whispered in Raditz's   
ear, "Sorry, Raditz, you know how they are." Raditz smiled weakly, but said   
nothing; he cared for Journa too, although he did not let it be known in public;   
he could not afford to anger the king and prince. Raditz was well aware that   
neither King Vegeta nor Prince Vegeta approved of him as a future mate for   
Journa because of his low-class status. Raditz respected Prince Vegeta, but he   
resented him at the same time because the boy prince thought that Raditz was   
good enough to fight alongside him, but not good enough to marry his sister. He   
and Journa had liked each other since Journa had been eight and he had been   
eleven, and they already wanted each other as mates. Raditz was not at all   
intimidated by Journa's elite class status and royal blood, and Journa did not   
care that Raditz was only a low-class fighter. He and Journa had made out   
several times, and those occasions were unknown to Journa's father and brother.   
Well, actually, it had been more than several times, for they had been kissing   
and "fooling around" with each other since they had been eleven and fourteen.  
  
They both had been sorely disappointed that Journa had not been   
allowed to go help clear Astoria for sale and kidnap Princess Tayla. Much to   
both Raditz and Journa's chagrin, Frieza had insisted on sending Journa off to   
clear a less powerful planet with Jaden, the Saiyan children's main trainer.   
Jaden was also one of Frieza's top elite officers. Jaden and Journa had easily   
cleared that planet in a day, but then there was hardly any powerful or   
intelligent life on that planet.   
  
Journa winked at Raditz behind both Vegetas' backs, and Raditz   
grinned foolishly. They were determined to be together someday, even if they   
had to leave planet Vegeta behind forever. There were other worlds that they   
could go to, for there had to be planets out in the universe that neither the   
Saiyans nor Frieza could touch. But then Raditz's younger brother, Kakarot, had   
been sent to a tiny blue planet called E-arth, which was a three-to-five-year   
journey from the Rosetta Galaxy. Raditz was starting to become a little   
concerned because Kakarot had not yet returned home, but then Earth was a very   
long way from home, and after all, Kakarot was still only a little boy. Kakarot   
would have been six years old right now. If Frieza knew about a planet as far   
away as E-arth, then there really was no place for him and Journa to hide.   
Raditz sighed heavily, as he allowed himself to be led out by a servant to find   
him some clothing. Nappa too, allowed a servant to lead him out of the room.   
Raditz and Nappa were going straight to King Vegeta's private council to be   
debriefed on their attempt to conquer Astoria.  
  
Now it was just the royal family and the doctors, and both Vegetas   
started in on Journa. Prince Vegeta joined his father, King Vegeta, in on   
giving Journa grief about her affection for Raditz.  
  
"Journa, why in the universe would you ever want someone like a   
third-class Saiyan?" Prince Vegeta snapped. "He is not good enough and you   
know it!"  
  
"Not good enough for who? You and Father? Well, he's more than   
good enough for me. And you know, sometimes I wonder if I am good enough for   
him." This last sentence shocked everyone in the room, even Muriella. Both   
Vegetas scowled at her again.  
  
"Journa," King Vegeta said shortly, "Your brother is right." Journa   
respected and admired her brother, but she hated how their father took his word   
more seriously than he did hers. Prince Vegeta was younger than her, for Kami's   
sake! And yet, King Vegeta treated his son as if he were older than her!  
  
"I do not want you hanging around that third-class garbage unless   
your brother is with you!" King Vegeta continued.  
  
"But, Father..." Journa pleaded with her puppy-dog expression that   
she reserved especially for her father. Most of the time it worked, but this   
time King Vegeta was not falling for it.  
  
"I meant what I said, Journa! If you have to pick a future mate   
right away, then let it be Nappa! At least Nappa is an elite-class Saiyan!"  
  
"Nappa is an idiot, Father. I want a mate that I can carry on a   
decent conversation with!" Journa insisted.  
  
"Feh," King Vegeta snorted contemptuously. "Raditz isn't that much   
smarter. He may have a powerful low-level fighter like Bardock for a father,   
but Raditz does not have his father's brains or his strength. Actually   
Bardock's brats always had more brawn than brain. Raditz isn't that smart, if   
he thinks that he can take an elite-class Saiyan Princess for his mate. Now no   
more argument on this, Journa, and I mean it!"  
  
Journa glared darkly and defiantly at her father, as she turned on   
her heel and left the room. Both Vegetas sighed. Muriella pitied her daughter,   
but there was nothing she could do. Her husband's word would always override   
hers.  
  
Vegeta shifted from foot to foot, a bit nervously. He was trying to   
figure out how to explain to his father exactly why Astoria still existed. His   
father would certainly question him soon enough. The imposing king turned   
towards his son.  
  
"Now that that matter is settled, Vegeta, why don't you tell me how   
well the mission to Astoria went."  
  
Vegeta sighed. This was going to be a long evening.  
  
  
  
Five hours later.  
  
Journa dabbed her eye before she crept down the corridors of the   
Royal Palace. She knew exactly where she was going, to whom she was going to   
meet.  
  
The one person who could make her feel better. The one person who   
knew her better than anyone else. The one person with the nerve to go against   
her brother and her father's wishes.  
  
Raditz.  
  
She crept downstairs quietly to the low-level soldiers' quarters,   
where Raditz and his father, Bardock, stayed when they were serving King Vegeta.   
Some of Bardock's crew was down here. Bardock's closest comrades, Torah and   
Fasha, were drinking some sake and laughing softly. Torah, who was a strong   
male warrior, was the second strongest of the crew after Bardock. He lightly   
touched Fasha's bottom. Fasha slapped his hand away and laughed.  
  
"You dog!" she laughed merrily in her rough voice. She loved him,   
although it was unlikely that she'd ever tell him. He felt the same way about   
her. They planned to take each other for mates as soon as planets Meat and   
Kanassa were both conquered. Fasha was a short female Saiyan and everyone in   
the lower level class thought that she was cute, even with her sharp, pointed   
nose.  
  
Yugash, a chubby warrior with a bowl cut, waved to her. "Hey   
Princess!"  
  
Torah punched him on his shoulder, and Fasha kicked his shin.   
Yugash looked confused. "What? What did I do?"  
  
"You bum!" Fasha roared. "You're not supposed to speak to royalty   
unless they speak to you first. You know that!"  
  
Journa only grinned. "Hey Yugash! Hey Torah and Fasha!" She   
frequently mingled with the lower-class Saiyans of Bardock's crew, without her   
father's knowledge. She had met them through Raditz and Bardock. She knew that   
Raditz longed to join his father's crew someday, but right now he wasn't allowed   
to.  
  
"So," Journa began casually, as she took a cup of sake that Fasha   
offered her, "How's life?"  
  
"Oh, we're going to take Kanassa in a couple of weeks," Fasha told   
her.  
  
"We sure are!" Yugash added. "Even though we all think that is a   
waste of time. What in Kami is Frieza thinking? It's just a piece of rock with   
a bunch of rock-like creatures that live on it."  
  
"I don't know, Yugash," Torah said smoothly. "I've heard that the   
Kanassans were pretty tough. Even Frieza's elite couldn't handle them."  
  
"Sounds like fun," Journa chirped. "Sure wish I could join you   
all!"  
  
"Raditz wished the same thing," Fasha added, "but our dear king   
forbade it."  
  
Journa took another sip of her sake thoughtfully, as Torah and   
Yugash began engaging in an arm-wrestling match. Fasha observed the young   
princess. "So you still like him, don't you?"  
  
Journa only nodded. Fasha pitied the girl. Bardock and his crew   
knew all about Raditz's little ongoing affair with the Saiyan princess. Fasha   
had told Journa that they knew, but she didn't tell Journa that Bardock had   
repeatedly told his son to break things off with the elite-class girl.  
  
Journa noticed Bardock quietly talking to his mate, Marrell, who had   
come to visit her husband and son. Marrell was not a warrior, but instead she   
was one of Queen Muriella's maids-in-waiting. She was also a midwife to the   
elite-class children.  
  
Journa eavesdropped on Bardock and Marrell's quiet conversation for   
a few moments. Bardock and Marrell knew that she was there, but they could not   
speak to her unless she spoke to them. The lower-level Saiyans knew the rules.   
The couple tried to bow down to her, but Journa held up her hand to prevent   
them.  
  
"Where is Raditz?" she asked Bardock softly.  
  
"In his quarters," Bardock told her. "No offense, Princess, but I   
don't think that your father would be too happy to know that you were down here   
with us."  
  
"And who's going to tell him?" Journa challenged him. "You? Your   
mate? Your crew?"  
  
Bardock sighed. He liked the princess and thought that she would   
have made a good mate for Raditz-if she had been a low-level Saiyan like them.   
Bardock was well aware of Journa and Raditz's little get-togethers, and while he   
had turned a blind eye to them, he did not approve. He knew that the young   
couple had not mated yet, and he would have had no moral qualms if they had.   
Most Saiyan males experimented a bit at Raditz's age. He had, and he had bonded   
with Marrell, the second female that he had mated with. She later became his   
mate.  
  
It was considered all right for lower-level Saiyan females to   
experiment, but elite-class Saiyan females were expected to wait until marriage.   
There was no exception made for Journa. Bardock knew that Journa and Raditz   
would mate the first chance that they thought they could get away with it.  
  
However, he knew that King Vegeta would think the worst if he ever   
caught Journa and Raditz making out together. King Vegeta had personally   
summoned Bardock two months ago, and told him bluntly that his daughter was   
interested in his son. The king had also told Bardock to forbid his son from   
seeing Journa again unless Prince Vegeta was with Raditz. Bardock had done the   
king's bidding, and Raditz had obeyed-for three days. After that, Raditz could   
not resist temptation, and he and Journa had gone skinny-dipping in the king's   
royal springs. Bardock feigned ignorance; his son was as stubborn and bold as   
he was. Anyway the two kids had already bonded, and that bond would not be easy   
to break.  
  
Bardock feared for Raditz's life. King Vegeta had already   
threatened to either execute or exile Raditz from planet Vegeta, if Raditz tried   
to court Journa. And Journa and Raditz were under Nappa and Prince Vegeta's   
constant scrutiny. There was no hope for the two lovebirds. He would have to   
be harder on Raditz and force him to break things off with the princess once and   
for all.  
  
After tonight, he would. He may as well let the boy have one last   
rendezvous with his royal lover.  
  
He waved good-bye to the girl and swept Marrell up in his arms. He   
then carried his mate to their quarters, with Marrell nibbling on his ear.  
  
Raditz was sleeping heavily when a slim, warm figure slid into bed   
and under the ratty covers with him. The visitor nibbled on his neck.  
  
Raditz gave her a sleepy grin, as she pounced on him, biting his   
nose.  
  
Raditz laughed. "Hey, give me a chance to wake up, will you?"  
  
"If I do, you might try to resist me," Journa said, laughing. "Why   
should I let you have the advantage?" She slipped off her armor and then her   
blouse. Before Raditz knew it, Journa was stripped right down to her shift.   
Raditz caressed her hip, loving the feel of soft lace and skin. They would not   
mate tonight; it was too risky, but they knew that they weren't going to wait   
much longer. They would have done so sooner, but birth control was very hard to   
come by on planet Vegeta without anyone's knowledge.  
  
However, there were plenty of other things that they could do.  
  
Journa helped Raditz out of his thin nightshirt, as he pulled her   
hips against his, growling appreciatively. She bit his nose gently, and he bit   
her shoulder a little harder. Raditz ran his fingers through Journa's short red   
hair.  
  
"You are a naughty little wench!"  
  
Journa crossed her arms, as she feigned a look of annoyance. "You   
should never call an elite-class Saiyan princess a wench. It is very uncouth!"  
  
Raditz snorted. "And this from an elite-class girl who regular   
hangs around us third-class Saiyans! Someone who can drink sake and mead like a   
man, in fact more than a man does!" He pulled apart her crossed her arms and   
pulled her to him. "You are delicious," he told her, nibbling on her neck,   
"even if you do have a mouth on you."  
  
"And you are very handsome, even if you have manners worst than an   
animal's."  
  
"Sweet thing, I am an animal!"  
  
"You certainly eat like one, that's for sure."  
  
"You've got that right." And with that, Raditz bit her nose.   
Journa ran her hands along Raditz's broad, muscular back.  
  
"You're getting stronger," she murmured softly.  
  
"Heh, maybe someday I'll be stronger than your brother and Nappa."  
  
"That I wouldn't mind seeing. Those two are too arrogant for their   
own good. They need to be taught a lesson, especially my brother."  
  
"Mean little thing, aren't you?" Raditz purred. "I thought you   
weren't suppose to insult the Prince of all Saiyans!"  
  
"Hah, I do it all the time, and I'm still alive."  
  
Raditz nibbled on her ear. "You know he's going to be less tolerant   
when he becomes the king. I doubt he's going to let you talk to him then the   
way you do now."  
  
"He won't kill me, like he would anyone else. He may be a jerk, and   
he may treat me like dirt sometimes, but we do share a bond. He trusts me more   
than anyone else, and he treats me better than anyone else." Journa raised her   
shift up over her chest to her neck and brought Raditz's large hands to her   
budding bosom. She sighed with pleasure when Raditz tentatively ran his hands   
over them.  
  
"Considering that the royal brat treats most people like they're not   
good enough for him to step on, that's something hard to believe."  
  
"It is hard to believe, but whether you think so or not, Raditz, my   
brother does have a decent streak. It just that he thinks it's a crime for him   
to show it. He is protective of me, and he has even covered for me on several   
occasions."  
  
"Would he cover for you, if he knew you were down here with me?"  
  
Journa grew uncomfortable. "I couldn't tell him that. He would   
definitely go to our father then. I can't lie to you, Raditz. He doesn't   
consider you mate material for me either. But I don't care, I don't. I want to   
be with you, even if we have to leave Vegeta behind."  
  
"Same for me, love, but where could we go?"  
  
"There are plenty of other planets."  
  
"Are there any planets that Frieza or your father don't know exist?   
They sent my brother to some tiny blue planet five or six years away from here.   
If they know about a planet that far away, there is no where for us to hide."  
  
Journa grinned, as she ran her thin fingers through Raditz's thick,   
coarse hair. "We could always make Mother happy and make peace with Astoria,   
just you and I. Maybe Shalila Chloe would be willing to let a couple of ragged   
Saiyans take refuge on her precious planet. After all, not even Frieza has been   
able to take Astoria."  
  
Raditz snorted bitterly. "Yeah, right, Journa. The Superior Gran   
is going to welcome Saiyans on Astoria. Please! In case, you've forgotten, we   
just tried to destroy her planet and kidnap her favorite grandkid. That   
granddaughter of hers is as strong as she is!"  
  
"That scrawny little girl? You mean that Princess Tayla Chloe is   
that strong? As strong as my brother?"  
  
Raditz nodded. "I couldn't believe it myself, but that brat managed   
to defeat all three of us. Well, she has some help, but it was mainly her that   
defeated us. I figured that Vegeta would be able to succeed where I had failed,   
but that kid overpowered him as well. But then, she had her granny helping her   
as well. Vegeta was steamed to learn that someone finally defeated him. If I   
wasn't so mad at that brat myself, I would be gloating that Vegeta had finally   
been put in his place!"  
  
"She nearly killed you, didn't she?"  
  
"She sure did, and that brat has gotten all of us in trouble! King   
Vegeta was mad, even at his own son! You should have heard your father yell at   
us! I thought that he was going to have Nappa and I executed! And even Vegeta   
was shaken, although of course he would never admit it. And from what I have   
heard, your father is worried about what Frieza is going to say or do. Frieza   
really wanted Astoria cleared, and we were basically the last hope, after my   
father's crew. I'm sure you know that my father tried to help take Astoria   
twice and failed."  
  
"I did see Father earlier before I snuck down here. He was very   
worried. He was calmer with my brother though, although even my brother was   
strangely quiet. I heard him talking with one of his guards about how Frieza   
was going to react when he found out that Astoria hadn't been cleared. Father   
fears that Frieza is going to take my brother away to live with him. Frieza has   
threatened to do that before."  
  
Suddenly she cried out passionately, "I hate Frieza, Raditz, I hate   
him! It is almost like he is running the planet now instead of my father! I   
don't mind clearing planets for sale and fighting, in fact I enjoy doing those   
things, but I hate doing them for Frieza! Mother is right to keep after Father   
about dissolving the partnership with Frieza; I don't trust him. I don't like   
him. I feel that one day Frieza will destroy us all, just like he has done to   
other people. If we weren't so useful to him, he would have killed us all off   
already!" And with that, Journa burst into rare tears. Raditz pulled her to   
him. He cuddled her against his bare chest.  
  
"Shhh, Journa, don't cry, please, kid, don't cry." Raditz wanted to   
tell her that Frieza would never dream of harming the Saiyans, but he wasn't so   
sure of that anymore. All life was expendable to Frieza, and Raditz's father   
had told him repeatedly never to get on Frieza's bad side, no matter what.   
  
Raditz shared Journa's hatred of Frieza, and he was sure that Nappa and Vegeta   
felt the same way, even though they would never admit it. Vegeta always swore   
that one day that they would quit taking orders from Frieza, but Raditz doubted   
that would happen for a long time, if it ever did happen. He knew that Vegeta   
was hoping one day to overthrow Frieza and run Frieza's business himself, but   
Raditz thought that Vegeta was being overconfident. Vegeta's arrogance was   
going to get him killed someday; Raditz just hoped that he and Journa weren't   
around to see it happen.  
  
He nipped Journa's nose gently, kissed her throat and pulled her to   
him. They lay side-to-side, almost naked, just holding each other. Raditz   
wanted to reassure Journa that they could easily handle Frieza, but he would be   
lying to her, and she would know it. They had long sworn never to lie to each   
other, no matter what.  
  
Raditz turned away from his future mate slightly so he could blow   
out the half-burnt candle that was the only light in the room. He and Journa   
then laid quietly in the darkness, taking comfort from each other without words. 


	14. Raditz's Family

Chapter Fourteen: Raditz's Family  
  
Marrell was nibbling on Bardock's ear when a Royal Guard knocked on   
the door of their small private quarters. Bardock grumbled under his breath, as   
he crawled out of bed. Marrell lay back on the bed, hoping that the visitor   
would not take too long. She wanted him to give her another child, and she was   
wondering why her last child, Kakarot, had not yet come home from the strange   
blue planet called E-arth.  
  
Bardock opened the door, annoyed that his lovemaking had been   
interrupted. He did not get to see his mate very often, and it would be months   
before he would see her again. He was supposed to leave for Planet Kanassa with   
his crew tomorrow to clear it. Then afterwards, they would clear Planet Meat.  
  
"Soldier Bardock, King Vegeta wants an audience with you   
immediately."  
Bardock's eyes were full of unspoken Saiyan curses. The Royal Guard flinched,   
for even though Bardock was a low-level fighter, he was the best and the most   
dangerous of all of the low-levels. The Royal Guard stood aside and let Bardock   
pass.  
  
Bardock gave his wife a small smile. "Good-bye, love, I'll be back   
soon." He hoped that this matter did not concern Raditz's affair with Princess   
Journa again. Marrell smiled weakly at him and blew him a farewell kiss.  
  
In minutes, he was upstairs in King Vegeta's throne room. King   
Vegeta had already alerted the Royal Guards of Bardock's arrival, so they let   
the third-class fighter by without a word or a threat.  
  
Young Prince Vegeta stood at his father's left side, as he usually   
did when his father held court. His mother, the Queen Muriella, sat at his   
father's right side on her own throne. Queen Muriella greeted Bardock with a   
gentle smile, but Prince Vegeta glowered at Bardock, as if Bardock were no more   
than a housefly. Bardock ignored the prince's glare, even as he bowed in homage   
to the royal boy and his mother.  
Bardock showed homage to King Vegeta afterward, as the King rose from his   
majestic gold throne and walked down the twenty steps leading down to the floor.  
  
"Soldier Bardock," King Vegeta began sharply, "I am sure that you   
have probably already guessed why you were summoned. I intend to summon your   
son as well."  
  
Bardock sighed. He hoped that King Vegeta would let Bardock's son   
off with just a beating from the Royal Guards for his meetings with Princess   
Journa.   
  
"What is this about, Your Majesty?" Bardock asked abruptly, even   
though he already knew.  
Prince Vegeta smirked from near his father's throne. Queen Muriella just shook   
her head sadly.  
  
King Vegeta gave Bardock a dirty look. "This concerns your son once again   
seeing my daughter. Speaking of her, do you know where she is at this moment?   
My men have been unable to find her."  
  
Bardock was quiet. As far as he knew, Princess Journa was still   
with his son in his son's private quarters. He silently hoped that she had   
already left.  
  
"Bardock," the King added, "I want you to find your son and bring   
him to me immediately. You have thirty minutes to do so before I send my   
soldiers after him. If I have to send my guards, your son and you will receive   
a flogging! And if you find my daughter, send her to me, as well!"  
  
Bardock bit back a curse, for cursing the King would bring instant   
death. "Yes, Your Majesty," he said with gritted teeth.  
  
Suddenly, the gigantic silver doors of the throne room opened, as if   
a hurricane had blown them open. The guards rushed to stop the intruder, but   
they stopped immediately when they recognized him.  
  
"Lord Frieza!"  
  
The entire royal family gasped in terror, even Prince Vegeta.   
Bardock's body tensed, and the Royal Guards began to tremble, as Frieza walked   
into the throne room, as if he owned it himself. Two of his Top Elite Officers,   
Zarbon and Dodoria, were following behind him.  
  
King Vegeta drew himself up to his full height, ignoring Bardock for   
the moment. "Lord Frieza! I didn't think you'd be back so soon! What are you   
doing here?"  
  
Frieza chuckled evilly, and he looked directly at Prince Vegeta,   
King Vegeta's favored child and heir to the Saiyan throne. He grinned widely at   
the royal boy. Prince Vegeta glared back at him darkly with his usual trademark   
scowl.  
  
"I've come to collect my collateral," Frieza stated arrogantly.   
  
  
  
  
Raditz and Journa crept along the corridors to visit Raditz's   
grandfather, Arcan. Raditz did not get to see his grandfather very often, but   
when he did, Arcan usually had useful advice for both him and his father. And   
best of all, Arcan knew about his grandson's affair with the young princess, but   
he fully approved and kept mum. Raditz could tell his grandfather, once an   
excellent low-level fighter himself, anything.   
  
Arcan's quarters were small, but his was slightly better than his   
son's and grandson's because he was a senior fighter. Arcan resembled an   
elderly Bardock, with graying hair, a beard, and piercing black eyes. Arcan had   
once lived on planet Astoria before Shalila Chloe took back her planet from the   
Saiyans. He once kept a Sastorian (half-Saiyan, half-Astorian) mistress named   
Aliquina, and he had fallen in love with her. Unfortunately, he had been forced   
to abandon her when the Astorians had started winning over the Saiyans.  
  
Arcan returned to Astoria fifty years later during the unsuccessful   
Temple of Chloe summit, where he learned that Aliquina (who had committed   
suicide over him) had left behind a son named Handros. But Handros had died   
before Arcan had a chance to meet him...  
  
"Grandfather!"  
  
Arcan stopped his training exercises when he heard his grandson's   
rough voice. Raditz strutted in proudly, with Journa behind him. Arcan favored   
the young man with a rare smile; here was at least one grandchild he would get   
to know. He had never seen nor met Raditz's brother, Kakarot, and as for his   
other grandchildren...  
  
"Raditz! And..." Arcan waited for Princess Journa to acknowledge   
him before he could address her. Journa nodded a greeting, and Arcan then   
added, "Princess Journa!"  
  
Journa smiled warmly. "Hello, Arcan."  
  
"Hello, children," Arcan told them. "Princess Journa, does your   
father know that you're down here?"  
  
Journa smirked. "If he did, would I be here right now?"  
  
Raditz snorted. "The King would hang me by my balls, if he knew   
that I was with his darling daughter." Arcan chuckled at this; he admired the   
boy's irreverence, although he sometimes worried that the boy's extreme   
frankness would get him killed. He liked Raditz's honesty, though.  
  
"Grandfather, I was just curious about something," Raditz told him.   
"Have you heard whether my brother has returned yet from clearing that little   
planet that he had been sent to?" As a senior soldier, Arcan had access to   
secret information, which he imparted to his son and grandson from time to time.  
  
Arcan sighed. "I have heard nothing about Kakarot yet. I did hear,   
however, that your mother was trying to convince your father to give her another   
child."  
  
Raditz sniffed. "I don't understand why, Grandfather. Any new brat   
will just get shipped off to another planet the way that my brother did."  
  
Journa added, "I agree; what's the use of having brats, if you can't   
keep them with you? If I had a child, hopefully with Raditz--"--Raditz blushed   
at this-"I wouldn't let anyone send the brat off, especially for Frieza. No kid   
of mine is working for Frieza."  
  
Arcan sighed wearily. "Princess, that is easier said than done."  
  
Journa became sad then, for she knew that Arcan was right. Raditz   
put his hand on her shoulder, and Journa leaned on his shoulder.  
  
Raditz spoke up. "Grandfather, you are one of King Vegeta's Royal   
Guards. Couldn't you convince him that staying in this partnership with Frieza   
is foolish? Frieza would destroy us all the first chance he got."  
  
Arcan carefully sensed around for other ki levels, to ensure that no   
one heard his grandson's rebellious words against Lord Frieza. Satisfied, that   
no one else heard, he whispered, "I agree, Raditz, but it is King Vegeta's   
decision to make."  
  
Raditz said quietly, "I wish there was some other planet for us to   
go to, one that not even Frieza can take."  
  
Journa added softly, "It is too bad that we could not have made   
peace with planet Astoria eighteen years ago. Not even Frieza or us can conquer   
Astoria."  
  
Arcan nodded, as Raditz joked, "Hey, Grandfather, you used to live   
on Astoria. Didn't you keep a half-Saiyan, half-Astorian mistress there? Did   
you happen to have any brats by her?"  
  
Arcan answered quietly, "I had one son by her, my Aliquina."  
  
Journa piped up. "I want to hear this story. Do you have time to   
tell us?"  
  
Arcan sighed wearily, "I suppose so, Princess." He rubbed his   
temples, conjuring up memories of the Sastorian girl that he had once loved.   
"Well, it began when King Dayrus gave little Aliquina to me as a reward for my   
good services. She was only fourteen at the time, and she had been a slave all   
of her life. She didn't even know which Astorian Clan she had been descended   
from, or whom her parents were. I wanted her the moment I saw her, and I mated   
with her when she had turned fifteen. It took her a while to warm up to me, but   
she came to love me, and I came to love her. She had golden-brown hair and   
large emerald eyes, and a long beautiful tail, which was soft to the touch. I   
was going to marry her, despite what our people would have thought."  
  
"Unfortunately, Princess Shalila Chloe had arrived on Astorian soil,   
on the moon of Sahara, with the Namek warrior, Dirkan. I was ruling over the   
moon of Sahara at the time, and I had my own small kingdom going for a while.   
They teamed up with Prince Bajal Chloe, a rebel leader, who had started all the   
Astorians on a revolution against us to take back their planet. Bajal had taken   
my little Aliquina hostage, and demanded that I free some of his family members   
in exchange for her. I wanted Aliquina back, but pride forbade me from giving   
in to the Astorian prince's demands right away. Finally, I gave in, but only so   
that Aliquina could later lead my men to where the rebels were hiding.   
Unfortunately, Aliquina, who was half-Astorian herself, had started to   
sympathize with the Astorian rebels during her captivity. When she was returned   
to me, she began begging me to help them. The Astorians rebellion had driven a   
wedge between us for a while, until I forced her to give up the idea of helping   
her Astorian counterparts. She agreed, and for some time, I thought that she   
had given up helping them."  
  
"But I was wrong. She had been helping them behind my back, and oh,   
when King Dayrus found out, he was furious! He had demanded that I kill her,   
but instead, I beat her and hid her from him and his Royal Guards."  
  
"I will skip ahead now to where we Saiyans had started losing the   
war for Astoria. The new Saiyan king of Astoria, King Magitz, who had been King   
Dayrus' son, had ordered a retreat from Astorian soil. There were not enough   
Saiyans by then to end the Astorian rebellion. Oh, Shalila Chloe had picked a   
convenient time to attack, during a month that had no full moons! I was forced   
to abandon Aliquina, and I had sent a message to her that I would eventually   
come back for her, but apparently it never reached her."  
  
"Fifty years later, I had finally been allowed to return to Astoria,   
in hopes that I would be able to reunite with my beloved Aliquina! But when I   
had arrived for the summit, I discovered that she had hung herself over me!   
Sweet Kami, she had never received my message! I figured by this time, she had   
probably taken another mate anyway, but to hear of her killing herself because I   
had abandoned her!"  
  
"At that time, Raditz, your father, Bardock, had been born. He was   
eighteen years old. I had taken a wife late in life, your grandmother, Bitra.   
Sadly, your grandmother died while giving birth to your father. She was only   
sixteen then, and sadly, too weak to really birth a child."  
  
"Bardock met a lovely young Sastorian girl named Alora, and things   
just didn't work out between them...there that's that. Well, my boy, it's been   
nice seeing you again. I must get back to training." Arcan began to shoo them   
out, when Raditz seized his grandfather's shoulder.  
  
"Wait, grandfather!" Raditz hissed. "You were not done yet! I want   
to know more about this Alora girl! Did my father have any brats by her! If he   
did, I have the right to know!"  
  
Arcan sighed. "Raditz, that's enough for today!"  
  
"No, it's not! What is so awful about her that you couldn't tell   
me?"  
  
Arcan lowered his voice. "Bardock mated with her."  
  
"Okay, so my father had a woman before my mother. So what?"  
  
"Your father..." Arcan began hesitantly, "...didn't know that Alora   
was his...own niece."  
  
Raditz sucked in his breath in horror. "My father committed   
incest?"  
  
"He and Alora didn't know it at the time," Arcan continued too   
quickly, "I didn't know it myself until Alora revealed that her grandmother had   
been--Aliquina herself. Aliquina's son by me, Handros, had married an Astorian   
clan leader, and she gave him two daughters, Mauria and Alora. Mauria had a   
son, Bendros-my great-grandson and your second cousin. As far, as I know,   
Mauria, Alora, and Bendros are still alive. Mauria and Alora are your first   
cousins, Raditz. So you have relatives with Astorian blood. And of course,   
this fatal discovery ended things between your father and Alora. I am thankful   
that they did not produce any children between them."  
  
Raditz was thankful, as well. His father unintentionally committing   
incest would be one more thing for both King Vegeta and Prince Vegeta to hold   
against him, let alone children being produced from such a tainted union.  
  
Journa wrapped her tail around Raditz's waist to comfort him, and   
she stroked his stiff, long, wiry hair. Raditz was quiet and somber. Arcan   
felt awful for revealing this sad story to his grandson, but Raditz had the   
right to know.  
  
Suddenly, they were interrupted by a sharp voice in Arcan's doorway.  
  
"Bardock!" Arcan exclaimed. "Come in, son."  
  
"I can't right now, Father." Bardock turned directly to Raditz and   
Journa. "Son, the King wishes to see you immediately." Bardock's eyes were   
full of regret, but he could not disobey King Vegeta. "Son, he wants to see   
Princess Journa, as well."  
  
Journa's eyes flickered with fear, and Raditz stiffened. Summons   
from King Vegeta rarely held good news for anyone, no matter what class they   
were.  
  
Journa spoke silently, "We are on our way, Bardock."  
  
  
  
  
  
"You cannot take my son, Lord Frieza! I forbid it!" King Vegeta   
roared at Frieza. "We will clear your precious Astoria soon enough! I will   
just send the crew that was going to Kanassa to Astoria instead."  
  
"There are no more room for negotiations, King Vegeta," Frieza   
purred evilly. "You knew what the deal was, King. I said that if Astoria   
wasn't cleared, that I would take a member of your family as captive. And there   
is no captive that I would rather have than your son. Your people will get   
their darling Prince back when Meat, Kanassa, and Astoria are cleared!"  
  
"That is not fair, Frieza!" King Vegeta hissed. "My people have   
more than fulfilled your requirements and orders. You are ten times richer than   
ever because of us Saiyans! My people are your best fighters, Frieza, and you   
know it! If you must take a hostage, take one of my oldest daughters, Silka or   
Soira-" --he ignored Queen Muriella's gasp of horror-"and we will clear the   
planets as you have ordered. I also have powerful nephews; you could take one   
of them in my son's place."  
  
"I do not want your daughters or your nephews, King Vegeta. I am   
taking Prince Vegeta with me as collateral, and that is final! Dodoria, grab   
the boy!" Frieza ordered.  
  
"No!" Queen Muriella screamed, throwing herself in front of her only   
son. "Vegeta, you have to stop them! You can't let him take our son! He is to   
rule in your stead!"  
  
King Vegeta flew directly in Dodoria's path. "No one is taking my   
son away! No one!"  
  
Prince Vegeta whispered in his mother's ear quietly, "Am I going to   
have to go with them?"  
  
Queen Muriella was too shaken to answer.  
  
Dodoria shoved the King aside and flew up to Prince Vegeta and his   
trembling mother. "Prince Vegeta, you are to come with us, immediately."  
  
Prince Vegeta gave Dodoria his most fatal glare. "I am not going   
anywhere that I don't wish to go. Now you and Lord Frieza may leave. I AM NOT   
GOING!"  
  
Dodoria shot the Prince his most fatal glare. "Oh, really, Prince.   
I don't advise you going against Lord Frieza. He is your boss now."  
  
Prince Vegeta laughed haughtily. "Lord Frieza is not my boss! The   
only one I answer to is my father! Now, pink puffball, you can leave!"  
  
Frieza was getting angrier by the minute. "So the great Prince   
Vegeta refuses to come with us. Zarbon, show the boy and his father what   
happens if my orders are not obeyed right away."  
  
Dodoria grinned evilly. He opened his mouth and looked directly at   
Queen Muriella. He spat out a powerful mouth blast, and it hit the Queen before   
either Prince Vegeta or King Vegeta could stop him.  
  
"NOOOOO!!!!" the Queen screamed, as her slender body burned away.   
  
It was her last word ever.  
  
When Dodoria had finished, Queen Muriella's body had been reduced to   
a charred skeleton. Both Vegetas were horrified.  
  
"Mother!" Prince Vegeta cried.  
  
"Muriella!" King Vegeta screamed.  
  
"You pink son of a witch!" Prince Vegeta shouted, as Dodoria, Zarbon   
and Frieza laughed at the Queen's horrific death. "You'll pay for that,   
Dodoria!"  
  
Frieza flew up to the shocked Prince Vegeta. "Now, Vegeta, do you   
see what happens when I am disobeyed? If you don't come with us, your father   
will suffer the same fate as your dear mother!"  
  
Journa, Raditz, and Bardock entered the throne room then. "Frieza!"   
Bardock hissed.  
  
Journa screamed when she saw her mother's skeleton lying quietly   
next to Journa's brother. "Mother!"  
  
"You bastards!" King Vegeta snarled. "Guards, arrest Dodoria and   
Lord Frieza at once!"  
  
The Royal Guards charged towards Dodoria and Frieza, but Dodoria   
blasted them away with his mouth as well, reducing them to skeletons as well.   
Frieza laughed evilly.  
  
Bardock and Raditz clenched their fists in anger. Journa bared her   
teeth, and she began to gather her ki together. She'd make them pay for her   
mother's death!  
  
Frieza looked at King Vegeta with a fatal glance. "Sending your   
Guards after us was a huge mistake, King. For that error, I will take Princess   
Journa with me, as well."  
  
King Vegeta seized his chest. "Lord Frieza, I-"  
  
"Too late, King. I am taking your youngest children with me, as of   
right now. Zarbon, seize Princess Journa!"  
  
Raditz jumped in between Zarbon and Journa. "You just try it,   
pretty green boy, and you'll be sorry!"  
  
Zarbon and Raditz began fighting each other, with Raditz repeatedly   
punching Zarbon in his face. The wrestling match continued for five minutes   
until Frieza ordered a halt. Zarbon halted all right-while holding Raditz up in   
the air by his throat.  
  
"Princess Journa," Frieza told the royal girl sharply. "You will   
come with me, or this low-level protecting you suffers the same fate as your   
mother! Is that clear?"  
  
Zarbon held his free hand to Raditz's heart, preparing to launch a   
fatal blast into his chest. Journa screamed out in terror. "I'll go with you,   
Lord Frieza, just don't let anything happen to Raditz!"  
  
Lord Frieza grinned then. "You heard the Princess, Zarbon. She   
surrenders. Release the stupid low-level!"  
  
Zarbon flung Raditz to the far side of the throne room. Before   
Journa could rush to her beloved, Zarbon seized the girl by her tail and   
squeezed it hard. Journa screamed in pain and terror.  
  
"Release my sister!" Prince Vegeta ordered angrily.  
  
"Prince Vegeta," Frieza began, "if you don't come with us now, I   
will have your father and your sister killed right now. Is that clear?"  
  
"Don't listen to him, boy!" King Vegeta ordered.  
  
"Well, Prince?" Frieza prompted. "What is your decision? Your   
father's and your sister's lives are in your hands now. What do you say?"  
  
Prince Vegeta held his proud head down in shame. "Fine, I'll go   
with you. But you will return my sister and I to our father after your demands   
are met!"  
  
Frieza chuckled wickedly. "We'll see, boy." He grabbed Vegeta's   
wrist in his hand and gripped it tightly. Dodoria seized the boy's tail, not   
hard enough to cripple him, but hard enough to make the boy submit.  
  
Frieza said to King Vegeta. "Your children are mine now until Meat,   
Kanassa, and Astoria are cleared. Do you understand that? Any futile rescue   
attempts on your people's part will result in both children being destroyed."  
  
King Vegeta hissed, "Your planets will be cleared and taken over.   
But you will return my children to me the day that all three planets have been   
taken!"  
  
Frieza chuckled lightly. "Zarbon, Dodoria, take the children and   
come on!"  
  
And in a few minutes, the three villains had taken the angry and scared royal   
children out of the throne room.   
  
"Father!" Journa screamed, as Zarbon flew out of the room with her,   
as he dangled her by her tail.  
  
"Journa! Vegeta!" King Vegeta cried out, as his children   
disappeared.  
  
Bardock clenched his fists in fury, as he watched them leave. "Your Majesty, if   
you wish, I will go after them at once!"  
  
"Don't be a fool!" King Vegeta snapped. His heart was breaking over   
the abduction of his children and the loss of his beloved, beautiful Queen, but   
he repressed the grief so deeply that he appeared nonchalant about his family   
being taken from him.  
  
"Bardock," he began sharply, "I want you and your crew to take all   
three of those pathetic planets that Frieza insists are so important to him,   
especially Astoria! If you accomplish these missions, I myself will personally   
give you, your family, and your descendants elite-class status forever! And I   
will even permit a marriage between your Raditz and my Journa. I am that   
desperate! Frieza has taken my favorite daughter, and my heir to my throne!"  
  
Bardock digested the King's words. King Vegeta the haughty and   
proud was almost begging, begging! Bardock thought quietly for a moment. If he   
managed the task of clearing all three of his planets, Raditz and Kakarot's   
futures would be assured for life. And he could submit to his mate's wish for   
another child, for that child's future would be assured as well, even if the   
brat would get sent off planet first.  
  
Bardock gave a firm nod, as he went to check on his fallen son, who   
had tried to save Princess Journa. "As you wish, Your Majesty. It is as good   
as done," Bardock told the King arrogantly. He then added in a softer tone, "I   
am sorry about the Queen, Your Majesty."  
  
King Vegeta nodded a grave thank you, as he carefully held back rare   
tears. He slowly flew up to the throne and cradled Queen Muriella's skeleton in   
his arms.  
  
"I am sorry, my love," he whispered to her. "Forgive me for not   
listening to you about Frieza."  
  
The King then turned sharply to Bardock, who had helped Raditz to   
his feet. "Get out of here, both of you, now! I wish to be alone with my   
wife!"  
  
Bardock nudged Raditz, who was angry and ashamed because he could   
not protect his chosen future mate. "Come, son, it is time to go. I have to   
leave for Kanassa at once."  
  
Both men walked slowly out of the throne room. 


	15. Dirkan Is Forced To Face His Greatest Fe...

Chapter Fifteen: Dirkan Is Forced To Face His Greatest Fear  
  
Palace of Chloe, one year later.  
  
"Good morning! Time to wake up, princess."  
  
Tayla yawned expansively, as she awoke from a deep sleep. Mykia was   
gently shaking her mistress to wake her. Tayla slowly sat up, her long hair a   
dark, silky curtain covering most of her face. She brushed the tangled hair out   
of her face and rubbed her eyes. She fingered the silk red and gold bedspread   
that was covering her and wished that she could crawl back under it. She let   
Mykia guide her out of bed and into a crimson robe. Red was her best color; it   
suited Tayla's coloring so well, and red and purple were Tayla's favorite   
colors.  
  
"Morning, Mykia," she murmured sleepily.  
  
"Time for your bath, princess," Mykia told her cheerfully. Tayla   
yawned again, as Mykia gently and slowly brushed and fingered the tangles out of   
her charge's hair. Mykia was dressed in a brown robe herself, and she and Tayla   
were both going to the women's bathhouse that could be seen from Tayla's   
bedchamber window. The Palace of Chloe had beautiful oval and diamond-shaped   
windows, and all of the windows in Tayla's rooms were oval-shaped.  
  
She and Mykia, still dressed in their robes, left Tayla's room and   
went down to the elevator leading down directly to the bathhouses. The large,   
roomy bathhouses were located near the Palace of Chloe courtyard, and the   
women's bathhouse was made out of lovely pink marble. The men's bathhouse was   
made out of sea-green marble. A third bathhouse that was made out of lavender   
marble was set in between the first two bathhouses. This bathhouse contained   
smaller bathing rooms for married couples; in fact this bathhouse was reserved   
exclusively for married couples who wanted to bath or shower with each other in   
private. A fourth, smaller bathhouse that was made out of blue marble was set   
further away from the other bathhouses. This blue bathhouse was a quarantine   
bathhouse, reserved for people who had contagious diseases and bloody sores.   
The quarantine bathhouse also held special medical equipment, including   
regeneration tanks and healing spas.   
  
Mykia and Tayla entered the elegant women's bathhouse. The   
bathhouse held a large public women's bathing pool, and a small suite of private   
bathing rooms for married couples that wanted privacy. There were also   
individual rooms for medicinal baths, milk baths, mineral baths, perfumed baths,   
saltwater baths (all Astorians bathed in saltwater several times a week to keep   
themselves healthy), showers, and separate bathing rooms for servants. The   
men's bathhouse was set up the same way.  
  
Tayla and her maid entered a shower room first, so they could be   
washed in special water that had been treated with special treatments to   
eliminate any potential germs and contaminants that could be spread to others.   
After that, the princess and her servant left for the women's general bathing   
room.  
  
The general bathing room held two large bathing pools, one for   
adults and older children, and the other for babies and young children too young   
to be left unattended for more than a minute. Tayla was already a good swimmer,   
so she and Mykia entered the adults' bathing pool. They stepped gently into the   
warm, swirling water along the wide marble steps leading into the pool. She and   
Mykia were the only ones bathing at the moment; the other Clan of Chloe females   
taking morning baths would join them soon.  
  
Tayla happily ducked underwater, so that she could wet her hair.   
Mykia opened a small satchel that she had brought along with her. This   
contained shampoos, conditioning oils and other ointments to keep her mistress's   
hair soft and silky. Mykia began to wash her princess's hair with the shampoo.   
Tayla looked around for her grandmother, and wondered where she was. Shalila   
always joined Tayla and her maid every morning with her old maid, Dalantra, from   
the Clan of Hagen. But today, there was only Dalantra entering the pool. Tayla   
would have swum over to her, but Mykia was now conditioning Tayla's hair with   
the conditioning oils, and Tayla had to stay still.  
  
"Dalantra! Good morn!" she cried to her grandmother's oldest   
servant. "Where is my Nama?"  
  
Dalantra flushed uncomfortably. She did not want to explain to the   
child where her "Nama" was at the moment, for she did not entirely approve of   
what her Superior Gran was doing right now.  
  
"Well, child..." she stammered.  
  
"Where is she?" Tayla demanded to know.  
  
Dalantra bit her lip. She did not want to tell Shalila's favorite   
grandchild what her grandmother was doing at the moment.  
  
"She'll see you later," she told the young princess abruptly. "Let   
Mykia finish washing your hair."  
  
"Where is she at though? I want to know."  
  
Dalantra sighed. Tayla was just like her grandmother; she never   
stopped asking a question until she received a satisfying answer. She could   
easily become one of her grandmother's Interrogators when she grew older; the   
child was certainly persistent.  
  
"She is with Commander Dirkan, child," Dalantra told her finally.  
  
"Where are they at?" Tayla asked.  
  
Dalantra shook her head. "They are somewhere private, princess.   
They don't wish to be disturbed at the moment."  
  
"She is coming, isn't she?" Tayla persisted.  
  
"She'll meet you at breakfast, child. She sends her apologies."  
  
"She's been doing that a lot lately," Tayla grumbled. "Where does   
she really go some mornings, Dalantra?"  
  
Dalantra was trying to figure out a way to satisfy Tayla's endless   
questioning without giving away Shalila's secret. She could not just tell Tayla   
to be quiet and mind her own business, for Tayla was a Princess of Chloe, and   
she had to be shown proper respect for her station.  
  
"It is best if you ask her, child," Dalantra answered. "I'm afraid   
I can't tell you any more than that."  
  
"Can't or won't?"  
  
Dalantra groaned. Shalila would have said the same thing.  
  
"Both, child, I am sorry, but that is your grandmother's   
responsibility to tell you what she has been up to."  
  
Tayla sighed and grew quiet. She was going nowhere with this. And   
she knew that her Nama's maid would just keep putting her off. Dalantra was the   
oldest person that Tayla knew besides Dirkan; Dalantra was one-hundred-and-fifty   
years old, and she had been her Nama's nurse when her Nama had been born. Tayla   
knew that her Nama had been sent away when Nama had been two years old, and Nama   
did not come back home until she was twenty-two. Dalantra had still been alive   
when Nama had come home to Chloe, and after the Astorians drove the Saiyans away   
from their home, Dalantra had become Nama's servant and confidant.  
  
After Mykia finished washing her long hair, Tayla swam to the edge   
of the bathing pool, and she climbed out of it immediately. A Bathing Laborer   
gave her a soft drying cloth to dry herself off with. Tayla thanked the woman   
and asked for her robe.  
  
"Tayla, you have not finished your bath!" Mykia protested.  
  
"I'll finish it later! I've got to go! See you all later!" Tayla   
quickly dressed herself into her bathrobe, and she jumped up and flew out the   
door.  
  
"Tayla, come back!" both Dalantra and Mykia cried, but Tayla was   
already gone.  
  
Dalantra sighed and shook her head. Tayla was as hardheaded as the   
Superior Gran was.  
  
  
  
  
Tayla flew in the air, her red robe fluttering about her tiny body.   
She was determined to know what her Nama had been hiding from her. Nama almost   
always told her everything; at least that was what Tayla had always thought.  
  
  
She sensed her Nama's ki coming from the couples' lavender   
bathhouse. Why would Nama be in the couples' bathhouse? She doesn't have a   
husband anymore. Tayla was curious about this.  
  
She landed in front of the doorway of the couples' bathhouse, where she heard   
some rustling behind a tall bush not too far from the bathhouse. Tayla did not   
recognize the ki signatures of the two people hiding behind the bush, so she   
approached the shrub and peeked behind it. She saw a young couple in the act   
of lovemaking. Their smooth, perfect nude bodies were moving in rhythm to each   
other. Tayla did not understand what the two lovebirds were doing. She knew   
they were making many strange moaning and groaning sounds, and she did not know   
why. What they were doing was making her uneasy.  
  
"Hey, come out!" she cried to the moving bush.  
  
The naked couple peeked sheepishly out from behind the bush. They   
were both Laborers from the Clan of Nova, and they were embarrassed that a   
Princess of Chloe had caught them in the act of coupling. They knew they could   
also get in trouble, for that couples' bathhouse was reserved for royalty only,   
and they themselves had used it two hours before Shalila's arrival. In the   
heat of passion, they had forgotten to conceal their ki levels, and so they were   
certain that their Superior Gran would know that they had been hanging around   
there as well. She would not be pleased, especially when she found out that her   
granddaughter had seen them. Superior Gran Shalila Chloe was known for being   
particular about what her favorite grandchild was exposed to.  
  
"P-Princess Tayla!" they both stammered. "We can explain-"  
  
"What were you two doing?" the child princess asked them. "And how   
do you know who I am anyway?"  
  
"Everyone here knows who you are," the young man said uncomfortably.   
"We have seen you with our Superior Gran many a time."  
  
"Princess Tayla, do you plan to report us?" the young woman asked.  
  
"Report you for what? Being naked?" Tayla asked. The young man   
laughed unintentionally until his mate hit him.  
  
"Trocos, what are we going to do?" the young woman named Sedra,   
asked. "If my husband finds out about this-"  
  
"Finds out about what?" Tayla asked, completely unaware of what   
Sedra and Trocos had been up to.  
  
Sedra and Trocos realized then that Tayla had no idea what they had   
been doing. Trocos cleared his throat. "Nothing, princess, my woman here is   
worried about nothing. We will just-playing around. But we will be leaving   
now." He and Sedra went to look for their robes.  
  
Tayla was confused, but she had no time to worry about them right   
now. She had to look for Nama. She could now also sense Dirkan's ki coming   
from the bathhouse, as well as her grandmother's.  
  
And Dirkan's ki was growing closer to her, as Sedra and Trocos were   
still trying to find their robes. He saw Tayla staring at them, but paying no   
attention.  
  
"Princess Tayla!" he gasped, a bit shocked, although he had sensed   
Tayla's ki earlier. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be   
bathing?" Dirkan was stunned that Tayla had came here at this time of morning.   
He was stunned that she came here at all. Children weren't supposed to be at   
the couples' bathhouse, especially since more usually went on in the private   
bathing rooms than just bathing.  
  
Tayla turned around. "Hello Dirkan!" she crowed cheerfully. She   
jumped onto him and hugged him tightly. "I was bathing, but I just got my hair   
washed. I figured I get the rest done later. I was looking for Nama, and I   
sensed her here."  
  
"Child, you are going to catch cold being out here like this," he   
scolded her, as he put one arm around her. "And just what were those two   
doing?"  
  
Tayla shrugged. "I don't know. They were just naked, rolling about   
and stuff. And kissing a few times too."  
  
Dirkan sharply addressed the guilty couple, which had finally found   
their robes and were trying to flee Dirkan's coming wrath. Dirkan was one of   
Princess Tayla's guardians. "You two! What were you doing here?"  
  
Trocos and Sedra, who had finally put on their robes, couldn't look   
the Superior Gran's bodyguard in the eye. "Nothing really," Trocos muttered   
quickly.  
  
"What was 'nothing really', Trocos?" Dirkan asked angrily. He knew   
the young man from the men's bathhouse. Trocos was one of the Bathing Laborers   
there. Dirkan also knew Sedra from the women's bathhouse where she was also a   
Bathing Laborer. "Were you and your little tramp mating in front of the   
Princess Tayla?"  
  
"We-we didn't realize that she was there," Sedra stammered, not   
bothering any longer to deny their actions. "She just came."  
  
"Tayla, how much did you see?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
"Not much, except for what I told you," Tayla told him. She could   
not understand why Dirkan seemed to be so mad at the couple. What had they done   
other than being naked?  
  
"Sedra, didn't you just get married to that Technician, Urkon?"   
Dirkan asked her. "What would he think of your actions?"  
  
Sedra breathed heavily. She knew the consequences for adultery: her   
husband would divorce her, and her Clan, the Clan of Nova, would banish her from   
them. She and Trocos would also be exiled from Chloe, and Trocos would also be   
banned from the Clan of Nova. And yet Trocos had been so wonderful a lover...  
  
"And what would the Superior Gran think of you two coupling in front   
of her granddaughter?" Dirkan asked stormily. "Princess Tayla is a child; she   
does not need to be exposed to that sort of mockery-"  
  
Trocos was furious then. He truly loved Sedra, and this Namek   
creature was making their love seem dirty. He knew that his next words would   
get him in major trouble, but he said them anyway: "And what do you call you   
illicit affair with our Superior Gran? You are in no position to condemn or   
judge us."  
  
"How dare you speak that way, lad?" Dirkan roared.  
  
"Well it's true, isn't it?" Sedra snapped disrespectfully. "You and   
our Superior Gran have been carrying on an affair of your own!"  
  
"ENOUGH!" Dirkan roared at both of them. "You two are to leave   
immediately and go to your separate rooms! And I mean separate. Sedra, you   
better pray that your husband does not find out about your little rendezvous   
with Trocos." The two servants knew they had gone too far then, and they both   
fled Dirkan's wrath as fast as they could.  
  
Tayla was shaking then. She did not like it when Dirkan lost his   
temper, even though he had never lost it with her. "Dirkan-" she began.  
  
"Tayla," he interrupted quickly. "I want you to go back and let   
your maid finish bathing you. Not another word."  
  
"But I want to see Nama-"  
  
"Not another word, Tayla," Dirkan said slowly, so that he would not   
shout. "Go back now."  
  
Tayla held her head down. "Yes, Dirkan," she said quietly, and she   
flew away. Dirkan sighed; Shalila was right, they were not going to be able to   
carry on what they were doing for much longer, not without serious consequences   
occurring.  
  
And out of those consequences, he feared losing Tayla's trust in him   
and her grandmother the most.  
  
  
  
  
Tayla finally let Mykia finish bathing her, much to her maid's   
relief. Later that afternoon after lunch, Tayla sought out Dirkan, wanting to   
know what had happened between the two Bathing Laborers and what they had been   
talking about. She couldn't stay too long, for she had lessons in medicine that   
evening with her brother, Raakon.  
  
Dirkan was meditating in the Palace of Chloe rose garden. Tayla   
flew down next to him and sat down on the stone ground next to him. She   
remained quiet until Dirkan had finished his meditating.   
  
Finally Dirkan raised his head up and looked directly at his ward.   
Tayla smiled and hugged her tall, green guardian. "Dirkan, can I ask you   
something?"   
  
Dirkan smiled wearily at her. "And what would that be?"  
  
"What were the naked servants talking about earlier? About you and   
Nama?"  
  
"Pay them no mind, child," he told her shortly. "You know how   
servants like to gossip."  
  
"But it wasn't nice gossip they were saying, I know. What does   
'illicit affair' mean anyway?"  
  
"Something those two fools were doing," he told her briefly.  
  
"They said that you and Nama were doing the same thing. What are   
they talking about?"  
  
"Nonsense," Dirkan answered abruptly. "Nothing but nonsense.   
Aren't you supposed to go see your brother?"  
  
"Not for another two hours. I have free time until then, unless you   
want to spar with me. I need more sword practice."  
  
Dirkan grinned. "Sure, why not?" He drew his sword, and Tayla drew   
her tiny one. He and Tayla clashed swords for a good thirty minutes until   
Dirkan called a halt.  
  
"You weary me, child," he told her.  
  
"I'm getting as good as you are, aren't I?" Tayla asked.  
  
"Yes, you are," he told her, "you are doing well. Always fight like   
you did with those nasty Saiyans, and you'll do fine."  
  
"Dirkan, can I ask you something else?" Tayla asked.  
  
"I suppose."  
  
"Are you going to marry anyone, ever?"  
  
Dirkan nearly keeled over. He was shocked. "Why do you ask,   
child?"  
  
"I've been thinking about it all afternoon, since I saw the naked   
Bathing Laborers," Tayla told him. "And I think I've already picked out my   
husband."  
  
"WHAT???" Dirkan exclaimed. "Tayla, you are eight years old! You   
don't mean Trocos, do you?"  
  
"Of course not! I don't know him, but I know you." Tayla sidled up   
to him and wrapped her slender arms around Dirkan's waist. "I like you, Dirkan.   
I love you. Will you marry me when I grow up? I'm sure Nama won't mind."  
  
Dirkan was not sure whether to laugh out loud, or ask Tayla what in   
the universe she was talking about. He laughed nervously. "Tayla, aren't I a   
little old for you?"  
  
"Nope. You'll never be old to me."  
  
  
Dirkan sighed. "Tayla, you're too young to be thinking about marriage."  
  
"I know that. And I know I can't marry you until I'm at least   
seventeen. But that's okay; I can wait. I just want to know if you'll wait for   
me."  
  
Dirkan was still stunned. "Tayla, I like you, and you are a very   
sweet and brave little girl, but I am too old to be your husband."  
  
"You're not too old," Tayla told him. Dirkan sighed again; this   
child just did not know when to give up. He had no problems being firm with her   
siblings and nieces and nephews, but Tayla, like her grandmother, had him   
wrapped around her miniature finger. "My father was ten years older than my   
mother, and Lektron was twelve years older than Gracina. So you're being much   
older than me is nothing really."  
  
"It is if you happen to be one-hundred-and-fourteen years younger   
than your husband. And I couldn't marry you anyway."  
  
"Why not? I thought you loved me."  
  
"I do, Tayla, but it is not as a male should love a female; it is an   
uncle loving his niece. I feel like an uncle towards you, not a potential   
lover. And I am your Guardian, and guardians are not allowed to marry their   
charges."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"That is the rule, child, and it cannot be broken. It makes things   
awkward."  
  
"I could release you from being my guardian, if that's what's   
stopping you."  
  
"No, Tayla, and that is not your decision right now to make, anyway.   
It is your grandmother's. Tayla, I cannot be your husband, I am sorry. You   
want to have babies someday, don't you?"  
  
Tayla was sad by then. "Yes," she mumbled.  
  
"Well, you can't have babies if you marry me, sweetheart. Nameks   
cannot have babies with Astorians. You need to marry one of your own kind,   
okay?"  
  
Tayla's lip trembled, and she was near tears. Dirkan felt awful,   
but he had to end Tayla's crush on him before it developed any further. She was   
just a little girl and an Astorian princess; she needed to mate with her own   
kind. And Dirkan loved Tayla's grandmother, Shalila, more than anyone else.  
  
"Tayla, come here," he told her gently. He wasn't normally   
physically affectionate with the children, but Tayla was his favorite. Tayla   
stepped reluctantly into Dirkan's embrace. Her tears began to spill on his red   
cape.  
  
"Tayla, don't cry," he told her. "You'll move on eventually, and   
when you do find a husband, you'll wonder what you ever saw in me."  
  
"Maybe," she sobbed, "but it doesn't feel that way right now."  
  
"I know, child, I know." Dirkan rubbed her back with one hand. The   
child had a very sensitive heart for a fighter. She was well on her way to   
becoming a jenteel warrien like Gracina and Raakon.   
  
He was painfully reminded of when he had to refuse to marry Shalila   
after they had won back Astoria from the Saiyans. Nameks normally did not take   
mates at all; in fact they were almost always asexual. They could mate with   
other species; they were built to do so, but it was only a rare Namek that took   
a mate. Nameks did not even need women to create children, and all Nameks were   
male. What was it about him that made two females from the same species and   
family love him so much? What exactly did Shalila and Tayla see in him? Dirkan   
sighed; Tayla was going to have a hard enough time later when she found out the   
true new nature of his relationship with her grandmother. He had to make her   
get over him before she discovered the full truth; it would hopefully make   
things less painful for her.  
  
"I don't think I could love any male as much as I love you," she   
whispered.  
  
"Trust me, you won't be thinking like that ten years from now."   
Dirkan kissed her gravely on her brow, and he and Tayla left the garden   
together.  
  
  
  
Later that night, after Dirkan had put Tayla to bed himself, he had   
went directly to Shalila's sitting parlor, where Shalila was mulling over some   
problems concerning other Clans. He quietly entered the gold and red   
sitting room.  
  
"Shalila," he told her, "we need to talk."  
  
"She knows, doesn't she?" Shalila asked.  
"Not yet, but she eventually will. She proposed to me today-asked   
  
me to marry her."  
  
Shalila smiled gently. "My granddaughter has good taste. How did   
she take the fact that you couldn't marry her?"  
  
"She was heartbroken, of course, but she will get past it. She is   
tough, like you, although she doesn't realize it yet." Dirkan rubbed one of his   
two antennas. "I don't understand what is it about me that makes you and your   
granddaughter want me as a husband."  
  
Shalila walked up to him and embraced him, burying her face into his   
bare green chest. "You are noble, strong, brave and good. And very handsome, I might add."  
  
"You have strange tastes in men."  
  
"I don't consider you strange."  
  
"Some of your people may beg to differ."  
  
"Then they will differ. I am Superior Gran."  
  
"That's just it, Shalila. They would never accept me as your   
Superior Granden. I hate to say this, love, but we should break things off."  
  
"What??" Shalila exclaimed in horror. "I love you, Dirkan! I   
always have! A part of me has never stopped loving you!"  
  
"Shalila, they will not accept me!"  
  
"I don't care, for they won't have a choice!"  
  
"Shalila, rumors are spreading about us. I caught two Bathing   
Laborers prowling about the couples' bathhouse today. They know, and soon many   
others will know, including your own children, grandchildren, and   
great-grandchildren. Including Tayla. I cannot and will not have your   
reputation ruined. We must end things, Shalila. If it is necessary, I will   
move to another planet, or at least another moon of Astoria. I think I will do   
so anyway. Yes, I will do so; it will keep you safe from gossip."  
  
"Dirkan, don't-" Shalila almost begged.  
  
"It is best that way, Shalila. If you must remarry, then remarry   
one of your own people. Nameks are not meant to take mates anyway. I can move   
to Cornsilk or Pearl, or some other part of Astoria."  
  
"What about Tayla? How am I supposed to explain your leaving to   
her?"  
  
"She will get over it. She trusts you, you can tell her anything.   
But she won't trust either one of us, if she thinks we are doing something   
unworthy. I have to move out, Shalila. I will have my servants start packing   
tomorrow."  
  
"You are Tayla's guardian!" Shalila nearly shouted. "How am I   
supposed to tell her that you are leaving? She loves you, and I love you! She   
won't understand why you are abandoning her; she'll blame herself and think it   
was something she did or said."  
  
"I will talk to her before I leave, I promise by the Seven Moons.   
Good-night, my love." Dirkan kissed Shalila briefly on her lips, and then he   
walked out of her room. Shalila pressed her face into a silken pillow and shed   
rare tears into it. Her whole body shook with sobs.  
  
  
  
  
Three days later.  
  
"You can't leave!" Tayla screamed in anguish at her green Guardian.   
"You are my teacher and Guardian! Are you mad at me because I asked you to   
marry me?"  
  
"No, Tayla, it has nothing to do with you," Dirkan tried to reassure   
her. He and Tayla had been practicing kicks and punches for the last three   
hours, and Tayla's fighting had been more intense and fierce since he had   
announced his impending departure.  
  
"Who's going to protect Nama?" Tayla cried angrily. "How can you   
leave her too? Why are you leaving us? I thought you loved us!" Tayla's   
punches became faster and harder than ever, and Dirkan was unable to dodge some   
of them.  
  
"I do, Tayla, I do," Dirkan groaned wearily. He was supposed to be   
one of the greatest fighters in the galaxy, yet this little girl could wear him   
down faster than any enemy. She could be almost merciless when she was angry.   
She's well on her way to becoming stronger than any of us. "It's complicated,   
child. I'll explain when you are older."  
  
"No!" Tayla shouted. "You will explain now!" Tayla threw herself   
at her guardian angrily, and her assaults were becoming more merciless. Dirkan   
was barely able to keep up with her today; he was feeling too bad about what he   
was doing to be able to fend off all of Tayla's attacks.  
  
"I want an answer, Dirkan!"  
  
"Tayla, please..."  
  
"Right now! Explain why you're leaving me! Why you're leaving   
Nama!"  
  
Dirkan finally grabbed Tayla's wrists; it was the only way to subdue   
her because if her wrists were seized, her power was greatly reduced. "Let me   
go!" she cried furiously. "Put me down! Or I'll tell Nama! And I'm mad enough   
at you now 'cause you made her cry!"  
  
"She cried?" Dirkan stammered. He shouldn't have been too   
surprised, for even Astoria's strongest warrior was given to tears now and then.   
He felt worst than ever. Drat the female species; he had never anticipated   
that females, particularly Shalila and her granddaughter, would move him so   
easily!  
  
Tayla began kicking at him, and Dirkan held her away, so that her   
fierce little feet would not touch him. "Tayla, enough!" he nearly shouted.   
"Let's call a break. Go sit down!"  
  
He finally released her, and a furious little Tayla went to sit on a   
stone bench. She deliberately turned her back away from Dirkan, and she buried   
her face between her knees. She was dressed in her little red and white   
fighting uniform, and she was soaking the clothing with tears that she had been   
trying to repress.  
  
"Tayla," Dirkan sighed.   
  
"You tell me the truth why you're leaving, or I'll never speak to   
you again, never! I swear that by the Seven Moons!"  
  
"Tayla, a Seven Moons oath is not something to make lightly," Dirkan   
told her.  
  
"I mean what I said!" Tayla angrily held up seven fingers.  
  
Dirkan groaned. He had no choice; he had to tell her the truth.   
"Alright, Tayla," he began, "I am in love."  
  
"So that's why you wouldn't marry me!" Tayla refused to remove her   
head from between her knees. "Who are you in love with?"  
  
Dirkan answered quietly. "Your grandmother."  
  
Tayla looked up at him. The remaining tears were cascading down her   
heart-shaped face. "I should have known. Course you'd want to marry her   
instead of me; after all she is about your age."  
  
Dirkan chuckled. "Not really, child. I am thirty-one years older   
than she is."  
  
"And she's stronger and prettier than me."  
  
Dirkan smiled weakly. "Stronger, yes, but you are just as beautiful   
as she is." And he meant it.  
  
"Well, why are you leaving then? Why don't you marry her, if you   
love her that much?"  
  
"I can't, Tayla-"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because many people won't approve."  
  
"So? Who cares? You're marrying Nama, not them."  
  
"Tayla, I would become Superior Granden, if I married your   
grandmother. Some people wouldn't want a Namek for a Superior Granden."  
  
"What do you care what they think? Lots of people like you, and   
they'd be happy if you and Nama got married. I know I would."  
  
"You would?" Dirkan asked her, amused. "And just a few days ago,   
you were heartbroken because I wouldn't agree to marry you."  
  
"Well, I'd still prefer you marry me, but since you won't, you   
should at least marry Nama. You two belong together. Then I could call you   
Granpappa."  
"You think so, huh? Well, Tayla, it's not as simple as you think.   
I can't stay."  
  
"Yes, you can! Are you afraid that Nama won't marry you?"  
  
"I know she would, Tayla, but I'm afraid that-"  
  
"You can't be afraid! You fought against the Saiyans and Frieza's   
minions, and yet you're too scared to marry Nama! Are you a coward, Dirkan?   
You are, if you are running away for some dumb excuse as that!"  
  
"TAYLA!" Dirkan roared. No one on Astoria or her moons would have   
ever dared accuse him of being a coward. "I am not running away!"  
  
"Yes you are! You tell me I shouldn't run away from things, and yet   
you're doing just that! If you love my Nama, you should just tell her so and   
marry her! I thought you were one of the bravest people I knew, but you can't   
even stand up to a bunch of stupid people and marry Nama! Who cares what they   
think? Lots of people would be happy for you and Nama, me, Raakon, Natala,   
Gracina, Lektron, Bajal, Riccan, Lelina, Marya--"  
  
"Is this going to be a long list you're making?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
"Maybe. Oh, look, here comes Nama now. At least talk to her. I'll   
just leave you two alone." Tayla jumped off of her stone bench, and she flew up   
to Nama and gave her a big kiss on her cheek.  
  
"Hello, Nama! Bye, Nama! I've got to go now! Dirkan is going to   
ask you to marry him, so make sure you say yes! See you later!"  
  
"Tayla-" both Dirkan and Shalila began, but Tayla was already gone.   
They just looked at each other.  
  
"That child has three times your audacity," Dirkan told Shalila.   
  
"Dirkan, did you have something that you wanted to tell me?" Shalila   
asked softly.  
  
"Shalila, you know what some of your people are going to say..."  
  
"They will just have to learn to live with it. They can adjust.   
And most of my family will stand behind us. When the people see that my family   
has accepted us as a couple, they will follow suit and restrain their tongues.   
I love you, Dirkan, and I know that you love me. It has been over seventy years   
since we met. I loved Bajal, but life goes on. And I want it to go on with   
you, Dirkan."  
  
"Shalila!" Dirkan moaned and reached for her.  
  
"Dirkan!"  
  
The two reached for each other and embraced each other hard. Dirkan   
whispered the long-awaited question into Shalila's ear, and Shalila happily   
exclaimed her answer back. They just held each other for a long time.  
  
Finally, Tayla appeared after about twenty minutes of giving them   
privacy. "So, are you going to stay and marry her, or what, Dirkan?"  
  
Shalila and Dirkan grinned at each other. "Yes, Tayla, he is,"   
Shalila told her firmly. "He's going to stop running away and be my husband."  
  
"Yea!" Tayla crowed, "It's about time. Now I won't have to call   
Dirkan a coward anymore!"  
  
"What?" Shalila exclaimed.  
  
"Long story, love. I'll explain that to you later," Dirkan said.   
He turned to Tayla. "Alright, Tayla, your wish has been granted. Now are you satisfied? You got me tied down!"  
  
"Tied down!" Shalila cried indignantly. "I'll show you tied down,   
Dirkan!"  
  
And she and Dirkan sparred with each other, just like old times,   
long before Tayla had been born. Tayla just sat on her stone bench and watched   
them, smiling. 


	16. Gorna Vs Tayla

Chapter Sixteen: Gorna vs. Tayla  
  
Four weeks later. The Palace of Chloe Tearoom for Clan of Chloe members.  
  
"I can't believe this, Etros! How dare Nama! Does she not realize   
what the people will say about her upcoming marriage to that Namek creature?"   
Gorna roared at her submissive warrior husband, who was trying desperately to   
ignore her and enjoy his breakfast. He liked breakfasts much better when his   
wife was not dining with him. She usually made her worst complaints and gripes   
during breakfast.  
  
"Not everyone thinks the same way you do about Dirkan," he told her   
finally.   
  
"Well, I was visiting the moon of Pearl when she had paged me there.   
Granden Sternos and Gran Saturna are furious at her! I had to listen to that   
old woman, Saturna, for two hours about the foolish mistake that our grandmother   
is making! They appreciate Dirkan's warrior prowess, but they don't consider   
him a worthy husband for our grandmother and Superior Gran! And I don't blame   
them, for I agree!"  
  
"C'mon, Gorna, you know that the Clan of Pearl is the most   
prejudiced, narrow-minded Clan that Astoria has! They don't care much for   
anyone who doesn't have pure Astorian blood. They don't even allow Sastorians   
to live on their moon, despite Nama's repeated warnings." Etros shoved more of   
his favorite rexcon bird eggs in his mouth. Gorna glared at him with disgust.  
  
"Etros, you are a Prince of Chloe, and a future Superior Granden.   
Use better table manners. Set a decent example for our children!" Their   
children, Rojal and Lelina who were now thirteen and ten, were watching their   
parents nervously. Lelina could barely eat. Rojal guzzled down some grape   
juice.  
  
"Rojal, juice is to be drank, not swigged. Lelina, either eat your   
food, or ask to be excused; you may not play with it. Etros, stop shoving food   
in your mouth!"  
  
"Yes, dear." "Yes, Mamma." The three Etros Chloe family members   
knew who truly ruled their family. Rarely, did any of them ever oppose Gorna.   
Gorna chewed and ate her food daintily, just to set a better example. Etros   
finally slowed down his eating, and Rojal slowly finished his grape juice.   
Lelina took small bites of bacon.  
  
Tayla danced into the tearoom then, fluttering about like a   
butterfly. She looked pretty in a lavender caftan with a mint-green sash across   
her shoulder. Mykia accompanied her. Lelina shouted to her excitedly, and   
Tayla shouted back a greeting happily, as she approached the buffet bar.  
  
"Toast with apple jam, rexcon bird egg omelet, apple tea and cream   
tarts please!" Tayla told the cook. Mykia requested only poached eggs and   
grape juice.  
  
The cook smiled at the cheerful little princess, as she handed her and her   
servant the requested food. Tayla thanked her, and she went looking for a   
table.   
  
"Sit with us!" Lelina shouted.  
  
"Lelina!" Rojal sharply scolded her. "You know that-"  
  
"Rojal, quiet!" Gorna snapped at him. "Lelina, Tayla may sit with   
us, but you two will not be dominating the conversation like you two normally   
do, is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, Mamma."  
  
"And she will use proper table manners."  
  
"She has better table manners than Rojal does," Lelina told her   
defiantly, as Rojal kicked her under the table.  
  
Tayla reluctantly came to Gorna's table. Lelina was her best   
friend, but Tayla did not care much for the rest of Lelina's family, even if   
they would rule over Astoria someday. She knew that Gorna only had allowed her   
to sit with them out of politeness and grudging respect. Tayla always felt   
Gorna's barely concealed contempt and chilliness towards her, and she wondered   
what she had done to cause it. Rojal treated her almost the same way his mother   
did, except that he tried to bully her now and then. Etros shared his wife's   
disdain of Tayla, but his was more impersonal. Tayla wished that Raakon's   
family or Gracina's family was around; she would have preferred to sit with   
either one of them. But they would not be downstairs for another hour, and   
refusing Lelina's invitation would have hurt Lelina's feelings, so Tayla came to   
sit at Gorna's table. Mykia hesitantly followed her; she knew that Princess   
Gorna would never allow her to sit with them, if she had not been Tayla's   
Nursemaid.  
  
"Good morn, Gorna, Etros, Rojal," Tayla said as brightly as she   
could. "How are you?"  
  
Etros mumbled a reply, but Tayla could not make out his words   
because of the food in his mouth. Rojal completely ignored her, and Gorna only   
gave her a curt nod. Lelina squeezed her hand happily; she was glad to have   
someone now that she could have a pleasant conversation with. Plus, with Tayla   
around, things were never dull.  
  
"What are you going to wear to Nama's wedding" she told Lelina   
happily.  
  
"I don't know," Lelina admitted. "What are you going to wear?"  
  
"I don't know yet. They are making my dress this week. I hope its   
purple and red or purple and green."  
  
"You wear too much purple and red. Can't you wear something without   
those colors once in a while?" Gorna asked her disapprovingly. Tayla did not   
reply; she had learned long ago that the best way to handle Gorna's insults and   
cold remarks was to ignore them the best she could. Gorna wasn't going to ruin   
her breakfast.   
  
Tayla nibbled daintily on her cream tart, and Lelina imitated her   
with her own cream tart; with Tayla, around her appetite usually improved.   
Rojal went back to guzzling his grape juice until his mother glared at him.  
  
Tayla decided to try to make conversation with Rojal and Gorna; she   
did not like being around them too much, but her Nama had insisted that she try   
to be friendly with them because they would someday rule over her. Shalila was   
well aware of the way that Gorna and Rojal treated Tayla, and although she   
reprimanded both of them for their mistreatment frequently, she also warned   
Tayla that she would have to stand up for herself and hold her own with them.   
Shalila and Dirkan would not live forever, and someday Tayla would have to deal   
with Gorna and Rojal on her own without the protection and help of her   
grandmother and Guardian. Even Raakon, Marya, and Gracina, the siblings closest   
to her, would only be able to do so much to shield Tayla from Gorna and Rojal's   
coldness and potential cruelty after Shalila and Dirkan no longer existed in   
this dimension.  
  
"So," Tayla began, "What's everyone getting Nama and Dirkan for   
their wedding?"  
  
Lelina crowed, "I'm making her a beautiful scarf with butterflies on it." She   
was a good weaver.  
  
Rojal ignored the question, and Etros mumbled something about having   
a gold shiatar made for Dirkan and a silk caftan made for his grandmother.   
Gorna looked at Tayla witheringly.  
  
"Nothing, except some good advice for the both of them: they   
shouldn't get married!"  
  
"Gorna..." Etros pleaded hopelessly. Rojal and Lelina both looked   
downward.  
  
"Why don't you think they should get married?" Tayla asked her   
seriously.  
  
"Because Dirkan is not an Astorian; he is a Namek. And a Superior   
Granden should always be pure Clan of Chloe Astorian, nothing else."  
  
"What does it matter, as long as Dirkan makes Nama happy?" Tayla   
asked, as her voice raised just a notch. She had to yell at some servants   
earlier today who had shared Gorna's view; in fact they had angered the child so   
much with their scoffing remarks about Dirkan not being good enough to be   
Superior Granden that Tayla had threatened to blast them, if they didn't shut   
up. The guilty servants, mere Laborers, had fled quickly from the angry child,   
for her temper could be just as dangerous as her grandmother's. Thankfully   
Tayla rarely ever did anything more than shout, but like Shalila, shouting was   
often more than enough to keep troublesome Laborers at bay. The child princess   
was normally mild-mannered, but her rare bouts of temper were something to   
behold and take seriously.  
  
"The Clan of Chloe has a reputation to maintain," Gorna told her   
sharply. "We cannot just let anyone become our Nama's husband."  
  
"Gorna," Etros begged, "Nama has already produced her heirs for the   
throne, and so the people shouldn't have anything to worry about. And I think   
that Tayla's right for once; as long as Dirkan makes Nama happy, that's all that   
truly matters. Now can we please finish our meal in peace?"  
  
Gorna ignored the last question and continued her speech. "I will   
admit that Dirkan is a valiant warrior, but he is Namek, whatever species that   
is, and not Astorian. Astorians should rule Astoria only. Etros, I am a bit   
surprised at you; you never took Tayla's side before."  
  
"I am not taking anyone's side, Gorna," Etros asserted, "I am just   
trying to make the best of things, as you should try doing. Nama's choice of   
husbands is not our decision to make."  
  
Tayla nodded in agreement, as she nibbled on her toast with currant   
jam. Rojal gave his father a perfect imitation of his mother's deadly glare.   
"Father, Mamma is right; Great-Nama has no business marrying someone outside of   
her own race. How do we know that Dirkan won't want to keep the throne after   
Great-Nama dies?"  
  
"We needn't worry about that, son," Etros told him, slightly   
intimidated by his own son's glare. He was getting too much like his mother,   
and it was beginning to concern him. He was fast losing respect in his son's   
eyes. "Dirkan would likely die before Nama would."  
  
"Thank Kami for some miracles. I'd hate to see that creature   
outlive our grandmother; that's the last thing we would need. I'd hate for   
Dirkan to be around after Nama passed onto to the next dimension," Gorna said   
with some satisfaction. Everyone except her began to notice Tayla's face   
turning red with fury; Etros sighed and sat back, for he could sense the storm   
that Tayla was about to brew.  
  
"How dare you say that?" Tayla shouted so loudly that the entire   
tearoom could hear her. "What do you have against him? You had no right to say   
that, no right at all! Why are you so mean, Gorna?"  
  
"Tayla..." Lelina stammered. Etros buried his face in his napkin,   
and Rojal just looked on with no expression on his Gorna-like face.  
  
"Quiet, child!" Gorna ordered her. "Who are you to correct me? I   
am your elder sister and the future Superior Gran after Nama. I highly suggest   
that you treat me with better respect, or you will dearly regret it." Everyone   
in the tearoom looked at Gorna with shock; they all knew Gorna's feelings about   
Tayla, but Gorna had never threatened Tayla before until now.  
  
"Gorna, do not threaten the girl, please," Etros pleaded. "She is   
only defending her Guardian."  
  
"I will say what I please to her. She is my inferior, the same as   
that Namek, and they both give me grief for people beneath me."  
  
Tayla bristled. She bit back angry words that would have stuck to   
Gorna for months. She would have used those words, but she saw Lelina's   
stricken face, silently pleading with her not to make things worse. Tayla   
sighed, but she decided to oblige her; after all Lelina was her best friend, and   
Gorna was Lelina's mother. She quietly counted to twenty. She didn't snap at   
Gorna, but instead she said as calmly as possible:  
  
"I am not beneath you, Gorna, and neither is Dirkan. I am your   
sister, and Dirkan is going to be Nama's husband, whether you or others like it   
or not. I don't know why you treat us like you do, for we have done nothing to   
you. If I have done anything to you, I am sorry." She turned to Mykia, whose   
pale face was slowly regaining color. "Mykia, I am done eating. If you are   
done eating as well, I want us to leave, please."  
  
Mykia had lost her appetite by this time. "I am done, Princess. We   
may go, if you wish." She gathered both hers and Tayla's plates and took them   
to the kitchen where the kitchen Laborers would wash them. Tayla delicately   
wiped her rosebud mouth with her napkin and laid it on the table.  
  
"I am sorry that I can't stay, Lelina, but I have much to do," Tayla   
told her friend and niece quietly. She stood up quickly, and she said,   
"Good-bye, Lelina, Etros, Rojal, and Gorna. See you later." Etros sighed with   
relief, Rojal continued eating, and Lelina was near tears. Gorna glared darkly   
at her youngest sibling, as Tayla found her servant and left.  
  
  
  
  
Palace of Chloe. Shalila's Private Suite.  
  
"I am sorry that she treats you so horribly, Princess," Mykia told   
her mistress solemnly. Tayla was too calm and quiet. Tayla nodded towards her   
Nursemaid, but she did not reply. Mykia was taking Tayla directly to   
Shalila for sword-fighting lessons, and also so that Tayla could be fitted for   
her wedding garments. They were now walking down the red and gold corridors   
leading to Shalila's private suite of rooms.  
  
They were briefly stopped at the entrance to Shalila's private suite   
by one of Shalila's private guards. Farjal, the guard, nodded a greeting   
towards both of them and let them pass.  
  
"I don't understand why she hates me so much, Mykia; I know she   
hates me, but why?" Tayla was holding back tears. Mykia put her hand on her   
mistress's shoulder.  
  
"She is jealous of you, Princess," Mykia observed softly.  
  
"Why? Why would she be? She is going to be Superior Gran someday,   
while I will have to serve her for the rest of my life after Nama and   
Dirkan-well you know-pass on to the next dimension." Tayla did not like to ever   
think of Nama and Dirkan as not being immortal. She wanted them to stay with   
her forever. "She gets to rule Astoria someday; she'll have everything."  
  
"Except happiness," Mykia added. "She'll never be truly content,   
Princess. My Mamma has told me that Princess Gorna has never been a happy   
woman. I have never known Princess Gorna very well, but from what little I have   
seen of her, I can tell you that no matter what she has, it will never be   
enough."  
  
"I don't understand that, Mykia. What more could she want?"  
  
"The same adoration and favoring that your grandmother shows towards   
you."  
  
Tayla looked down at her reliable gray leather boots, which had been   
made with great care and elegance. She felt unwittingly uncomfortable. "Nama   
loves Gorna, Mykia."  
  
"Yes, she does," Mykia told her gently, "but your grandmother does   
not shower her with affection and small favors the way she does you. Gorna is   
to be Superior Gran, so she will always be in Superior Gran Shalila's high   
esteem, but you are our ruler's pet and favorite, Tayla. In her eyes, you can   
do no wrong. And it is the same way with many members of your Clan. You are   
more popular here than your Crown Princess sister."  
  
"How can that be?" Tayla asked. "She is to rule over all of us, so   
she should be more popular."  
  
"Not necessarily," Mykia explained, as they neared Shalila's private   
office. Shalila's office was done beautifully in lavender and silver, with   
mahogany furniture, lavender damask on the walls, and a thick gray carpet   
covering the entire floor. "Many people do not care for her, although most do   
well in hiding it. They respect her and fear her, but they do not love and   
adore her the way they do you."  
  
Shalila was standing in the middle of her office, with Dalantra   
measuring her around her waist. Two Tailoring Laborers were handling threads   
and bolts of white cloth and gold cloth that would become Shalila's wedding   
dress. A third one was helping Dalantra. Dalantra, an excellent seamstress   
herself, was supervising them.  
  
The Tailoring Laborer assisting Dalantra accidentally pricked   
Shalila with a needle, poking sharp enough to make her yelp. Dalantra sharply   
scolded the elderly Laborer, "Dorsa, our Superior Gran is not a pincushion! Do   
be more careful."  
  
"Yes, Dalantra," Dorsa mumbled. Dorsa was twenty years younger than   
Dalantra, but her vision was poorer than Dalantra's was.  
  
"Dorsa, you need to go to the healers next week and have them check your sight,"   
Dalantra scolded her further. "If you are going to remain a Tailoring Laborer,   
your sight needs to improve."  
  
"Yes, Dalantra."  
  
Shalila smiled warmly when she saw Tayla rush in the office.   
Tayla's feet were not touching the ground, and she literally flew in so quickly,   
that she accidentally bumped into one of the Laborers.  
  
"Oops, sorry," she mumbled, as she swiftly lifted the startled   
Laborer up off of the ground.  
  
The Laborer only nodded, as she quickly resumed measuring the   
perfect length for Shalila's gold wedding sash.  
  
"Hello, Nama!" Tayla crowed, as she threw her thin arms around   
Shalila's waist. Shalila held her close to her body, and Tayla buried her small   
face in Shalila's hip.   
  
"Hello, Tayla," she told her lovingly, stroking her hair. Dalantra   
smiled at this touching scene, as she searched in her sewing basket for a new   
needle; Dorsa had just broken the last one.  
  
"How have you been?" Shalila asked her, as if she had not seen Tayla   
for days.  
  
"Okay, I suppose. Other than Gorna." Tayla then covered her mouth,   
as if she had already said too much. She had not wanted to trouble her   
grandmother.  
  
Shalila sighed. "What happened now?"  
  
"Gorna's not-not happy about you and Dirkan getting married," Tayla   
answered reluctantly.  
  
"A bit of a tiff occurred, Your Highness, but Tayla handled it   
well," Mykia assured her. The Nursemaid gave her a modified version of what had   
happened at breakfast, carefully leaving out Gorna's cruel remarks about Dirkan.  
  
Dalantra sighed. She knew Gorna well enough to picture for herself   
what had happened between her and Tayla. "That woman!" she huffed, as if Gorna   
was just an ordinary woman, instead of Astoria's future ruler. Dalantra   
sincerely hoped that she would be in the next dimension by the time Gorna   
ascended Astoria's throne.  
  
"I am well aware of how Gorna feels about Dirkan as my future   
husband," Shalila said wearily. "I have had to hear from her for days about   
Dirkan. She will have to live with it though, as those who agree with her   
will."  
  
"And she is to be our Superior Gran! Pardon my impertinence, Your   
Highness, but isn't there another heir that you could choose to succeed you?"   
Dalantra asked. "Perhaps skip over her and have Prince Rojal rule right after   
you. He is almost old enough now."  
  
"It's not that simple, Dalantra," Shalila told her maid. "Everyone   
is expecting Gorna to ascend the throne after I pass on, even those who can't   
stand her. And Gorna would be the sort to hold it against her son for her being   
passed over. She is my granddaughter, and I love her, but I know her faults."  
  
"Anyone would be better than Gorna," Tayla said, a bit rebelliously,   
"Although I'm not sure about Rojal either."  
  
"Tayla..." Shalila reproved her gently, "...that's not very nice."  
  
"Even if it's true?" Dalantra asked, a little defiantly. Shalila   
gave her maid one of her rare, fierce looks that silenced her normally outspoken   
servant. She did not need the servants, even her closest one, to give Tayla   
more fuel for her fire. It was important to Tayla's future that she get along   
with Gorna and Rojal, even if it was only on the surface. She wanted Tayla's   
life and welfare to be secure long after she had passed away. She would not   
live forever, although she intended to try.  
  
Shalila knew that Rojal's dislike and disdain of his young aunt was   
not personal, and that it only came from Gorna's influence. It was Gorna she   
was worried about. Gorna had always envied Tayla's strength, intelligence,   
beauty potential, and popularity, and now Shalila was concerned that Gorna's   
envy and jealous would become dangerous to Tayla; Mykia had mentioned Gorna's   
threat to Tayla. Tayla was just a little girl; she would someday become   
stronger than Gorna, if she wasn't already, but Shalila wanted to prevent a war   
between the two, if possible. She knew that Tayla would not seek to harm Gorna   
deliberately, for Tayla respected Gorna's place in the Clan of Chloe society,   
even if the girl didn't like her sister personally.  
  
A chill ran through Shalila's body, as she had remembered Mykia   
quoting Gorna's threat, I highly suggest that you treat me with better respect,   
or you will dearly regret it. She intended to have a talk with Gorna later.  
  
But for right now, Shalila was determined to put this unpleasant   
thought out of her mind. "Dalantra," she began, "we'll have to continue this later. I need to put my uniform on and give Tayla her lesson for today." Dalantra nodded, and she went away to get Shalila's uniform.   
  
Tayla kept her face buried in her grandmother's hip. "I am sorry,   
Nama."  
  
"For what, child?" Shalila asked softly, stroking Tayla's thick,   
silky hair.  
  
"For causing so much trouble. Mykia said that Gorna is jealous of   
me. Maybe if I hadn't been born, Gorna would have been happier." Now that Tayla   
thought about it, it seemed that Gorna was always more miserable because of her.   
She felt bad for herself and for Gorna.  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila exclaimed in shock. "Don't ever let me hear you   
belittle yourself like that again! It is not your fault that Gorna is like she   
is! She was like that long before you were born. She has never truly been a   
happy woman, and I cannot to this day understand why! I have tried to help her,   
but I don't know where to began sometimes. But that is my worry, not yours,   
Tayla, and I do not want you to blame yourself for Gorna's actions. I do,   
however, want you to keep trying to get along with her."  
  
"I would, Nama, if she would let me try."  
  
Shalila groaned, but said nothing else. She just held Tayla close to her body,   
as if a wind would blow the child away if she didn't. 


	17. Tayla's Second Crush

Chapter Seventeen: Tayla's Second Crush  
  
Two weeks later. Palace of Chloe Bathhouses.  
  
Tayla and Lelina had just finished their baths, and they had played   
in the swirling waters for a while before they decided to finally allow their   
Nursemaids to dry them off and dress them. The two girls flew out of the   
bathhouse with their hair nearly dry, and their young bodies wrapped in soft   
caftans and sashes. They chose to use their little free time to play about the   
bathhouses and watch the bathers come and go. Tayla had talked Lelina into it   
because Bajal had been seen around the couples' bathhouse lately, even though he   
was still unmarried. Bajal had been quietly courting a Sastorian warrior woman   
around his age. The Sastorian had come to live on Chloe permanently,   
accompanied by her eighteen-year-old nephew.  
  
But today, to both Tayla and Lelina's disappointment, Bajal had gone to the   
men's bathhouse instead, followed by the strange young nephew. Tayla and Lelina   
had never seen the nephew before, although they both knew who his famous aunt   
was.  
  
She was the great Sastorian warrior, Alora, from the Clan of Sahara,   
and the greatest fighter out of her Clan and her own small race of Astorians   
that held Saiyan blood in them. Alora had fought valiantly in the Battle of   
Chloe, and she was a close friend of Bajal's. Alora stood out from other   
Astorians and Sastorians, as well, because she was one of the few Sastorians   
that had chosen to keep her Saiyan tail. Alora followed the law that required   
either a Sastorian to have his or her tail removed, or to remain inside during   
full moons for the rest of his or her life. Tayla had heard many stories of   
Alora's heroics, and she admired the warrior, although she did not know her very   
well. Alora came to Chloe now and then to visit with Bajal and her old comrades   
in the Clan of Chloe, but she spent most of her time on the moon of Sahara,   
where her sister, Gran Mauria, ruled the Clan of Sahara. The nephew, Bendros,   
was Gran Mauria's son, the future Granden of Sahara.  
  
The two girls watched Bendros and Bajal disappear into the men's   
bathhouse together. They sighed wistfully; they both liked him immediately. It   
was Lelina's first crush, and Tayla's second. Tayla still held a tiny crush on   
Dirkan, but she now accepted the fact that Dirkan would never be her husband.   
Tayla became fixated on Alora's nephew right away. Bendros was over   
six-feet-tall, lean and muscular, with a long, soft monkey-like tail, deep black   
eyes and coal-black hair like his aunt and mother's. He resembled a   
"full-blood" (pureblooded Saiyan warrior), but that did not bother Tayla nor   
Lelina, for they both knew he held Astorian blood, and he was, therefore, a safe   
object for them to desire.  
  
"He sure is handsome," she moaned.  
  
"He is, he is," Lelina agreed happily. "I bet he's a great   
warrior."  
  
"They say he is, just like his Aunt Alora," Tayla told her. "I know   
what we'll do; we'll just sit out here until Bendros and Bajal are done bathing.   
Then we'll say hello."  
  
Both girls sat down on a stone bench near the men's bathhouse and   
watched the world pass by. They listened to the sweet music of birds, and   
played with some flowers they had picked earlier from a nearby field. Tayla   
sniffed her flower contentedly. Lelina stared off into space, as she tousled   
her own chocolate hair.  
  
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Bendros and Bajal   
stepped out of the men's bathhouse. Bajal strutted out, proud as a peacock as   
usual, and Bendros followed behind, trying to intimidate his manner.  
  
Both men were startled to see Tayla and Lelina sitting on the bench,   
waiting for them, even though they had both sensed their ki levels earlier.   
"Tayla! Lelina!" Bajal cried. "Hey, what are you two girls doing out   
here?"  
  
"We came to see you," Tayla purred casually, as Bajal chuckled.  
  
"Was it really me that you two came to see, or was it him?" Bajal   
asked, laughing. Tayla and Lelina looked down, their faces bright red. Bendros   
grinned at the two embarrassed little girls.  
  
He looked directly at Tayla, not acknowledging Lelina at first.   
"So," he said, a bit smoothly, "you must be Bajal's little sister, Princess   
Tayla."  
  
Tayla was speechless-almost. "Umm...umm..."  
  
Bajal laughed again. "She is, Bendros, she is. And her friend   
there is our niece, Princess Lelina. Girls, this is Bendros Sahara, Alora's   
nephew."  
  
"Hello," Lelina mumbled. It was more than Tayla, usually the bolder   
and the more outspoken of the pair, said.  
  
Bendros chuckled softly, his tail wrapped around his waist like a   
belt. Tayla wanted to touch it, but she didn't dare. The only time that she   
had ever touched a Saiyan's tail was when she had squeezed Raditz's tail over a   
year ago. She had not paid attention at the time as to how the tail had felt,   
although now that Tayla remembered that time, the fur on Raditz's tail had felt   
almost as soft as her own hair. She wondered if Bendros' tail would feel the   
same way. She also wondered if Bendros had ever turned into an Oozaru, as his   
Aunt Alora had done a few times in her life unintentionally.  
  
Tayla was lost in her thoughts, as Bajal made his next announcement   
without preamble, "Well, Tayla, how would you feel about having a new   
sister-in-law?"  
  
"Sure, I guess," Tayla said, "When am I getting one?"  
  
Bajal and Bendros both grinned widely then. "I have asked Alora to   
marry me," Bajal told her, "and...she said yes."  
  
"That's right," Bendros added, "and it only took him eighteen years   
to get around to it!" Bendros roared with laughter until Bajal punched him in   
the shoulder.  
  
"Better behave yourself, boy!" he crowed. "I'm about to become your   
uncle now!"  
  
"That's great!" Tayla cried, throwing her arms around Bajal. "Nama   
was wondering if you were ever going to settle down!" Bajal chuckled. Lelina   
only smiled shyly at her bold, effusive uncle.  
  
"Well, you can tell her tonight that she can finally stop worrying   
about my marital status. I am about to become domesticated, although I know   
that Gracina will never believe that's possible. She is totally convinced that   
I am wilder than a Saiyan-um, I mean-full-blood." Bendros said nothing about   
Bajal's slip-up, for he considered himself to be a real Astorian, even though he   
was one-sixteenth Saiyan.  
  
Tayla looked up at Bendros finally, with her milk-chocolate eyes   
shining. She gave him a shy smile from Bajal's arms. Bendros smiled softly   
back at her, already charmed by the little sister.  
  
"I'll have to call you Aunt Tayla now, won't I?" he asked lightly.  
  
"You don't have to," Tayla assured him easily. "My nieces and   
nephews who are older than I am don't normally call me Aunt, and since you won't   
be my real nephew, Tayla will do."  
  
"Tayla it is then," Bendros told her, as Tayla put out a slender   
hand for him to shake. Bendros shook her small hand gently and firmly at the   
same time. Lelina just shyly watched the whole scene with just a little bit of   
sadness. She felt instinctively that Bendros would gravitate towards Tayla   
before he would towards her. And Bendros was too old for both of them right now   
anyway.  
  
But he sure was handsome, and he seemed to like Tayla already.   
Lelina wondered if she would ever be as lucky. She and Tayla, at ages ten and   
eight, were too young to worry about love and marriage yet, but most Astorian   
young people chose their future mates between the ages of fifteen and   
twenty-two.  
  
Bendros' Aunt Alora came out of the women's bathhouse then. She   
flew into Bajal's open arms, briefly ignoring the others. She boldly kissed him   
right in front of everyone, and Bajal kissed her right back. They were lost in   
their passionate embrace until Dirkan, who was trying to dodge pesky Tailoring   
Laborers, walked out to the men's bathhouse for his first bath of the day.  
  
Dirkan shook his head and grumbled, "Must you too carry on like that   
in front of children?"  
  
Alora grinned widely, and Bajal laughed. Dirkan scowled at them.   
"At least, go somewhere private if you two are going to do that."  
  
Tayla dragged Bendros over to Dirkan. "Dirkan, have you met   
Bendros?"  
  
Dirkan smiled. "Yes, Tayla, I have. I've known him since he was a   
scrawny little brat."  
  
Bendros chuckled, "Hello, Dirkan."  
  
Dirkan nodded a greeting. Bajal stopped him before he could leave   
for the men's bathhouse. "Hey, Dirkan, guess what? I'm finally settling   
down-with Alora."  
  
Dirkan regarded Alora briefly. "Congratulations," he told her gruffly. He thought to himself, It's about time those two settled down, he thought. They've been seeing each other   
on and off for the past eighteen years. Shalila will be happy to know that Bajal had finally decided to take a bride and give Astoria some more heirs. She, Mantros, and Tika were afraid that Bajal would never settle down. Thankfully, it's Alora, and not some meek girl; no submissive female could ever keep Bajal in line. Alora will have better luck than we did making Bajal behave himself.  
  
Alora grinned again at Dirkan. "I've finally tamed this big ogre of   
mine! Hopefully, he'll give me some runts before long!"  
  
Dirkan shook his head. Alora was just as brash and bold as Bajal   
was; they both suited each other well. He sighed both happily and wearily; any   
child that they conceived would be louder than most Astorian children.  
  
The Namek bodyguard and advisor then observed Tayla looking at   
Bendros adoringly, almost the same way that she had looked at Dirkan many times.   
Dirkan felt a little jealous that some other male would hold the child's   
attention so completely. He supposed this feeling was normal; at times, he felt   
like a father towards Tayla, and fathers had been known to be a bit jealous the   
first time their daughters found another male fascinating. And after all, he   
had told Tayla to find someone of her own species to fall in love with. Bendros   
was safe enough, he supposed, although the young man was ten years older than   
Tayla and had Saiyan blood in him. But Bendros was not to blame for the little   
bit of Saiyan blood that he had.  
  
And Tayla was only eight years old. Dirkan sighed again; he was   
really starting to worry about his favorite too much too soon. The girl was too   
young yet to be thinking about suitors, thank Kami for that.  
  
  
  
  
  
Two days later.  
  
Shalila had laughed softly when Dirkan told her about Tayla's new   
crush. They were lying on top of Shalila's bedcovers on Shalila's bed, holding   
each other close. "So she adores Gran Mauria Sahara's son; no harm in that.   
Bendros will likely be married by the time Tayla is old enough to think about   
him more seriously." But Shalila smiled wider then, as she continued,   
"On the other hand, if Bendros was willing to wait for Tayla to grow up, and   
if he made her his bride, she would become the next Gran of the Clan of Sahara.   
Bendros is to be the next Granden of Sahara after his mother passes on, you   
know. That wouldn't be so bad, little Tayla growing up to be Gran Tayla,   
Princess of Chloe and the Gran of Sahara. Actually, the correct title in that   
case would be Princess Gran Tayla, because of her royal status. I do miss   
having Tayla's mother, Tika, around; Tika has always been good at matchmaking.   
She would gladly go for it."  
  
Dirkan groaned, as he nuzzled her neck. "Shalila, please don't tell   
me that you caught Tika's matchmaking tendencies. I can see it now: if Tayla's   
mother were still alive, she would have already started designing wedding   
invitations. Tika had always thought that it was her Kami-given duty to marry   
off all of her children, nieces and nephews! She would be pleased to know that   
her Bajal has finally decided to settle down and marry; she had been fretting   
about that since Bajal was eighteen."  
  
Shalila laughed again. "I'm glad Bajal is going to marry; it only   
took him eighteen years! Alora is a bit brash, but a likable girl-I mean woman.   
She'll be good for that fool, and she'll keep him in line. Someone needs to!"   
She put her hand on Dirkan's green chest.  
  
Dirkan smiled, as they kissed. "And her Saiyan blood does not worry   
you?"  
  
"I don't consider her a real Saiyan; she nor the other Sastorians   
are full-bloods, and their Saiyan blood is not their fault. Anyone with   
Astorian blood I consider Astorian. And Alora is descended from my dear friend,   
Aliquina. I hope that Alora and Bajal have a happier ending than Aliquina and   
her Arcan did."  
  
"I hope that no one goes reciting the Arcan and Aliquina story   
around them."  
  
"I pity poor Aliquina to this day, Dirkan. My poor Sastorian friend   
never had an easy time because she was half-Saiyan and half-Astorian. That   
Saiyan savage, Arcan, abandoned her when she needed him the most. I'm glad that   
you had always been there for me, Dirkan."  
  
Dirkan pulled Shalila closer to him. "I'll always be here for you,   
Shalila, no matter what." He stroked her still red-gold hair. "When we first   
met, I never thought that we would be together like this almost seventy years   
later...how old were you then...seventeen?"  
  
"Seventeen," Shalila acknowledged happily.  
  
Dirkan smiled wistfully, falling back in time. "We didn't get along   
so well at first. I remember that you practically had to twist my arm to get me   
to train you and help you fight the Saiyans and Queen Frost. I was a cold   
savage then; I didn't understand how you ever saw any good in me, but I'm glad   
you did. I was a tough teacher, back then, wasn't I?"  
  
Shalila kissed his nose. "You were, but I understand why now,   
although I didn't back then. You taught me that a real enemy would have shown   
me far less mercy than you did. You were very hard on me then, Dirkan, but I   
never truly held it against you. I wanted to learn, and become as strong as   
you."  
  
"And you did, far surpassing me much faster than I thought you   
would. I didn't realize how much I loved you until King Dayrus took you   
prisoner. I wanted to kill that monkey with my bare hands, and I nearly did, I   
think. But it took you to defeat him. Oh, the horror we both had when he   
turned into an Oozaru!"  
  
Shalila sighed wistfully, as Dirkan kissed her neck. "I never   
thought that we would defeat him, but we did-together."  
  
Dirkan grew sad, and Shalila noticed. "What is wrong, my love?"  
  
Dirkan heaved a sigh. "I regretted having to give you up to Bajal   
back then, Shalila, I really do. I am sorry for that, but I hope that you see   
now that it was for the best."  
  
Shalila grew quiet then for a few minutes. "I do, although I didn't   
see it at the time. I never thought that I would actually come to love Bajal,   
but I did. He had been a good husband and companion to me, and part of me will   
always miss him."  
  
"If I hadn't insisted that you marry him, you would not have had any   
children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. And we would not have Tayla   
now," Dirkan said, as if he and Shalila had produced Tayla themselves instead of   
Mantros and Tika Chloe.  
  
Shalila buried her only slightly lined face in his chest. She   
looked more like she was in her forties instead of being almost ninety. "Tayla   
is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I don't know what I would   
do without her, Dirkan. I know that I favor her above many of my other   
descendants, but I can't help it. She is such a dear."  
  
"I don't blame you," Dirkan assured her. "I tend to favor her more   
myself."  
  
"I hope that she has as happy and fulfilling a life as we've had.   
We've lost many people that we've loved, and things are no better with the   
Saiyans or Frieza, but I still feel as if we've led a good life. We are still   
alive-and still together." She nestled deeper into his waiting embrace.  
  
Dirkan's arms tightened around her, as her arms tightened around   
him. "We'll always be together, no matter what else happens." They kissed   
deeply, and neither of them spoke for a long time afterwards. 


	18. Tayla Under Fire

Chapter Eighteen: Tayla Under Fire  
  
Mykia brushed Tayla's long, silky hair until it gleamed like black   
satin. She then twisted it into a very adult-like French twist, and the maid   
wove a white and pink rose into the twist. Tayla smoothed her silken pink   
caftan that had a yellow sash across it. She liked her new pink glass slippers   
that her Nama had the Cobbling Laborers make for her.  
  
Mykia held up a mirror in front of the little girl. "You look very   
sweet, Princess," she told the girl softly. "And very grown up."  
  
Tayla smiled. "Thank you, Mykia. Thank you for everything."  
  
Mykia nodded shyly. Tonight, her little Tayla would be going to   
Shalila and Dirkan's engagement ball. It was to be a grand affair with   
fireworks and entertainers. When Astorians threw a ball, they threw a ball! It   
was the second engagement ball that Tayla had attended in her life, for the last   
one had been for her sister, Gracina, and their first cousin, Lektron. Tayla   
had been four years old at the time, and she had happy memories of it. Like   
almost all children, she loved going to parties.  
  
Mykia herself would be dressed in a plainer caftan than Tayla's, and   
this one would be without a sash. Mykia's would be a simple dark blue caftan   
with a light blue collar. Servants did not normally attend balls as guests   
unless they were directly attending royal family members.  
  
Someone knocked on Tayla's door then. "Tayla, are you ready yet?"  
  
Tayla cried, "Lelina! Riccan! Come in!"  
  
Mykia opened the door for Lelina and Riccan. Rojal and Nikon   
followed them in, and Rojal's entrance surprised Tayla because Rojal never came   
to her room before. Another cousin came in; her name was Jaca, and she was   
Tayla's niece and a year older than Tayla. Jaca was the daughter of Ralia,   
Tayla's sister who had died on the Korin. Jaca's father, Andros, who had been   
Ralia's husband, had not remarried. Jaca had golden-brown hair and green eyes   
like her dead mother.   
  
Kekron and Arlina, Raakon's children who were now twelve and nine,   
followed behind Jaca. Arlina had been given a short vacation from her priestess   
training to attend the ball. Dedron, twelve, and Petalia, ten, Cletos'   
children, came in behind Kekron. Ten-year-old Fayra, who had been Dejal's only   
child, walked in besides Petalia. Dejal, Fayra's father, had been Tayla's older   
brother who had also died on the Korin. All of the children, including Tayla,   
were wearing their small gold crowns set with a single ruby each. These crowns   
were worn on ceremonial occasions such as the upcoming ball.  
  
Kekron looked at Lelina shyly; he harbored a small crush on her,   
although Lelina only treated him like a good friend. Kekron resembled his   
father, and like him, he was quiet and peaceful. Kekron was a technical genius,   
and he had already invented several extremely useful devices that were   
frequently used in the Medical Suite. He was as tall as Rojal, who was already   
five-foot-six, but he was nowhere nearly as strong as Rojal, for Rojal was a   
warrior, and Kekron was a Technician. Kekron loved tinkering with computers and   
machines and inventing new items.   
  
Five-year-old Riccan kept roughhousing with his little brother,   
three-year-old Nikon, until Nikon began to cry. "Leave me 'lone, Riccan!" he   
screeched.  
  
"What a wimpy brother you have, Riccan!" Rojal jeered, as he punched   
Nikon hard in his arm. Nikon wailed louder. Riccan bawled up his tiny fists;   
no one picked on Nikon but him.  
  
"Leave him 'lone, Rojal!" Riccan ordered. "I'm the only one who   
gets to push him around!"  
  
"Really?" Rojal sneered, as he punched Riccan's arm also. "Well,   
guess what, Riccan? I am the future ruler after my mother, and I can do   
whatever I want! I'm going to be ruling over you two squabs someday, so you two   
better learn to do what you're told! I am your future Superior Granden!"  
  
"You're not Superior Granden yet, Rojal," Kekron intervened, "and   
until you are, you are no different than the rest of us. So leave Riccan and   
Nikon alone."  
  
Rojal moved toward Kekron threateningly. "And who are you to tell   
me what to do? You are not even a warrior, Kekron. You're a wimp, as well,   
just like your pacifist father!"  
  
"My father is not a wimp!" Kekron cried angrily. "He is the   
bravest, kindest, smartest man I know! Why he even went to rescue Tayla from   
the Saiyans a year ago! Your own father didn't even do that! Just ask Tayla!"  
  
"He did come after me!" Tayla insisted. "And he more than held his   
own, Rojal."  
  
Rojal snorted. "Really? I'm amazed, considering that my mother has   
always told me that Uncle Raakon turned coward after the Battle of Chloe ended."  
  
"He's not a coward!" Kekron cried. "You take that back, Rojal!"   
The normally peaceful Kekron balled up his fists. "Or else!" The worst thing   
you could ever say to an Astorian child is to call his or her father a coward.  
  
Rojal laughed. "You dare challenge me, Kekron? You're a mere   
Technician; why you weren't even taught any fighting skills. Shame that what   
little courage and bravery your father had didn't rub off on you. At least, he   
was a warrior at one time!"  
  
Arlina stepped quickly in between Kekron and Rojal. "Kekron, this   
isn't worth it," she told her older brother softly. "You know that Pappa   
wouldn't approve of you fighting like that without good cause." Arlina, the   
spitting image of her gentle mother, was wise beyond her years.  
  
"Move, Arlina," Rojal told her. "This is between me and your   
cowardly Technician brother! I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of your   
stupidity."  
  
"Don't tell my sister what to do!" Kekron told him. "She can stay   
wherever she wants."  
  
"I can tell her what to do, if I want to," Rojal snapped. "I am to   
be your future ruler, and all of you someday must pay homage to me, even   
Great-Nama's spoiled brat, Tayla!"  
  
"That's not nice, Rojal!" Lelina cried. "Tayla's not a spoiled   
brat!"   
  
Tayla clenched her fists and held them at her side, trying to   
control her sometimes-dangerous temper. She did not want to hurt or shout at   
Rojal unless she absolutely had to. The last physical fight she and Rojal had   
had was four years ago when she was four and Rojal was nine. Despite their   
great differences in size and age then, that fight had come out even, and that   
was only because Gracina had intervened and shooed Rojal away. Rojal had hurt   
Tayla a good deal, but the tiny girl had caused him just as much damage. Tayla   
was three times stronger now, but she still wanted to avoid a confrontation if   
possible, especially with someone who would be ruling over her someday. She had   
promised Nama, Seven Moons Oath, that she would try her best to get along with   
Rojal and his peevish, cruel mother.  
  
Rojal deliberately ignored Tayla's growing anger. He disliked Tayla   
as much as his mother did because Great-Nama always seemed to be petting and   
indulging her. Rojal knew that he was important to his great-grandmother   
because he would one day rule in her stead, but he realized that she spent more   
time and affection on Tayla than she did with him. He was starting to share his   
mother' extreme, dangerous jealousy of Shalila's favored granddaughter. What   
was so great and special about Tayla anyway? Sure, she had been the main one to   
defeat the Saiyans a year ago, but so what? Defeating Saiyans was nothing   
extraordinary, even for an Astorian child. Rojal purposely set aside the fact   
that he himself had not yet engaged in battle, or even had his Awakening. He   
greatly envied Tayla for having her Awakening already; he could not even get   
close. He, the Crown Prince of the Clan of Chloe, the Superior Granden Heir   
Apparent, should have already had his Awakening! How dare little Tayla, who was   
the youngest of all of his mother's siblings, and therefore the least   
significant of all in his eyes, have her Awakening before him! Who did she   
think was?  
  
Tayla counted to fifty to calm herself down, just as Raakon had   
taught her to do. She then asked Rojal quietly, "What makes you think that I am   
a spoiled brat?"  
  
Rojal spat nastily, "You get away with murder, and your smallest   
request is law to Great-Nama. She loves you more than any of us, and you get   
more from her than the rest of us do. You can enter her bedchamber at any time,   
day or night, but the rest of us have to ask permission first, or wait until a   
better time. She is raising Uncle Arlon and Uncle Lukan also, and even though   
they are before you in line for the throne, they don't get pampered as much as   
you do. You are the least important of all of the Mantros Chloe children, and   
yet you receive more than most of us. You have one of the best bedchambers in   
the Palace, and you get extra time and lessons from Great-Nama. You also get   
the best clothes and treats from her. What is so great about you, Tayla? Why   
should you get better treatment than me, or even the rest of us? I am the   
Superior Granden Heir Apparent, and I am far more important than you are. Yet,   
neither my mother nor I receive half the things from Great-Nama that you do, and   
we are her next heirs to the throne. So, tell me, Tayla, what is so special   
about you? What is so wonderful about you? Why should you get the best, when   
you have no importance in this family? You are really nothing, other than a   
great fighter, and the Clan of Chloe has plenty of those! You are of no   
importance in the Clan of Chloe, especially to my mother and I! When my mother   
descends the throne, I can guarantee personally that you will no longer be   
someone's spoiled pet! You will be nothing when my mother begins to rule   
Astoria after Great-Nama's death. And I will continue to ensure that after I   
take my mother's place someday. You will be lucky if you are even allowed to   
remain on Chloe after Great-Nama's death!"  
  
Everyone was shocked into silence. Tayla had her small head hung   
down; she was so deeply ashamed and humiliated. Rojal was right; what had she   
done to be so loved and so favored? She fought back tears, as Mykia patted her   
shoulder, trying to comfort her young mistress. Lelina looked sorrowfully at   
Tayla, and Arlina mumbled a silent prayer. Kekron was embarrassed for her, and   
even the boisterous Riccan had been hushed. Nikon and the other children were   
debating whether to confront Rojal or remain quiet.  
  
But Dedron, a chubby, gluttony warrior who was Cletos' son and   
Rojal's closest male friend, agreed wholeheartedly with Rojal. Dedron added   
spitefully, "Rojal's right, everyone. Why should Tayla be Great-Nama's   
favorite? I am even higher in the line for the throne than she is, and I don't   
get one quarter of the attention and favors she does. Great-Nama loves Tayla   
more than all of us; how do we know that Great-Nama won't make Tayla the next   
ruler of Astoria after she dies? She's likely to do it, knowing how much   
Great-Nama favors the brat! Do we really want Tayla to be our next ruler?"  
  
"I'm not going to be the next ruler," Tayla spoke for the first time   
since Rojal's vicious speech. "Nama is not going to change the order; Gorna and   
Rojal will still be next for Astoria's throne. I don't even want it!"  
  
Dedron shot Tayla a nasty look; he had none of his parents' more   
pleasant personalities, and in fact, he was the second meanest of Mantros   
Chloe's grandchildren after Rojal. Rojal's influence was strong on Dedron, and   
Rojal's strong dislike of Tayla had rubbed off on Dedron, who himself greatly   
aspired for Astoria's throne.  
  
"You think that now, Tayla, but if it were offered to you, you'd   
take it in a heartbeat, and you know it!" Dedron snarled. "You are at this   
moment twenty-second in line for Astoria's throne. If the other twenty-two   
people ahead of you died tomorrow, you would be the next ruler of Astoria. I am   
sixth in line for Astoria's throne, and I should receive better treatment than   
you. And Rojal is second in line for the throne, and he should receive the best   
treatment of all, next to Aunt Gorna. I hope that Rojal and Aunt Gorna give you   
what you deserve, you spoiled pet of Great-Nama's, when one of them becomes   
Astoria's ruler! Very few of us want you around; we just tolerate you because   
of Great-Nama. Once Great-Nama is gone, you probably will be too!"  
  
Kekron opened his mouth to confront Dedron and Rojal, but before he   
could speak, Tayla pushed past him. "I have to go; I'll see everyone at the   
ball, I hope!" Tayla dashed out of her bedchamber quickly before the tears   
came.  
  
"Princess, wait!" Mykia cried vainly.  
  
But Tayla did not answer her maid, or even call her to follow her.  
  
"Tayla!" Kekron, Arlina, Lelina, and Riccan cried, but their   
youngest aunt did not answer them.  
  
Dedron and Rojal smirked at each other. They had been trying to   
figure out for years just how to upset Tayla properly, and now they had found a   
way to do so.  
  
"You are mean, mean, mean!" Riccan screamed, as he flung his small   
body at Rojal and Dedron, beating them with his miniature fists.   
  
"Mean, mean," Nikon repeated, although he did not understand why he   
was insulting his two older, stronger male cousins.  
  
Lelina exclaimed in horror. "Rojal, why did you and Dedron have to   
say such horrible things to Tayla? She is nice and kind and my best friend!"  
  
Rojal jeered, "Would you consider her your best friend, dear sister,   
if Tayla was ruling over you someday?" He shoved Riccan away from him.  
  
"That is Great-Nama's choice to make," Lelina snapped at her   
brother. "You should apologize to her."  
  
"I agree," Kekron added. "She's just a little girl, and a good one   
too. You do owe her an apology, Rojal, and you too, Dedron. She has done no   
harm to either one of you."  
  
"She should apologize to us for taking Great-Nama's time and favors   
from us!" Dedron declared.  
  
Arlina shook her head sorrowfully at both boys. She was in many   
ways, like her Aunt Marya and her father, wanting peace always and never strife.   
"Your jealousy will destroy you both in the end," she told them softly.   
"Great-Nama loves us all, just as much as she does Tayla. She loves us all   
equally, just in different ways. She admires some of us because of our courage   
and strength, and others because of their kind hearts and good natures. And   
then there are those she loves because they are wise or peaceful. And Rojal,   
she will always hold you in her highest esteem because you are her heir to   
Astoria's throne. She is not going to supplant you or your mother with Tayla.   
You are not going to lose your place, but you will lose her and everyone else's   
respect, if you continue to treat Tayla the way that you do. Tayla is on her   
way to becoming a jenteel warrien, a fierce warrior with a gentle nature and   
good heart. If you treat her with kindness and respect, Rojal, she will do the   
same for you. She respects your place in the family, and she will be loyal to   
you and your mother. She is not the sort to hold a grudge against her own   
family members, but if you continue to mistreat her and encourage others to do   
so, you will eventually drive her to despise you. If you wish her to hate you,   
you are on your way, Rojal, for she is also the sort who will not tolerate   
cruelty forever. She is strong as you now, Rojal, if not stronger, and she is   
only eight. She will make a good ally, but a dangerous enemy. If you treat her   
kindly, she will stand by you when you ascend Astoria's throne. You should keep   
all of this in mind, Rojal; you will need her someday. And she is your aunt;   
that alone should be enough to merit your respect."  
  
Rojal snorted contemptuously at Arlina's speech, even though he was   
stunned to speechlessness because the normally quiet Arlina never had said so   
much at one time in her life before. When she did speak, she would speak like   
someone with three times her age and experience, and her words were often brief   
and straight to the point.  
  
Mykia had crept quietly out of the room to find her mistress and   
comfort her. Before Rojal could speak again, Lelina piped up, "Well, I'm going   
to find her and try to make her feel better. Anyone else coming?" She looked   
around Tayla's room at the other children.  
  
"Arlina and I will join you," Kekron told her.  
  
"So will me and Nikon," Riccan added. "Just as soon as I beat up   
Rojal and Dedron for being mean to Tayla." He balled up his little fists again,   
ready to fight the older boys again.  
  
"You just try it, brat," Rojal hissed. "You may be tough, but   
you're not as strong as me, or even our spoiled pet aunt."  
  
"Yeah, squab," Dedron snarled. "Go ahead and challenge us; see how   
long you live!"  
  
"Boys, please," Arlina pleaded.  
  
"That's enough, all of you," Kekron told them. "We have to find   
Tayla and finish getting ourselves ready for Great-Nama's engagement ball." To   
change the subject, he added, "I just hope that I don't step on anyone's feet   
tonight, and that someone will actually dance with me." Kekron was extremely   
clumsy, except with mechanics and computers.  
  
"I'll dance with you," Arlina promised him, even though Priestesses   
rarely danced.  
  
"And so will I," Lelina added.  
  
Rojal sneered, "Go ahead and dance with him, sister, if you want   
your feet crippled for life." Kekron glared at him darkly when he said that.  
  
Riccan forgot that he was going to fight Rojal and Dedron, and he   
spoke up, "I'm going to dance with Tayla."  
  
"I'm going to dance with Tayla too!" Nikon cried.  
  
"Nikon, you don't how to dance yet," Riccan told him, "You'll step   
on more feet than Kekron will."  
  
"I will not!" Nikon whined. "I can dance just as good as anyone   
else!"  
  
"You're right," Riccan told him with a grin, "as long as anyone else   
is an Oozaru!"  
  
"Huh?" Nikon asked, puzzled. "What's an Oozaru?"  
  
Riccan sighed; his little brother had a lot to learn.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla was sitting in the courtyard on a stone bench with her arms   
crossed and her head cradled in between her knees, as she finally released the   
tears that she had been holding back. She hated herself for being so weak at   
that moment when Rojal had verbally ripped her apart. She hated herself for   
being able to stand up against the Saiyans, but not against her own nephew. Why   
hadn't she told him off like she had the servants when they had dared to jeer at   
their own Superior Gran for marrying outside of her race?  
  
Because she suspected what Rojal had said was true.  
  
Why did Nama love her? She wasn't even close to inheriting   
Astoria's throne, and she had no real place in the Clan of Chloe except as a   
princess and a healior. Maybe Rojal was right; she shouldn't be so loved and   
favored. What was so special about her?  
  
And then a new fear sprouted in her heart. What would happen to her after   
Great-Nama died? Of course, Dirkan would look after her, but Dirkan was much   
older than Nama and likely to die before she would. And not even Gracina,   
Raakon, and Marya, the siblings that loved her the most, would be unable to help   
her when Gorna ascended Astoria's throne. She would be lucky if Gorna even   
allowed her siblings to take her in or even associate with her. Even Gracina,   
Raakon, and Marya would have to do what Gorna told them to do because she would   
be their ruler. And what if Gorna and Rojal banished her from Chloe and even   
Astoria? Where would she go? How would she survive?  
  
All these thoughts that no child her age should have ran through her   
mind. She now understood why Rojal and Gorna hated her so much. Maybe she   
should quit going to Nama for everything and not accept favors and love from   
her. Maybe that would make Rojal and Gorna happy, and then they wouldn't hate   
her anymore.  
  
She was dwelling on these sad thoughts when a kindly, slightly   
wrinkled hand touched her shoulder and stroked her hair.  
  
"Hello, little dandelion," Shalila told her softly. Tayla looked up   
at her beloved Nama with all the pain and hurt in her chocolate eyes.  
  
"Nama, why do you love me?" she asked bluntly and tearfully.  
  
Shalila was stunned. "Why wouldn't I love you?"  
  
"'Cause I'm not as important as Rojal, and some other people are.   
I'm just a princess and a healior, and our Clan has plenty of those. What makes   
me so special?"  
"You are Tayla, my little dandelion," Shalila told her gently,   
pulling her onto her lap and cuddling her. "And Tayla, being a princess and a   
healior is important. Not everyone can be a princess or a healior. You are an   
elite-class Princess, Clan of Chloe, and of the royal line. You are the   
daughter of my oldest son, Mantros Chloe, who would have inherited Astoria's   
throne after me, if he had lived. You are royalty, elite-class Astorian, and   
that alone makes you important. And my little dandelion, those things are not   
all that makes you special. You are kind and brave and willing to put others   
before yourself. You have a better character and heart than I did when I was   
your age; I wasn't half as good as you when I was eight. And in the battle   
against Prince Vegeta and his henchmen, you were willing to risk your short life   
to stop them from destroying our planet and moons. We would not be here right   
now, if you had not been in the battle. Astoria would have ceased to exist, if   
it had not been for you. And you saved many of our lives that day. Someday,   
you will grow up to become stronger than all of us, including me; I don't need a   
Priest or a Priestess to tell me that." Shalila had heard earlier from Mykia,   
who had been searching for Tayla, about Rojal and Dedron's cruel speeches to   
Tayla. Shalila had sent Tayla's Nursemaid back to summon Rojal and Dedron to   
her quarters at once. She also sent a messenger to Gorna and Etros' quarters to   
summon Gorna.  
  
Silent and grateful, Tayla squeezed her Nama hard to show her   
gratitude, as she finished crying. When she was able to calm herself down, she   
said, "Nama, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Of course, child."  
  
"Why do you call me 'little dandelion'? Speaking of which, what is   
a dandelion anyway?"  
  
Shalila smiled; she knew that Astoria didn't have dandelions at all, but she had   
her own reasons for calling Tayla a little dandelion.  
  
Shalila answered, "A dandelion is an Earth flower, my dear. Many of   
the Earthlings consider them weeds, but the dandelions are small and beautiful   
and strong, just like you. A dandelion is a unique yellow flower with jagged   
leaves, and when a dandelion grows old, it turns into a puffy white ball made up   
of spiky seeds with little white parachutes. And do you know what else makes a   
dandelion special? Whenever a dandelion is stepped on, it becomes stronger each   
time. Whenever someone 'steps' on you, my dear, you become stronger each time.   
Yet the dandelion remains beautiful and sturdy, just like you. Ever since you   
were a tiny baby, you would become stronger with each conflict, just like a   
dandelion. And that is why I call you one, my dear."  
  
Tayla smiled through her tears. "Then a dandelion is a good thing   
to be then."  
  
Shalila nodded, as Tayla pressed her face against her grandmother's bosom.  
  
"Nama," she murmured into Shalila's chest, "what's going to happen   
to me after you and Dirkan die?"  
  
Shalila tried to laugh Tayla's grave question off. "Hopefully by   
then, you'll be a Nama yourself!"  
  
"Nama, I'm serious!'  
  
Shalila sighed. "It won't happen for a long time, child, so you   
needn't worry about that right now." Shalila did not like to acknowledge her   
own mortality, nor did she like to think about life going on after her death.  
  
"But I can't help it, Nama. Gorna and Rojal don't love me like you   
do; in fact they don't love me at all!"  
  
"Tayla, that is not true..."  
  
"Yes it is, Nama, admit it! I'm not stupid; I know they don't love   
me. They'll probably banish me from Astoria and Chloe after you die!"  
  
"No one will banish you, Tayla. You will always have a home and a   
place on Chloe."  
  
"Not if Rojal gets his way."  
  
"Rojal won't get his way anytime soon. I will settle him before the   
ball. I promise you, Tayla, Seven Moons Oath, that he will not harass you   
anymore." At least not while I'm alive, Shalila added silently. She could not   
monitor Rojal and Gorna's behavior after she passed on to the next dimension.  
  
"But Tayla, like I told you before, someday you will have to deal   
with Rojal and Gorna on your own. I can protect you while I'm alive, but you   
will have to face them yourself someday when I am gone. They don't have to love   
you, Tayla, or even like you, but they do have to respect you and acknowledge   
you. It is not your fault that they can't love or appreciate you; that is their   
problem, not yours. They are jealous, Tayla, and that is all there is to it.   
Do not let them bring you down to their level. Do not let them intimidate them,   
or make you feel less than worthy. They may be above you in rank, but that does   
not mean they can treat you however they wish. They may put you down, but even   
they will not kill you. Always stand your ground with them; respect them and   
stand by them, but do not let them belittle or degrade you. You are just as   
good and worthwhile as they are, if not more so. Stand your ground with them,   
and even they will come to respect you. Always take the high road with them, my   
little dandelion."  
  
Tayla nodded, her face still pressed against Shalila's chest.   
Shalila whispered in her elfin ear:  
  
"And I will tell you the most important reason that you are special:   
you are Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe, Clan of Chloe, of   
Chloe, Astoria. There is no other Princess Tayla of Chloe in the entire   
universe. You are special just for being yourself, okay? I love you, my little   
dandelion."  
  
"And I love you too, Nama," Tayla whispered back softly.  
  
"I will tell you a secret, Tayla. Will you swear Seven Moons Oath   
never to tell anyone on Astoria this?"  
  
"Yes, Nama. Seven Moons Oath." Tayla held up seven fingers to seal   
it.  
  
"It is true what they say: you are my favorite out of all of my   
descendants. Just do not tell anyone but yourself."  
  
"Thank you, Nama," Tayla whispered again. "And you're my favorite   
too out of everyone."  
  
Shalila smiled and kissed Tayla's forehead. 


	19. Shalila's Lectures

Chapter Nineteen: Shalila's Lectures  
  
Shalila had Mykia wash Tayla's face and restyle the child's hair, so   
that Tayla would look beautiful again. She went to her private office and   
awaited the arrival of Gorna, Rojal, and Dedron. She knew that Tayla would have   
to learn to deal with people who did not admire or adore her, but Shalila was   
not going to allow anyone to mistreat Tayla while she was alive.  
  
Rojal strutted into Shalila's royal office, followed by Dedron.   
"Hello, Nama," Rojal chirped.  
  
"Hello, Rojal, Dedron," Shalila told him gravely. "We need to   
talk."  
  
"'Bout what?" Dedron asked, his mouth full of chocolate sugarplum.   
Rojal jabbed his closest friend sharply in his side.  
  
"Must you always eat like a pig?" he asked disdainfully.  
  
"Sorry, Rojal," Dedron grumbled with his mouth still full. To Rojal   
and Shalila, his words sounded like, "Sorren, Rojen."  
  
"Dedron," Shalila told him abruptly, "if you are going to speak, at   
least do so with an empty mouth. Chewing with your mouth full is rude."  
  
"Yem, Grem-Namem," Dedron mumbled. Shalila and Rojal both gave him   
sharp looks, and Dedron then swallowed his candy and repeated himself. "Yes,   
Great-Nama."  
  
"Rojal and Dedron, I have heard about the way you have spoken to   
Tayla today, and I want you both to go apologize to her in person, as soon as   
you both leave my chambers. And in the future, you two will treat her with   
respect, especially you, Rojal," Shalila scolded both of them sharply. "Neither   
one of you will insult or belittle her anymore. Tayla has done nothing to   
either one of you boys. What is your problem with her?"  
  
"She's your favorite," Rojal spat out spitefully. Dedron shoved the   
rest of his chocolate sugarplum into his large, thin-lipped mouth and nodded in   
agreement.  
  
"I do love her," Shalila replied harshly, deliberately ignoring   
Rojal's accusation, "but just because I love her does not mean that I love the   
rest of you any less. If you are worried about Tayla replacing you as Astoria's   
next ruler, Rojal, you do not need to worry, for as badly as you have been   
behaving lately, I do not intend to supplant you-as long as you keep yourself in   
line. You are old enough to know better. Rojal, you are to be the next ruler   
of Astoria, after your mother, so you have no reason to be so hateful towards   
Tayla. Tayla is not going to replace you as ruler. I blame your mother more   
for your mistreatment of your own aunt than I do you, but other than your   
mother's influence, you have no excuse for treating her like you do. I will   
have a talk with your mother myself. You and your mother may not use your high   
positions as an excuse to abuse Tayla or anyone else here. If I hear of that   
going on with either one of you, I will think seriously about skipping over the   
both of you and leaving the throne to your sister, Lelina, who is third in line   
for it. And if Lelina does not produce any heirs, the throne will be passed on   
to your Uncle Bajal and his descendants. So I know that you and your mother   
will treat Tayla with respect and dignity, if you can't treat her with kindness   
and love. If you treat her well, she will do likewise for you."  
  
"And Dedron, seeing as you are very unlikely to inherit Astoria's   
throne, even though there are only five others before you, you also have no   
cause to treat Tayla badly. So I am also warning you to stop mistreating Tayla,   
or I will be forced to take action. I do not want to be in the position to   
discipline any of my grandchildren, but if your parents cannot manage you   
properly, then I may have to intervene. Dedron, I will talk to your parents   
after the ball about your behavior. So Rojal and Dedron, do I have your word,   
Seven Moons Oath, that you will not mistreat Tayla or anyone else for now on?"  
  
Rojal and Dedron were silent; they did not want to make any oaths   
that they weren't sure that they could keep.  
  
"Well?" Shalila prompted abruptly. The boys sighed, realizing that   
Great-Nama's last question was rhetorical.  
  
Grudgingly, the two boys held up seven fingers each. "Seven Moons   
Oath," they both mumbled.  
  
"That's better," Shalila told them sternly. "Now, I believe, Rojal,   
that your mother is waiting in the corridor. Send her in when you boys leave my   
office. That will be all, you two are now dismissed."  
  
Gorna entered, her face blood red with suppressed fury. "Nama, what   
is this about?" she asked, trying to control her temper. Gorna was furious   
because not only she would have to answer again for mistreating Tayla, but   
because this silly lecture that she was about to receive would delay her further   
in preparing for the ball.  
  
"Gorna, I am sure that you know what this is about," Shalila began.  
  
"Look, Nama," Gorna spoke up, "I will admit that my Rojal went too   
far today, but he does have a point: you do favor Tayla more than most of us. I   
don't understand why, for she is just a child and nowhere close to inheriting   
Astoria's throne. I never received half the favors and attention when I was her   
age, and I am more important than her, so what gives, Nama? I know that I am   
not as beautiful or as popular as she is, but looks are nothing when it comes to   
strength, power, and intelligence. I am still way stronger than she is and   
always will be." Gorna's tone was very bitter, so Shalila, for once, managed to bite her tongue and use a softer tone, especially after she noticed that the tough Gorna was near tears. Shalila tried to comfort her, as if Gorna were a little girl.  
  
"Gorna," Shalila said, as gently as possible, "You are my heir and   
the oldest child of my oldest child. You have produced two fine children so   
far, and you are well on your way to creating a fine lineage of your own. And   
you are also one of Astoria's greatest fighters. No one is going to replace you   
as heir to the throne, as long as you conduct yourself properly. And I know   
that you will, Gorna. Gorna, you a grown woman, and Tayla is a child; you   
should be helping to guide her and care for her because she is your sister. And   
when you were Tayla's age, you had two parents, but Tayla has none now; she will   
never know your dear parents, as you have. Tayla would be willing to love you   
and respect you, Gorna, if you would but let her. You two need each other, even   
though you two will not admit it. You are her sister, Gorna, her oldest sister,   
and someday she will depend on you-and you will depend on her. You will need   
her someday when you ascend the throne in my place, as a great healior; she is   
already on her way to becoming one of this planet's best fighters. And you can   
never have enough great fighters on your side, especially with Frieza and the   
Saiyans running around in this galaxy."  
  
Gorna was silent for a few minutes; she knew that Tayla someday   
would be an asset when she grew up, and she couldn't exactly snub the child   
completely. She always had a grudging respect for her youngest sibling beneath   
the jealousy and dislike that she felt for her, and Nama knew this fact.   
However, no matter how much Gorna had secretly respected the child, she could   
not bring herself to love her or even like her.   
  
Almost everyone in the Palace of Chloe had cuddled and fussed over   
Tayla and more so after her victory over the Saiyan boys. Tayla was everyone's   
darling, especially Nama's; Gorna could not remember being so adored and admired   
when she was a child. Of course Gorna had been a difficult, bratty, and peevish   
child, but she was an heir to Astoria's throne. The heir now!  
Gorna had been the favorite of only one person in her life: her grandfather,   
Bajal. Well, actually Bajal had favored her and her sister, Gracina, over all   
of his other granddaughters. Bajal (and his son, Mantros) had always adored   
Gracina because she was as beautiful and charming, as she was brave and strong.   
Gracina had been a daddy's and a granddaddy's girl since she had been a baby,   
and while Gorna had envied her that, she had not been violently jealous of   
Gracina as she was of Tayla now. She and Gracina had never been close, and they   
never really got along well, especially after Tayla's birth, but they held a   
small quiet respect for each other. Gorna once or twice had envied the   
closeness between Gracina and Tayla. Gracina saw Tayla as another one of her   
children, and she was Tayla's guardian; she loved and petted Tayla the same way   
Nama did, and she would have done more than that, if not for needing to tend to   
her own four children.  
  
Gorna had been the former Superior Granden's other favorite   
granddaughter because Bajal had seen some of himself in her. They always had a   
special bond when "Granpappa" had lived. Granpappa had always thought that   
Gorna was beautiful, even though she was really plain, and he had admired her   
strength and spirit. Granpappa had been the only relative to really dote on   
Gorna, and he had been the strongest influence on her when he had been alive.   
He had always been the one to build Gorna up when she had felt insecure and   
unworthy. He was also the one who kept Gorna in check, and he had basically had   
saved her from herself many times in her life. Gorna had never really listened   
to her parents, or even Nama at times, but she had always listened to and   
respected her grandfather. Granpappa had always been able to make Gorna see the   
error of her ways when no one else could have in a gentle, yet firm manner.   
  
Gorna had been devastated when she had learned that her grandfather   
had died before she could come save him. He had been the person she had loved   
and admired the most; she had loved him even more than her own husband. She   
could never forgive Etros for not being as strong or as courageous as their   
Granpappa. Etros had been a handsome charmer when they had fallen in love, but   
he had let himself go and become complacent and boring after their marriage.   
Ironically, Bajal, who had never thought much of his cowardly grandson, had   
tried to talk Gorna out of marrying Etros. It had been the one time in her life   
when she had not listened to Granpappa, but Granpappa had reluctantly accepted   
her decision to marry Etros. Gorna was not truly happy in her marriage, and she   
had regretted many times that she had not heeded her grandfather's counsel   
against marrying Etros. But unless Etros cheated on her or abused her, she   
could not divorce him. Astorian laws on divorce were clear on this; no one   
could divorce his or her spouse except for adultery, abuse, and the rare cases   
where he or she had unwittingly married a too-close relative (cousins did not   
count). Astorians married and mated for life, and divorce was thought of as   
only a last, last resort; Astorians did not take marriage lightly, particularly   
the Clan of Chloe, which only had three divorces in its entire family history.   
The few Astorians who committed adultery were usually publicly snubbed and   
rejected for life. There had only been thirty Astorian divorces since Shalila   
and Bajal had begun to rule Astoria.  
  
Even though Gorna had still suggested allying with the Saiyans after   
her grandfather's death, she had not been thinking rationally at the time   
because of Tayla's crying and all the deaths in her family. She hoped that Nama   
had realized that she had not been in her right mind at the time when she had   
entered her Nama's bedchamber the night that Tayla had finally stopped her   
continuous crying. After the Saiyan boys had nearly trashed Chloe, Gorna had   
said no more about allying with them. She was now as anti-full-blooded Saiyan   
as most of her people were. She would always hate them for killing her parents, her siblings, and especially her grandfather and for once again trying to conquer her planet, the planet that she would rule over someday!  
  
Shalila watched her granddaughter struggle with her thoughts, and   
she wished that Bajal were alive and here right now. He could always reason   
with their difficult, peevish, stubborn granddaughter, and Gorna had always held   
him in high regard. Bajal, who had not normally been an articulate or   
well-spoken man, almost always had the right words to say to Gorna, who had   
never truly listened to anyone else, not even her. Shalila rubbed her temples   
and tried to think of what her dead husband would have said to Gorna in this   
situation.  
  
Shalila was trying to think of what to say to Gorna next when her   
intercom buzzed. "Superior Gran?"  
  
"I am here, Trenton," Shalila told the announcer, one of her Royal   
Guards.  
  
"Pardon me, Your Highness, but we have a bit of an emergency. Three   
refugees from planet Meat is here, and they are seeking asylum on our planet."  
  
"Their reason?" Shalila asked softly.  
  
"There is no planet Meat left to go back home to. The Saiyans and   
Frieza's minions wiped out all of their people."  
  
Shalila gasped in horror, and even Gorna paled. Shalila rose to her   
full height of five-feet-five inches and told Gorna, "Gorna, I am sorry, but I   
will have to leave. We will continue this conversation later. You are   
dismissed for now." She spoke to Trenton again, "Send them to the   
quarantine wing immediately; I will meet them there. Summon Dirkan to meet me   
there, as well." Any new aliens that landed on Astoria for peaceful intentions   
were required to be checked for potential deadly or infectious diseases before   
they were allowed anywhere else on Astoria. "And disinfect any areas that they   
have occupied; I do not want to be over particular, but we must take   
precautions."  
  
"Yes, Superior Gran."  
  
Shalila abruptly left Gorna, and she hurried downstairs to the   
quarantine wing.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla was sitting in Gracina's lap, her small head resting on   
Gracina's bosom. Gracina had finished her duties in the Medical Wing for today.   
Gracina had been treating some children who had been foolish enough to play in   
the Palace's engine rooms, and they had injured themselves when they had caused   
a machine to explode. Tayla had stopped by to visit her sister, who had not had   
time yet to dress for their grandmother's engagement ball. A weary Gracina,   
whose own children were with their Nursemaids for now, had taken a few minutes   
to sit down and spend a little time with Tayla before she had to dress for the   
ball.   
  
Gracina was stroking Tayla's hair, and she had listened to Tayla's   
story of what Rojal and Dedron had said to her today. Gracina had wanted to   
strangle the bratty boys, even if one of them was supposed to rule Astoria   
someday. Who did they think they were? Gorna needed to keep Rojal in better   
check, and Cletos and his Scribe wife, Farla (younger sister of Etros and   
Lektron, and third oldest of ten children), needed to stop spoiling Dedron so   
much. Dedron was becoming as snotty as Rojal. Gracina sighed wearily, as she   
cuddled Tayla closer to her, and she wondered what would become of Astoria after   
Gorna ascended the throne. Gracina regretted that she and Tayla would have to   
live through Gorna and Rojal's reigns because she and Tayla wouldn't die anytime   
soon. She silently prayed that Rojal wouldn't produce any heirs worse than him   
and his mother.  
  
Raakon entered then, followed by Natala and Trenton, who was   
escorting three strange creatures who were not Astorian. Tayla sat on Gracina's   
lap, her tiny rosebud mouth agape. Gracina was a bit startled, but then she   
remembered what sort of creatures the newcomers were.  
  
The three visitors were Meatians, from planet Meat, one of Astoria's allies.   
Gracina had seen Meatians before when she had traveled with her grandparents and   
parents to planet Meat. Shalila and Bajal Chloe had gone there to convince the Meatians to ally with them for both planets' safety. The Meatians had agreed to an alliance. Gracina had only been four years old at the time, but she remembered what Meatians looked like. Meatians were human-like creatures with ears, hair and tails like horses. A Meatian's hair grew only one   
side of his or her head, just like a horse's mane, long and flowing. Their horse-like tails were long and beautiful and shimmering. Their hair came in many different, brilliant colors. Their horse-like ears were situated on top of their heads like a horse's, and Meatians could hear twenty times better than Astorians. In fact, they could actually hear a pin drop a hundred miles away. Meatians were also able to turn their hearing capabilities on and off, and they could adjust their hearing to hear things from long to short distances. And if   
a Meatian breathed into the ears of someone from another species, that person would receive the same capabilities, and that person's improved hearing ability would last ten hours at a time.  
  
Tayla would have normally run up to Raakon and Natala for a hug, but   
she was too amazed by the Meatians to move. She just stood there and watched   
them. The oldest Meatian, Steak, was the father of the other two Meatians, a   
fifteen-year-old son, Ham, and a ten-year-old daughter, Veal. Steak had bright   
blood-red hair, Ham had lime-green hair, and Veal had lavender hair. Tayla   
thought that Veal's mane and tail was the prettiest of all with that shimmering   
light purple. All the Meatians had glistening, silky, sparkly hair in their   
manes and tails. And their eye colors was always the same as their hair colors.  
  
"Who are they?" Tayla whispered to Gracina.  
  
"Meatians, from planet Meat," Gracina told her.  
  
Gracina gently put Tayla down, so she could rise. She questioned   
Raakon about the Meatians.  
  
Raakon replied sadly, "Planet Meat has been taken over by Frieza's   
forces. These three are the last Meatians in existence. They have come here   
seeking asylum."  
  
Veal clung to her father's torn fighting uniform, looking fearfully around the   
room. Tayla looked at the little girl Meatian appreciatively and smiled shyly   
at her.  
  
"Hello," she told the frightened Meatian child in the Standard   
language, "I'm Princess Tayla." (Standard was a language spoken by many planets   
across the universe, although in different dialects.) Tayla was as fluent in   
Standard, as well as her own native Astorian, and the Namekian, Saiyan, and   
Hyslian languages.  
  
Veal returned Tayla's shy smile. It had been the first time Veal   
had smiled in weeks. "I'm Veal," she whispered to Tayla softly in the Standard   
language. She took Tayla's extended hand and shook it with both hands.   
  
"Are you hungry?" Tayla asked her kindly.  
  
Veal nodded.  
  
"You may eat in a little while," Natala assured the Meatian girl.   
"Right now, we need to examine you to make sure all three of you are healthy."  
  
Veal nodded again. She was normally a child of few words to begin   
with.  
  
"I am Princess Gracina, and I am sorry about your planet," Gracina   
addressed Steak gently, "How long ago was Meat conquered?"  
  
"Four months ago," Steak told her sadly. 


	20. The Meatians' Story

Chapter Twenty: The Meatians' Story  
  
Steak was stripped down to an undershirt and underwear, and Natala   
and Raakon had started to examine him thoroughly. Steak and the other Meatians   
had no qualms about being that exposed to others, especially now. Steak knew a   
little of the Astorian language, but he decided it would be best to speak in   
Standard because the Astorians with him understood it, and Veal and Ham were not   
fluent in the Astorian language at all.  
  
"The Saiyans came to our planet first to clear it for Frieza," Steak   
began shakily. "My children and I are of the Meatian nobility, and my son and I   
went out to help fight them. Of course, we have never been as strong as you   
Astorians are, so we were too easily conquered. There was a band of four   
powerful Saiyan fighters, and one of them was a female, but she was no more   
merciful than the men."  
  
"My son, Ham, and I were the last surviving warriors; the few   
non-fighting Meatians alive had retreated to our emergency underground shelter.   
Ham and I managed to deliver some damage to the Saiyan invaders, but not enough   
to cripple them. And that, unfortunately, is not the worst of it, for Frieza's   
minions also came to our planet. The band of Frieza's minions was being led by   
a giant, pink, spiky-headed warrior named Dodoria."  
  
"Ham and I knew immediately that these strange new visitors were of   
Frieza's forces because of their distinctive armor of shoulder, torso and flank   
guards and their pricey scouters used to determine ki levels and communicate   
with others. Ham and I were badly injured by then, and we were well prepared to   
die, so we ourselves retreated to the underground shelter to await the   
inevitable."  
  
"But strangely enough, Dodoria and his men did not target us, not at   
first anyway. We watched them from the underground shelter through our spy   
cameras hidden in the rocks. We quickly realized that it was really the Saiyans   
that they were after. A few of us survivors started cheering Frieza's men on,   
even though the rest of us told them that Frieza's men were just as much our   
enemies as the Saiyans were."  
  
"Dodoria and his men had a difficult time fighting the Saiyan band   
at first, and the Saiyans put up a good fight. My wife, Poultry, and I were   
praying to our Kami that the Saiyans and Dodoria's men would kill each other all   
together. There were seventeen of us Meatians left, a mixture of nobility and   
common folk. King Roast, our leader, was talking about plans to escape Planet   
Meat, since it was unlikely that either side would spare us."  
  
"To make a long story short, Dodoria's men obliterated the Saiyan   
band, except for one dying soldier. My little Veal, who has a very tender and   
kind heart, pitied the horrid creature and wanted to help him. I, of course,   
refused her, warning her that she would be killed instantly. All of us turned   
up our hearing capabilities and listened to the conversation between Dodoria and   
the dying Saiyan soldier that he was holding up in the air. Dodoria told the   
soldier, (Torah was his name, I believe) that Frieza thought that they were   
getting too powerful. Torah cried out that everything that they had done had   
been for Lord Frieza, but Dodoria and his men didn't care. I'll never forget   
Torah's last sentence after Dodoria told him Frieza wanted all the Saiyans   
dead-"  
  
"All the Saiyans dead?" Tayla gasped. Trenton, Natala and Gracina   
paled, and Raakon took a deep breath of air.  
  
Raakon interrupted, "Pardon me, Steak, but why would Frieza want the   
Saiyans dead? They are among his best fighters. It just doesn't make any   
sense. Are you sure that you heard this correctly?" Raakon temporarily forgot   
about the Meatians' superb hearing abilities.  
  
"Clear as crystal," Steak told him firmly. "We Meatians didn't   
understand Frieza's logic ourselves, but then Frieza can't be judged by normal   
standards. One of Dodoria's men joked that Torah should consider Frieza's   
having them destroyed a 'promotion'. Dodoria told Torah that Frieza was not   
having the Saiyans killed because of anything they did before, but because of   
what they might have done in the future. All of us are aware of how powerful   
the Saiyans truly are, and from what it sounds like, Frieza saw the light   
himself. Apparently, Frieza doesn't like competition."  
  
Natala spoke, "The Saiyans were loyal to Frieza, as far as I know.   
From what I know of warfare, it is considered dishonorable to kill your allies   
or your own fighters without good cause. Frieza has wanted to conquer our   
planet for years; it is unlikely that he would be able to do so without the   
Saiyans' help. Why would anyone would to eliminate their best fighters,   
especially fighters that would be more than able to help?"  
  
"Because Frieza is a self-serving, traitorous bastard," Gracina   
hissed in fury. "I care nothing for full-blooded Saiyans myself, and the fewer   
there are, the better. But let's face the facts: if Frieza is willing to   
destroy his own henchmen out of pride and fear, then no one is truly safe, not   
even this Dodoria creature."   
"Actually that's almost the exact same thing Torah told Dodoria just before   
Dodoria kicked and punched him away," Steak told her.  
  
"When's he going to destroy them?" Tayla asked out of curiosity.   
"If the Saiyans die, doesn't that mean we'll be safer now, except for Frieza?"  
  
Raakon let out a long sigh. "I wish it was that simple, Tayla, but   
it's not. Frieza is five times more powerful than any Saiyan, and he probably   
could destroy all of us now without the Saiyans' help. If he and his henchmen   
can eliminate a powerful race like the Saiyans, then we Astorians...we   
Astorians-" he gasped for air, as he struggled for words-"we Astorians...may   
not...have...a chance...for survival."  
  
Natala cried, "Raakon, don't say that! Especially in front of Tayla   
and Veal!" She noticed that her little sister-in-law's heart-shaped face had   
grown white as one of Chloe's rare clouds. Tayla clung hard to Gracina's body,   
and Veal clung hard to her father's body. Both little girls started to tremble,   
and Natala began to tremble along with them. She was thankful that neither of   
her and Raakon's children was around to hear their father's words of potential   
doom.  
  
Raakon sighed wearily, as he took Natala's hand in his to calm her.   
"I am sorry, Natala, but we have to face reality, especially the children. For   
it may be the children, such as Veal and our Tayla, who will have to deal with   
Frieza someday themselves."  
  
Tayla shakily spoke up from the safety of Gracina's protective arms,   
"But we have Nama and Dirkan, Raakon. No one can truly defeat Nama and Dirkan,   
for they are the strongest people of all, right?" She turned to Veal and said,   
"My Nama is the strongest woman in the universe, and she helped save our planet   
from the Saiyans before. She, Dirkan, and Grandfather Bajal saved Astoria many,   
many, many years ago, long before you and I were born. Long before Raakon,   
Natala, and Gracina were born."  
  
Veal was confused by Tayla's words. She realized that Veal could   
not comprehend what she was saying-because Tayla had spoken in her native   
Astorian language. She repeated her words to Veal again in Standard, and Veal's   
eyes widened with amazement.  
  
"Father, you are right," Veal chirped. "We did pick the right   
planet to seek asylum from. The Astorians are just as strong as the Saiyans, if   
not stronger! We're going to be just fine!"  
  
"Nama and Dirkan had a hard time when we fought Prince Vegeta   
before," Tayla told her, this time remembering to speak in Standard, "but that   
was just bad luck. Our Nama cut off Vegeta's tail, and that helped us to win.   
And Dirkan fought against Prince Vegeta and nearly killed him."  
  
Gracina, Raakon, and Natala were amused that Tayla was bragging   
about Shalila and Dirkan's heroic deeds in battle, but did not bother to mention   
her own victory. The child was so extremely modest at times that no one knew   
that deep down, her pride was as strong as Shalila's. Raakon smiled wistfully   
at Tayla's rosy view of their grandmother and Dirkan; he could remember himself   
when he used to think that Shalila and Dirkan were invincible. He hoped that   
Tayla's grand illusions of them would not be shattered anytime soon, but he then   
shook that hope aside.   
  
For Tayla must realize that Shalila and Dirkan were powerful, but   
not immortal. Tayla had to learn that Shalila and Dirkan were not necessarily   
undefeatable. Raakon had complete faith in his grandmother and his former   
guardian, but he was realistic enough to know that even the most powerful people   
were capable of being easily killed.  
  
Tayla continued her boasting, to take her mind off of her fears   
about Frieza possibly destroying Astoria. She said her next words to assure   
herself, as well as Veal, even though Tayla believed everything that she was   
saying. "You shouldn't have to worry too much, Veal, for most of us here are   
from the Clan of Chloe, the elite-class, and the most powerful Astorian Clan of   
all. The Clan of Chloe is the best at everything, and we are Astoria's main   
protectors. And my Nama and Dirkan are the strongest of all of us, and the   
strongest of everyone in the galaxy, as well. They'll probably even stronger   
than Frieza himself, and one day they plan to get rid of Frieza once and for   
all."  
  
"Tayla..." Raakon said reprovingly. He did not want Tayla spreading   
false hope.  
  
Tayla continued on anyway, "And they'll do it, I know, for anyone   
who can defeat Saiyans can surely defeat Frieza. Right, everybody?" She looked   
around her group for support.  
  
"Tayla," Natala told her very gently, "it is wonderful that you have   
so much faith in our leaders and in our Clan, but no one on Astoria is immortal   
or entirely invincible, not even your Nama and Dirkan. Even they will die   
someday, as all of us will. Many of us in here have never seen Frieza, except   
Raakon, and you have not seen him yet yourself."  
  
"I've seen drawings of him before," Tayla told her.  
  
"Maybe, but mere drawings cannot tell of his mighty power, Tayla,"   
Raakon explained. "I saw him for the first time during the Battle of Chloe, but   
it was Nama, Granpappa, and Dirkan who really fought against him. My comrades   
and I only managed to deliver a few blows to him before he defeated us. He has   
the ability to transform into two different higher forms of himself, and Nama,   
Granpappa and Dirkan barely won against him and drove him away from Chloe and   
Astoria. It has been our Nama's bitterest regret that she could not have   
destroyed him completely."  
  
Tayla's grip on Gracina's body was still tight, despite of all of   
her boasting about her family to Veal. Gracina smoothed tangled hair back from   
Tayla's face. She decided that it was time to change the subject, and she   
insisted to Steak that he continue his story.  
  
Steak obeyed, reluctantly. "After Dodoria announced Frieza's intentions, he   
flung the injured Torah over some rocks, and Torah was just about dead. And   
then, another Saiyan soldier came, and all of us Meatians could feel his great   
power. I believe that his name was Bardock-"  
  
Gracina's face grew white; she remembered just how vicious and fierce Bardock   
had been, especially when he had ruthlessly killed her beloved grandfather,   
Bajal. She had been a 'granddaddy's girl', and Bajal had spoiled her and Gorna   
rotten when he had been alive.  
  
"Torah had whispered of Frieza's fear that the Saiyans would become   
stronger than him, and then he died in Bardock's arms. Our cameras were still   
working at the time, and little Veal pitied Torah. In the end, all of us   
Meatians felt a bit of sympathy for him and Bardock, despite all the evil that   
the Saiyans had done to us. Dodoria's men showed up after Torah's death, but   
Dodoria was nowhere to be seen, or even heard. Bardock took his full revenge   
out on Dodoria's crew, and even though the men were Frieza's Mid-Elite Officers,   
and Bardock was only a low-level, Bardock defeated them all."  
  
"But Bardock was not strong enough to take on Dodoria, who had shown   
up shortly after Bardock had killed all of Dodoria's henchmen. Dodoria taunted   
Bardock, saying that Bardock should have remembered his place as one of Frieza's   
mere low-level soldiers, just before Dodoria blasted him and his dead crew   
members away with a mouth blast."  
  
"Dodoria and us thought that Bardock had perished, but we would soon   
to be proven wrong. Before Dodoria left Meat to return to Frieza's ship, two   
more Elite officers came to join him.ii Their names were Balair and Diamonique.   
Balair was a large red lizard-creature who had the odd ability to liquefy   
himself. He was large and muscular and vicious; he was even able to spit out   
his teeth as weapons and then grow new ones immediately afterwards. Diamonique   
was a beautiful young woman with peachy-icy skin, pale blue and silver hair and   
black diamond eyes and blue diamond nails. She was a deadly beauty, only   
beautiful on the outside, but heinous and cruel on the inside. I had to smack   
my Ham and my other son, Pork, upside their heads because they wouldn't stop   
staring at her on the screen and drooling; I swear to Kami that young men on our   
planet have no common sense these days."  
  
"Dodoria, fine as ever, sent Diamonique and Balair, two Top Elite   
officers, out to hunt the rest of us Meatians down. We retreated further   
underground, as far as we could go beneath the ground, but Balair eventually   
found us by liquefying himself and seeping into the ground. Even though we knew   
how to mask our ki levels, as you Astorians had taught us to do, he discovered   
us. We didn't realize our true peril until we saw a blood-like substance   
trickling through our dirt ceilings, and the liquid solidifying itself back into   
Balair. My children and I learned later that Balair could also turn himself   
into gas, as well, although he didn't need to at the time that he had found us   
all.   
  
"He alerted Dodoria and Diamonique to our location, and we were   
forced to fight them. They killed the non-fighting Meatians too easily, in   
spite of our efforts to protect them. In the end, only my wife, and my   
children, and I were spared. Dodoria decided to take us as captives. I was   
forced to surrender, or my family would have been killed. Balair put horrible   
ki-restraining cuffs on our wrists and the evil trio forced us onto their ship.   
They took us directly to Frieza's mother ship."  
  
"My family and I were immediately put in the prison section of   
Frieza's ship. My beloved wife, Poultry, and my young twelve-year-old son,   
Pork, were separated from us. We never saw them again alive, for Poultry died,   
and Pork mysteriously disappeared. I will never forget that horrible night."  
  
"Shortly after, Balair took my Poultry away from us, he brought her   
back two hours later and flung her body into our cell. I was thankful to have   
her back until I realized that someone had broken her neck and crushed her   
spine. The pigs!" Steak's body shook with anger.  
  
The Astorians allowed Steak to catch his breath and calm himself down before   
asking him to continue.  
  
"As I said before, I never saw Pork again. I presume that they   
killed him too, but I am uncertain. I was forced to consider him dead because I   
now had to worry about my other two children. Fortunately, for us, there were a   
couple of decent henchwomen of Frieza's-"  
  
"Decent?" Gracina exclaimed. "How could anyone who works for Frieza   
be considered decent?"  
  
"Well they were as decent as they could be, working for Frieza. One   
was a Mid-Elite officer named Chestra. Chestra was beautiful as well, with red   
hair on one side and green hair on the other. She had just finished her recruit   
training. She was as tough and stern as the rest of Frieza's fighters, but she   
had a soft side to her. Chestra was put in charge of us, and she saw to it that   
we were decently cared for and fed for that one night as Frieza's prisoners."  
  
"Then there was also a young girl, who was in the same predicament   
as we were. Strangely enough, she was a Saiyan Princess, and her name was   
Journa. Frieza himself had just taken her and her brother, Prince Vegeta,   
captive. They were being held as 'collateral' until the Saiyans cleared our   
planet, as well as Kanassa and your planet."  
  
"The young Prince was the most arrogant, tyrannical boy that I had   
ever met, and yet, even while he was a prisoner, he managed to maintain a   
certain air of self-confidence. He was certain that his father would bring the   
other elite-class Saiyans in no time to destroy Frieza and save him and his   
sister, and he was right. Unfortunately things did not work out the way he and   
Princess Journa expected."  
  
"Princess Journa became fast friends with my little Veal, even   
though her people had been sent to destroy our people. But both little girls   
were in the same predicament. Dodoria came to our prison cells and had Ham and   
I take directly to Lord Frieza. Balair accompanied him."  
  
"Ham asked Balair, 'Why are you doing this to us?' Balair just   
laughed at him, in a horrible, raspy voice. 'We have told Frieza about your   
fighting abilities,' he said, 'shortly after you were brought here, and he and   
Dodoria both think you two and your brother have potential as great fighters.   
So you are now our new recruits.'"  
  
"'I will never work for Frieza, never!' my Ham cried out. I told   
Balair the same thing. He and Dodoria laughed at both of us. 'You don't have a   
choice,' Dodoria had said, 'if you don't work for Lord Frieza, he will kill your   
daughter, who is essentially useless to us. You don't wish her to share the   
same fate as your wife, do you?'"  
  
"I was furious, and Ham wanted to fight them, but I had long warned   
the boy that would be a foolish idea. We knew that we outnumbered and   
overwhelmed; I didn't want to see any more of my family members die."  
  
"When Dodoria and Balair brought us to Lord Frieza's throne room on   
his mother ship, there were also some other guests-the elite-class Saiyan forces   
that Princess Journa had mentioned. I saw one of them, the leader, who looked   
just like young Prince Vegeta, only with a mustache and beard. He had the same   
name as his son, and he was the Saiyan king."  
  
"'We have come for our prince and princess, Frieza,' the Saiyan king   
declared in an angry voice.'"  
  
"'Oh, really,' Frieza had replied, 'Have my planets been cleared?'"  
  
"'No," hissed the Saiyan king, 'and my men won't be clearing any   
more. We quit, Frieza! We are not doing your dirty work for you anymore. For   
now on the Saiyans work only for the Saiyans!'"  
  
"All the other Saiyans cheered loudly, as Dodoria and Balair   
continued to bring us into the throne room. King Vegeta launched a ki blast at   
Frieza, but it was unsuccessful. The king then demanded that Frieza bring his   
children back to him at once."  
  
"'Release my children to me immediately,' the Saiyan king ordered,   
'or else you won't live through my next attack.'"  
  
"Frieza laughed and told him to try it, and King Vegeta did, but   
Frieza easily deflected it. Frieza attacked the Saiyan king with a finger   
blast, and it crippled the king, although it did not kill him. Frieza made a   
second attempt, but this time he was successful, and King Vegeta was dead within   
seconds. After that, all chaos broke out, and the elite Saiyans began fighting   
Frieza's elite forces, Dodoria and Balair included. The elite Saiyans put up a   
good fight, but Frieza's elite wiped them out within minutes. Balair even   
turned himself into vapor and forced some of the Saiyans to inhale him. The   
unlucky Saiyans, who had inhaled Balair each time, had their lungs explode once   
Balair had entered their lungs. Ham and I were horrified to see them die like   
that, even though the Saiyans had killed off most of our people."  
  
Steak took a few minutes to catch his breath again. He finally said   
quietly, "And that is not the worst of it, unfortunately." 


	21. The Destruction Of Planet Vegeta

Chapter Twenty-One: Planet Vegeta's Destruction And The Meatians' Hegira  
  
Steak wiped his brow, and patted Ham's shoulder. Veal continued to   
cling to her father, as her father ran his free hand through her lavender hair.   
  
Natala gave Steak a glass of fresh ice water, which Steak accepted gratefully. Even though Princess Natala was married, and of another species, Steak thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the room, even more so than Princess Gracina, usually considered to be one of the Clan of Chloe beauties. He considered Prince Raakon to be very fortunate to have such a beautiful, kind woman to be his wife. Natala reminded Steak of his own deceased wife, Poultry. Steak thirstily drank the water; it had been many weeks since he had drank clean, pure water. Veal laid her head in her father's lap, as Ham stared out the window into the beautiful, clear Astorian sky. It was twilight, and Ham could see the outlines of five of Astoria's other moons. He could already see the planet Astoria itself, a large pink and white beauty that engulfed nearly half of the sky. Astoria was like a large jewel, illuminating the velvet, diamond-studded sky.  
  
"It is beautiful here, Father," he whispered.  
  
Steak nodded. "Yes, Ham, it is. I hope that we will be able to   
stay."  
  
Raakon spoke, "That is up to our grandmother, but I don't see why   
she wouldn't. After all, Meatians are among our allies and friends."  
  
Tayla interrupted then, "Steak, you said that Frieza's men killing   
the elite Saiyans was not the 'worst of it.' What did you mean by that? What   
is the worst of it then?" She was eager to know how the story ended.  
  
Gracina admonished Tayla gently, "Tayla, give Steak time to collect   
himself, please. I'm sure that he will finish when he's ready."  
  
Steak took a last swallow of water. "I am ready; I just needed a   
drink, that's all." He straightened himself up and took a deep breath. "Well,   
anyway, it does get worse. Frieza's ship was headed towards planet Vegeta.   
Dodoria started bragging that he had wiped out all of the Saiyans on our planet   
until a strange, handsome young man with green hair and skin laughed and pointed   
out a surprise to all of us. Balair and a couple of lower-level henchmen were   
holding Ham and I captive. They had tied us to poles in Lord Frieza's throne   
room, and we would eventually be forced to watch all of the action."  
  
"Balair laughed and spat seeds from the fruit that he had been   
eating at us. He told us that Frieza was going to put on a good show for   
everyone. Frieza started commenting on planet Vegeta, saying that she was as   
beautiful as a blood ruby. Dodoria then asked the handsome man with green hair   
exactly what the 'surprise' was."  
  
"The green-haired man's name was Zarbon, and he mocked Dodoria,   
saying that Dodoria had missed killing Bardock. Zarbon showed Dodoria, Balair,   
and Frieza the Saiyan space pod heading back to planet Vegeta. We all could   
sense Bardock's ki, although it had been weaker than before. Dodoria must have   
hurt Bardock pretty badly, although there was no real way to tell, since we   
could not see his body."   
  
"Frieza sneered at Dodoria and told him that maybe that would teach   
him to be more through with his work. Dodoria was furious that he had not   
killed Bardock, and he begged Frieza, telling him that he would take care of   
Bardock immediately. Frieza told him to shut up, and that he would deal with   
Bardock and the rest of the Saiyans himself. Frieza said something about no   
longer being concerned with the 'bee' (Bardock), and that he was going for the   
'hive' (planet Vegeta). Zarbon asked him, if he was going to destroy all of   
planet Vegeta, and Frieza said yes."  
  
"'The only way to destroy the weeds is to get them at their roots,'   
he had said exactly. Ham and I trembled then, for we knew instinctively that   
planet Vegeta was doomed, even though the race of Saiyans was one of the   
strongest forces in the universe, as far as we knew. We assumed that Bardock   
was going home to warn his people of the coming doom. We never knew if he had a   
chance to tell them the truth."  
  
"Before Frieza could do anything to Vegeta, a dark blue,   
alligator-like woman came in. She had a rough voice, and she wore the armor of   
one of Frieza's elite officers. She told Frieza that Prince Vegeta and Princess   
Journa had been sent away on a smaller ship off of the mother ship. This little   
ship would take the royal Saiyan children to Planet Frieza Number Twenty-Five.   
Frieza told her that was good, and he didn't particularly want the children to   
see their planet's destruction."  
  
"'You're actually considering someone else's feelings for a change?'   
the alligator-woman had jeered at him. Frieza had given the woman a look that   
could destroy the entire Rosetta Galaxy. Oh, it was the dirtiest look I had   
ever seen on anyone!"  
  
"'Do not be impertinent with me, Jaden,' he had told her. 'I am not   
doing this out of consideration for their feelings; I am doing this only so that   
they will not try to rebel against me later.' When planet Vegeta is destroyed,   
we will tell them that a meteor destroyed their planet."  
  
"Jaden had given him her ugliest look and left. She said not a word   
to us, but I could feel her intense hatred for Frieza-"  
  
Steak had stopped mid-sentence when he saw Tayla put up her small   
hand. "Pardon me, but if this Jaden hates Frieza, why would she work for him   
anyway?"  
  
Steak answered her sadly, "Half of Frieza's henchmen or henchwomen   
are not working for him of his or her own free will. This half consists of   
fighters who were either blackmailed or threatened into working for him. Some   
of them were also bought as slaves and brought into his forces, such as the   
beautiful Chestra was. Chestra had told us that Frieza had purchased her from a   
distant planet where she had been a slave. She had quickly worked her way up to   
Mid-Elite; well, actually, she had started as a recruit, but was quickly   
inducted into Frieza's elite forces. I believe that she told me that Diamonique   
was a Mid-Elite Officer as well, and both she and Diamonique were being   
considered for promotion into Top Elite."  
  
"Anyway, to get back on the subject, I will skip ahead to three   
hours later when Bardock reentered space, without a spacesuit or a ship. We saw   
him flying through space towards Frieza's mother ship, obviously intending to   
destroy him. Frieza sent out most of his best men, except for his Top and   
Mid-Elite officers into space to fight him. Ham and I counted them at being   
anywhere between two hundred and six hundred men, all sent to fight one lone   
soldier. But that one lone man shoved past his way through all of them easily,   
until there was a whole cluster of fighters clinging around him in space. He   
pushed them all aside in his quest to destroy Frieza."  
  
"Frieza decided that he had enough, and he told Zarbon to open the   
escape hatch, so that he could confront Bardock himself. Zarbon protested, but   
Frieza became more furious than ever, so Zarbon caved in and released his master   
into space."  
  
"Ham and I turned up our hearing, and we heard Bardock's voice,   
telling the other minions in space that Frieza had lived long enough, in fact   
too long for his taste. After a few more harsh words, we watched through the   
window, as Bardock released a small ki ball and threw it at Frieza.   
Unfortunately, Bardock's brave attempt would fail, because Frieza would release   
a larger ki ball. We later learned that he had been able to do this with just   
one finger-"  
  
"ONE FINGER?" all the Astorians attending Steak and his family   
shrieked in horror. Natala trembled, and Gracina and Tayla tightened their   
embrace around each other. Raakon and Trenton balled up their fists, and   
finally Raakon punched a hole in the damask-covered wall, creating a hole a   
couple of feet deep. His face was red, and Natala left Steak to go calm her   
normally even-tempered husband down. She took him into her arms and rubbed his   
back.  
  
"Frieza's ki ball grew and grew until it was the size of Chloe   
itself, and he threw the ball towards Frieza. We were horrified to watch the   
ball scorch and devour Bardock and the other minions of Frieza. Even the elite   
officers in the room were stunned and dismayed. Bardock stood in front of the   
ball, as if he were hoping he'd be strong enough to hold the ki back away from   
his planet, but of course he did not succeed. The ki ball traveled slowly   
towards planet Vegeta, engulfing and burning everyone and everything it came in   
contact with."  
  
"Planet Vegeta struggled to hold on and withstand the blast, but   
Frieza's attack was too strong for her to manage. Ham and I saw the cracks   
forming all over the planet, as the planet started to fall apart. Finally,   
Planet Vegeta lost her grip on life, and she exploded, pieces of her and her   
people flying all over the galaxy. Her moons had been burned away as well."  
  
"I will never forget Frieza's horrible, raspy laughter, as he   
callously watched the dying planet that he had so ruthlessly and heartlessly   
destroyed. He laughed and joked about what a great show it was. He did not   
have a shred of pity for Vegeta's people, or a bit of remorse for what he had   
just done. Even though the Saiyans did us great harm and obliterated most of   
our people, Ham and I were near tears for the innocents that must have died   
there. And all because Frieza feared the Saiyans' tremendous power. As far as   
I know, Prince Vegeta and Princess Journa are now the only survivors of the   
Saiyan race."  
  
Tayla's eyes widened, and the other Astorians didn't know whether to   
celebrate the Saiyans' horrific end, or pity their senseless, untimely departure   
from life.  
  
Natala said in a small, sad voice, "We cannot truly be glad that the   
Saiyans are gone, for if Frieza could eliminate them so easily, then he could do   
the same to us. We are no safer now than we were before."  
  
Raakon added mournfully, "I'm afraid you're right, dear; Frieza has   
become much more powerful. It is a pity that the Saiyans had not been willing   
to make peace and ally with us, for together both races might have stood a   
chance against him. Now there are only two Saiyan children left, and what could   
they do alone?"  
  
That means poor Queen Muriella is now dead too, Raakon thought   
sadly.  
  
After ten minutes of somber silence, Gracina asked softly, "How was   
it that you and your children were able to escape, Steak?"  
  
Steak took a deep breath once more. "We barely managed to, and   
actually we received help from an unexpected source. Later that same day that   
planet Vegeta had been destroyed, Ham and I had been put back in our cell with   
Veal, and Jaden had came to our prison. Jaden wakened all of us and ordered us   
to come with her immediately, including Veal."  
  
"We had no choice, but to obey her, of course. She escorted us down   
to the launching docks on the mother ship. Chestra was there, standing next to   
a small spaceship, and she told us to climb inside."  
  
"'Wait a minute,' I cried, "'where are you taking us?'"  
  
"Jaden jeered, 'We are not taking you anywhere. You are leaving   
this ship; in other words, you can go back home to your planet, or wherever you   
think that you can find asylum. But if you are recaptured and mention that   
Chestra or I helped you, we will kill all three of you, got it?" She seized my   
throat and shook me by my neck to make sure that I fully understood.  
  
"'Yes,' I had stammered, 'but why are you helping us?'"  
  
"'Because I'm tired of Frieza's bullcrap, okay? He's a self-serving   
traitorous monster! He screwed the Saiyans over the same way he did my people   
and me many years ago. Not that I care much for the Saiyans, but it's wrong to   
betray someone the way that Frieza did. You don't screw over your best people!   
He never keeps his word to anyone. And Chestra is only helping you because she   
knows what it is like to be someone else's slave and prisoner."  
  
"'Why don't you come with us then, if you don't like Frieza?'" Veal   
had asked her."  
  
"Chestra told her gently that she and Jaden were Frieza's elite   
officers, and that she and Jaden would never make it far before Frieza had them   
recaptured or destroyed. She also briefly mentioned that Zarbon was her mate,   
and she did not want to leave him."  
  
"They loaded all three of us into the spaceship, and we were   
launched out into space without another word. We don't know to this day what   
became of Jaden and Chestra, but we will always be grateful to them for helping   
us. We landed on planet Dijon shortly during our hegira-"  
  
Tayla interrupted before Gracina could stop her. "What's a hegira?"  
  
Steak told her, "A hegira is a journey to escape from a dangerous   
place or person in order to find a safer one. Leaving our planet and Frieza's   
ship has been our hegira. On Dijon, we sought asylum, but the leaders there   
only granted it to us temporarily, just long enough to recover and refresh   
ourselves. The Dijonese people told us that your planet would be a safer planet   
to seek permanent asylum from because you Astorians were strong enough to stand   
up to Frieza and his forces, and they weren't. The Dijonese were friendly to   
us, but they told us up front that they could not shelter us for long and risk   
Frieza's wrath coming down upon them. They gave us extra food and supplies and   
told us how to reach your planet; very few of us Meatians had ever been to   
Astoria. And so two months, after leaving Dijon, here we are." Steak closed   
his eyes; he was very tired.  
  
The Astorians and the Meatians noticed two very familiar ki levels   
that had just entered the room.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan. 


	22. Kami Orchida

Chapter Twenty-Two: Kami Orchida  
  
"Kami," Shalila whispered hoarsely, "so Planet Vegeta is gone?"  
  
Dirkan took his fiancée's hand in his, rubbing it gently to keep her   
calm. "So most of the Saiyans have been eliminated. And yet we don't feel any   
safer than before. If Frieza can destroy the Saiyans that easily, then-no, no!"   
He began to tremble himself.  
  
Shalila barely looked at the Meatian refugees, but she quietly   
spoke, as she looked down at her high-heeled red-leather boots, "I have heard   
the entire story; asylum is granted permanently. Raakon, would you please see   
that quarters are found for them in one of Chloe's cities?"  
  
"Yes, Nama," Raakon answered solemnly. He would probably have them   
housed permanently at Chloe Harbor: a popular place for alien refugees. Chloe   
had nine cities; the Palace of Chloe counted as one of them. The Temple of   
Chloe counted as another. One of Chloe's other cities, Chloe Damask, was home   
to many of the Palace's domestic laborers; Chloe Rose housed hunters and   
farmers, and Chloe Hyacinth housed artisans, artists, and musicians from other   
Clans. Chloe Pussywillow was home to most of non-Clan of Chloe healiors,   
Nurses, and healers, and Chloe Honeysuckle housed warriors from other Clans.   
Almost all of the Clan of Chloe family members lived in or near the Palace of   
Chloe or the Temple of Chloe.  
  
And then there was Chloe Orchid, which was situated on a small   
island in the middle of Chloe's one ocean. Chloe Orchid was as sacred a place   
as the Temple of Chloe, for Chloe Orchid, the smallest Chloe city, housed a   
personage equally as important as Shalila, if not more so.  
  
Shalila had suddenly thought of Chloe Orchid, where Astoria's   
Guardian lived. She whispered to Dirkan, "Perhaps, it is time we visited Kami   
Orchida. Maybe she can help us again."  
  
Dirkan nodded in agreement. "Tonight, after the ball."  
  
  
  
  
  
The day after the Engagement Ball.  
  
Kami Orchida was the two-hundred-year old Kami, the butterfly-winged   
goddess Orchida, and Orchida's servant, Papillus. Orchida had the gifts of   
eternal youth and eternal wisdom. She resembled a twenty-five year old woman   
with long golden hair, snow-white skin and deep, velvety violet eyes. Orchida   
also had large, iridescent pink and gold butterfly wings on her slender back.   
The East Kai, the Kai of the Rosetta Galaxy had selected the Pastorian   
(half-Papillonian, half-Astorian) healer as Astoria's Kami one-hundred-and-eighty-years ago. Orchida was descended from the Papillionians, the "butterfly people" of faraway planet Papillion, and a male Astorian warrior had mated with and married her Papillonian mother. Because of Orchida's superb wisdom and intelligence, the East Kai had taken her and her servant, Papillus,   
from Planet Papillion to live on and watch over Planet Astoria when Orchida was   
only twenty years old.  
  
Orchida was an excellent advisor and guardian, but she was not the   
warrior like her Astorian father had been, although she was, oddly enough, an   
excellent martial arts teacher. However, she had never engaged in actual battle   
in all of her two hundred years, although she had taught Shalila and others like   
Shalila many powerful attacks; she was a peacemaker, gentle of heart and soul.   
She was able to create gifts and blessings to help the Astorians when they   
needed help with their troubles, and she could heal someone with just the touch   
of her hand, but she was rarely violent. (She was also physically weaker than   
many of the Astorian people, and yet she could teach them to become stronger.)   
She let the Astorians manage their own affairs most of the time, and she usually   
only interfered when she deemed it absolutely necessary.  
  
Orchida thought that she would have to interfere the last time that   
the Saiyans had invaded Astoria, but little Princess Tayla Chloe had surprised   
her. Orchida knew of the child's powers, of course, for she knew everything   
about every Astorian inhabitant, but even she was amazed when Tayla had been   
able to help save Astoria from the evil little Prince Vegeta and his comrades.   
Orchida had not been that impressed with an Astorian fighter since she had first   
met Shalila when Shalila had been a young girl, ready and willing to take back   
her home planet from the evil Saiyans.  
  
Orchida had been planning to intervene and save Tayla and her family   
herself, but Tayla came through for Astoria at that last horrible minute when   
she had used Prince Vegeta's Final Flash attack against him, almost mortally   
wounding him.   
  
Orchida was pleased and proud of the tiny princess, even though she   
had never met her personally, but Astoria's goddess had some concerns. She   
wished that little Tayla had been able to kill Vegeta and his comrades, for   
Orchida knew deep down that when the boys grew up, they would become stronger,   
fiercer, and crueler than ever. Orchida knew inside her heart that if Vegeta   
wasn't stopped, he would become stronger than most of the Astorians. And now   
there was Frieza to worry about.  
  
The Pastorian deity had contacts all throughout the universe, and   
one of those heavenly contacts had told her of Planet Vegeta's demise by Frieza.   
Frieza's attack on the planet had been so strong that even the fierce, warring   
deity of Vegeta had been killed in the blast. Orchida feared for Astoria's   
safety and the lives of Astoria's people. And now the Superior Gran Shalila had   
accepted three Meatian refugees to live on her planet; Orchida hoped that   
sheltering the Meatians would not make things worse for Shalila and her people.  
  
Orchida had been watching Tayla closely ever since Tayla had first   
arrived on Chloe as a baby. Even from faraway Chloe Orchid, the goddess had   
been able to sense the child's great power and intelligence, and she now   
considered the girl as one of Astoria's greatest hopes. Tayla's power seemed to   
be growing stronger each year, and now Orchida wanted to meet the royal child.  
  
The female deity gathered the folds of her silken violet skirts   
about her, as she called one of her pet butterflies in her sweet, dulcet-toned   
voice. The butterfly that came was as large as a cat, with gigantic lavender   
and silver wings and a sturdy neck. Orchida draped the butterfly's neck with a   
gold chain that held a tiny clear crystal vial containing a small scroll tied   
with a red ribbon.  
  
She whispered into the butterfly's head, "Silvertail, take this to   
the Superior Gran immediately. Make sure that she sees the red ribbon on the   
scroll, so that she knows that it is urgent."  
  
The butterfly flew out of one of the windows of Orchida's gold   
palace.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla was chatting happily about the ball to her grandmother, as she   
was walking with Shalila down the corridors leading out to the women's bathhouse   
about the ball that had taken place last night.  
  
"It was wonderful, Nama! You should have balls more often,   
especially engagement ones! Bendros danced with me three times, Nama, three   
times! Wasn't that great! And you looked so pretty in your dress, and Dirkan   
so handsome! The food was great too, especially the tarts with rose-petal jam   
and the chocolate sugarplums! They were so good that I could have eaten them   
all!"  
  
Shalila laughed. "You almost did, dandelion. If Gracina hadn't   
stopped you from eating that tenth chocolate sugarplum, you would have had a   
nasty stomachache. You're normally not so greedy; didn't you eat dinner at all   
before the ball?"  
  
"Not really. I only ate a couple of pieces of rose-petal sweet   
sausage at dinner, but that was it. I was too nervous to eat, especially after   
learning 'bout Frieza-well, you know-"  
  
Shalila sighed. "Yes, I know. I was amazed that we were able to   
enjoy ourselves. It was nice to forget about our troubles for a while. Did   
Veal enjoy herself? Did you introduce her to everyone?"  
  
"Oh, yes, Nama, I did. Everyone thought that it was neat that she   
could hear things from hundreds of miles away. Veal told me 'bout an argument   
from Chloe Hyacinth between a husband and wife. She even breathed in my ears,   
so that I could hear the conversation too. The wife was yelling at her husband   
about the husband kissing some other woman. She was really mad."  
  
"Tayla, it is not nice to eavesdrop in those circumstances. How   
many times have you and Veal done this?"  
  
"Three times. We even listened to Gorna yelling at Etros for   
spilling tea on her new dress, and they were way out in the gardens. And we   
also heard the Bathing Laborers, Sedra and Trocos, kissing and declaring their   
love for each other, even though Sedra is married to someone else. What's wrong   
with listening in?"  
  
"Eavesdropping invades people's privacy. You and Veal cannot abuse   
Veal's hearing abilities like that. Privacy must be respected, even in a   
close-knit family such as ours. I will speak to Veal's father about this.   
Tayla, you and Veal both must learn to be discreet; you cannot use Veal's   
hearing and hearing-granting powers to hear things that you two shouldn't."  
  
"It was my fault, Nama; I asked her to breathe in my ears."  
  
"I see. Tayla, it is nice to have improved hearing for a while, but   
you cannot misuse that capability. I do not want you and your new friend using   
her powers to listen in on private conversations and arguments, is that clear?   
I will also mention this to Veal's father. Do I have your word on this?"  
  
Tayla replied somberly, "Yes, Nama." She was disappointed with   
Nama's order; she liked having a friend who could hear anything that she wanted,   
whenever she wanted. Tayla thought that she would be able to learn all sorts of   
interesting gossip, thanks to Veal's excellent hearing. But Nama's word was law   
to her.  
  
When grandmother and granddaughter approached the women's bathhouse,   
a large butterfly accosted them, carrying a crystal vial on a chain around its   
neck. Shalila noticed the red ribbon on the scroll inside the vial.  
  
Tayla watched as Shalila held out her arm for the butterfly to land   
on. She unclipped the vial off of the necklace and asked Tayla to unscrew the   
lid. Tayla did so, but she did not read the letter. Instead she gave the note   
to Shalila and Shalila read it with one hand:  
  
  
Dear Superior Gran Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Meridia Calinadora Chloe,  
Congratulations on your engagement to Commander Dirkan. I wish you both the best,and the next time you come to my palace, I will have a special gift for the both of you. For now, however, I am writing to you about another matter.  
I am summoning you and your granddaughter, Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe, to my Palace. I wish to meet the child and read her mind and heart and attempt to divine her future. While my predictions about her future fate will not be entirely accurate, we will have a good idea about what Tayla's future will be like. And if I know, then perhaps we can prepare her.  
You two are to come to Chloe Orchid immediately after receiving this letter. You may bring four companions with you and two servants, but no more than that. It is mainly you and Tayla that I wish to speak with. I trust that my summons will be honored.  
Hope to see you soon,  
Orchida  
  
  
"Is it okay if I ask what the letter is about?" Tayla asked Shalila.  
  
Shalila smiled gravely. She ruffled Tayla's ankle-length inky hair;   
the child had beautiful hair, although it needed to be cut down to shoulder   
length, so that she could train more effectively.   
  
She whispered, "The deity of Astoria has summoned us, Tayla. We   
must leave at once."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shalila piled Tayla and her small party into a tiny airship that was   
preprogrammed to go to Chloe Orchid. Raakon, Natala, Gracina, Dirkan, Mykia and   
Dalantra would be accompanying them. Tayla was cuddled in Shalila's lap, her   
small dark head resting on her grandmother's bosom.  
  
"What's Kami Orchida like?" Tayla asked. She knew of the deity of   
Astoria like everyone else did, but she had never met Kami Orchida before, and   
she knew very little about her. Tayla knew now that Kami Orchida had authority   
over all of Astoria, even Superior Gran Shalila. Tayla was stunned that someone   
could have authority over Nama. Orchida must be really powerful.  
  
"She is very wise and gracious, Tayla," Gracina told her, "and it is   
considered a great honor to be summoned by her."  
  
"How come Veal and Lelina couldn't come along?"  
  
"Veal is getting settled with her family, and Lelina has lessons,"   
Raakon told her. "Besides Orchida gave a set number of the people who could   
come." He looked to Natala and smiled warmly at his wife, who had contentedly   
fallen asleep on his shoulder.  
  
Dalantra mused to Shalila, "I remember the first time I had met   
Orchida; it was when Orchida had summoned you to her for the first time. You   
were only eighteen then, and Orchida had wanted to 'examine' you, as she had put   
it."  
  
Shalila smiled. "I was so nervous, even though I had met deities   
before; after all I did meet the North Kai, known as King Kai to me, and the   
East Kai. I was afraid that Orchida would say that I was not the one meant to   
rule Astoria."  
  
"So was I," Dirkan admitted, "I was afraid that the East Kai had   
made a huge mistake. I remember being so furious at her for forcing me to train   
you and guide you to Astoria, even though I am eternally grateful to her now for   
it." He winked at Shalila.  
  
Shalila laughed. "I remember hearing you curse after the East Kai   
had sentenced you to guiding me to Astoria for your past misdeeds. I thought   
that we would never learn to get along with each other, although I held you in   
high regard, even then! Although at the time, I was furious with how you   
treated me at first! Oh, that one argument we had about my deciding to go back   
to Earth! It was when you started showing your true colors-your better colors."  
  
"It was the first time that I had admitted that you had the   
potential to become a great warrior," Dirkan reminisced.   
  
"What was Nama's first meeting with Kami Orchida like?" Gracina   
asked, "I don't believe I ever heard the entire story."  
  
Shalila began, "It was shortly after Dirkan and I had met your   
grandfather, Bajal, whom everyone knows was leading the rebellion against the   
Saiyans. We still had Aliquina as our hostage at the time, and she accompanied   
us to Chloe Orchid, known then as the Southern Isle, where Orchida had been   
hiding her invisible palace from the Saiyans. I remember that the Saiyans had   
been looking for Orchida themselves, so that they could capture her and make use   
of her tremendous powers. How they thought they could capture a deity and make   
her their slave, I have no idea, but you know how arrogant Saiyans are. They   
were more powerful than her physically, however, and Orchida knew then that she   
had no chance of fighting them to save Astoria."  
  
"I remember reading about that part in the Book of Shalila," Raakon   
said. The Book of Shalila was one of Astoria's main history books, telling   
about the heroism and good deeds of the Superior Gran herself. Everyone, from   
the lowest Laborer, to Shalila and her family, had read all or part of that   
great book.  
  
"Then you remember, Raakon, that Orchida had risked her safety to   
send one of her butterfly messengers to where our hidden camp was, in order to   
summon your grandmother," Dirkan told him. "We would have never found the   
hidden palace on Chloe Orchid, if not for that butterfly. The butterfly guided   
us to Chloe Orchid and to Orchida's secret palace, hidden in the mountains on   
the island."  
  
"It was the five of us," Dalantra added, "The Superior Gran,   
Commander Dirkan, the former Superior Granden Bajal, Aliquina, and myself.   
Orchida touched our leader's forehead and her heart to conclude what her life   
and true spirit were like. Then she had her cut off a snip of her own hair and   
prick her own finger. Orchida mixed the blood and hair together to better   
determine our ruler's whole character."  
  
"What happened when Orchida was done?" Tayla asked.  
  
"Well, she determined that your grandmother had made her mistakes in   
the past, but she more than made up for them. Orchida declared that your   
grandmother was the true Shalila Chloe, future Superior Gran of Astoria.   
Orchida also unlocked much of then Princess Shalila's hidden powers, so she   
would be able to fight the Saiyans and win. Orchida declared that Astoria could   
not be saved without her."  
  
"Nama had hidden powers?" Tayla asked.  
  
"That's right, Princess," Dalantra told her. "If a person has   
hidden powers and is good of heart, Orchida can tap into those powers and   
release them to make that person stronger. She also released the hidden powers   
of Commander Dirkan and your grandfather."  
  
"If it had not been for Orchida releasing those powers within us, we   
would not have been able to save Astoria," Shalila told her. "We all owe her   
much gratitude."  
  
"Do I have hidden powers?" Tayla asked.  
  
"That's up to Orchida to determine, dandelion," Shalila replied.   
Shalila had suspected as much, but she did not want to raise Tayla's hopes just   
yet. Shalila secretly hoped that Tayla would still have untapped hidden powers   
that Orchida could release to help make the girl stronger, but she was not going   
to bet on it just yet. Even without hidden powers, Tayla was still strong, but   
Shalila hoped to help Tayla become even stronger. Perhaps Orchida could help.  
  
The airship arrived on the small spaceport on the Isle of Chloe   
Orchid. The travelers climbed out of the ship, so that they could stretch their   
limbs. The Isle of Chloe Orchid was covered with dense rain forests and tall,   
steep mountains. The visitors admired the beauty, thankful for Astoria's strict   
conservation laws preventing unnecessary exploitation and urbanization of   
forests, jungles, and mountains. The Astorians were determined to preserve as   
much of their planet and moons' natural resources and beauty as they could, for   
as long as they could. They knew of planets that had used and abused their   
natural resources to the point where the resources were being eliminated, and   
they did not want that to happen to their planet.  
  
Shalila led the group through the rain forest to a small, sandy   
clearing. She then took out a clean sterilized needle and pricked her finger   
with it. Shalila allowed the few drops of blood to land on the ground and seep   
into it. The ground shook, as if the entire isle were having an earthquake.   
Raakon, Natala, Gracina, Tayla, and Mykia were a little frightened by the   
shaking, but Shalila, Dirkan, and Dalantra remained calm. They knew what was   
happening.  
  
The shaking stopped, and then a great, white light shot up from the   
ground, and the mountain overlooking the rain forest spilt into two halves, and   
out of the halves, a majestic, gold, luminescent place emerged quickly from   
between the spilt mountain halves.  
  
"Orchida's Palace," Shalila told the group cheerfully.  
Raakon, Gracina, Tayla, and Mykia, none of whom had ever met Orchida or been on   
Chloe Orchid before, were awestruck. Tayla's mouth gaped open in amazement.   
Who ever thought that Nama knew people like Orchida, or of a magnificent place   
such as that gold palace?  
  
A gold beam of light shot out from the palace and hit the entire   
group. The travelers disappeared from the rain forest, and before they knew it,   
they were in the grand throne room of the great Kami Orchida.  
  
Kami Orchida, trailed by her entourage of giant butterflies, stepped   
down from her throne and approached them with a gentle smile.  
  
"Welcome to my home," she told them. 


	23. Kami Orchida's Decision About Tayla

Chapter Twenty-three: Kami Orchida's Decision About Tayla  
  
The normally bold, outspoken Tayla was awestruck.  
  
Kami Orchida looked down upon little Tayla, as she approached her.   
Tayla kept her amazed stare, until Dalantra nudged her.  
  
"You are supposed to bow before her the first time you meet her,   
Princess," Dalantra corrected the girl gently.  
  
Tayla bowed gracefully, with just a trace of nervousness. Orchida,   
a tall, gracious goddess, knelt before the child and whispered, "May I touch   
your hair, Princess?"  
  
Tayla, uncertain as to what to really do, nodded quickly. Orchida   
ran her slender fingers through Tayla's hair, as she pulled a clean needle from   
her satchel. She asked Tayla to hold out her finger, and Tayla did. Orchida   
wiped the child's index finger with a sterilized piece of cotton before pricking   
the finger. Orchida then quickly pulled out a small gold dish to catch the   
drops of Tayla's blood. She then wiped Tayla's finger clean and lightly touched   
the needle prick, and the wound healed quickly, almost as if it had never   
existed.  
  
Orchida then took out a tiny pair of gold scissors and cut off a small lock of   
Tayla's tresses. She then mixed Tayla's hair in with Tayla's blood with a tiny   
gold spoon. The goddess then excused herself quickly, as she approached her   
small altar. She then shook the blood and hair contents into the altar's   
eternally burning flame.  
  
"What is happening, Nama?" Tayla whispered.  
  
"She is reading your fortune, child," Shalila whispered back.  
  
"Princess Tayla, step forward, please," Orchida commanded the girl.  
  
Tayla did so at once, although she was uncertain as to what was   
actually going on. Orchida had Tayla stand near the burning altar with her   
until the flame eventually burned itself out. Orchida smiled solemnly and   
nodded with satisfaction.  
  
"Just as I suspected," the goddess said quietly, "the child has many   
untapped resources of power, and not all of them emerged during her Awakening.   
I can open some of them, but the rest she will have to break open herself."  
  
"What will her future be like, Kami Orchida?" Dirkan asked Orchida.  
  
"She will become powerful, more powerful than most of the Astorians. Her   
intelligence, kindness, and beauty will increase in time as well. Her moral   
fiber is already very strong. All good signs."  
  
"May I ask a question, Kami Orchida?" Mykia began. "I know that I   
am just a servant, but-"  
  
Orchida smiled. "You may ask; any one may speak here, regardless of   
rank or status."  
  
Mykia choked nervously. "Will she become strong enough to defeat   
all of the Saiyans and Frieza?" Orchida grew quiet then, although she knew that   
was the true question on everyone's minds.  
  
"That, unfortunately, I cannot establish," Orchida replied gravely.   
"There are some whose futures are etched in stone for the most part, such as   
Tayla's grandmother, but there are some whose futures are too fluid,   
ever-changing for even me to determine. Tayla is one of the latter. All I can   
honestly say is that she has the potential to defeat Frieza and his minions, but   
that does not mean that she can do it." Orchida took a deep breath; she knew   
her next words would come as a shock to all.  
  
"She is, however, one of the last real hopes for Astoria."  
  
The group spoke quietly amongst themselves in shock. Only Shalila   
and Dirkan managed to remain truly calm. Shalila placed her hand on Tayla's   
head. Dirkan sat down and began to meditate. Gracina wondered about Tayla's   
future, and Raakon and Natala whispered to each other.  
  
"Superior Gran," Orchida said finally. "After your wedding to   
Commander Dirkan, I would like you to bring Tayla back here to me for extra   
training. What I have in mind for her will take two years to complete.   
Regular, monthly visits will be allowed for any family member, and   
Tayla will be cared for and fed well. If I am correct, and I should be, Tayla   
will grow stronger under this training."  
  
"What will this training involve?" Shalila asked.  
  
"I cannot reveal that at the present moment, Superior Gran, and once   
Tayla goes under my care, she will not be allowed to disclose any information   
about her training or my methods. It is better that way."  
  
"Will Tayla be harmed in any way?" Gracina asked worriedly. "Are   
these methods painful?"  
  
"Not truly," Orchida assured her, "but the training will be intense.   
I know already that Tayla can more than handle it, so her endurance is not a   
concern."  
  
"You can't reveal anything?" Natala asked her. "Pardon me, Kami   
Orchida, but I believe that at least Nama-lan should know exactly what is   
involved. I would want to know what was going on, if my children were   
involved."  
  
"Understandable," Orchida agreed, "but my decision stands. When   
Tayla comes to me, no one here in Chloe Orchid will disclose anything about   
Tayla's training or studying." She said that firmly, as if the matter was   
already settled. "Tayla will be fine here for two years."  
  
Tayla tugged on Shalila's caftan, and Shalila bent down, so that Tayla could   
whisper in her ear, "Nama, do I have to come back here? She seems nice, but I don't know her, and I don't want to leave my home or my family."  
  
"It will help you, child," Shalila told her gently, although she   
herself did not wish to part with her favorite grandchild. "You will become   
much stronger and wiser than before."  
  
"I don't want to leave you though!" Tayla protested, her voice   
raising just a tad. "Can't I come back later when I'm older?"  
  
Orchida laid her hand on Tayla's shoulder. "I know it will be hard   
for you to be parted from your family," she told the girl gently, "but you will   
be allowed to see them once a month-"  
  
"Only once a month?"  
  
"Yes," Orchida told the girl firmly, "so that your training is not   
interrupted too often. This is going to help you, my dear. Will you trust me   
on this, little one?"  
  
Tayla was extremely hesitant. "I don't know," she said slowly.   
"Nama says I'm not supposed to go off with strangers."  
  
Gracina and Natala paled at this, but Shalila kept her composure.   
Raakon started to chuckle until both Gracina and Natala elbowed him in his ribs.   
  
"Tayla," Shalila began gently, "Kami Orchida is not a stranger. She   
is the deity of Astoria. She is a friend to all of us."  
  
"Won't everyone miss me?" Tayla asked worriedly. Then with all the   
fears of a normal eight-year-old, she asked, "Won't they forget about me?"  
  
"Tayla," Orchida told her, "no one will forget about you. In fact,   
they will be happier than ever to see you when you eventually return home after   
two years. You'll be happy here, I promise you."  
  
"But my family won't be here!" Tayla cried.  
  
"You'll get to see them, little one," Orchida explained. "And it is   
good for you to learn a little independence. There may come a day when you will   
have to face troubles and problems without your family, and you must be prepared   
for that. There will be times in your life, little one, when you will have no   
one but yourself to depend on."  
  
"Now that I don't believe," Tayla told her, regaining her   
self-composure. She stood up, tall as she could for her undersized height. She   
said her next words with all of her confidence and family pride in her small   
dulcet voice: "The Clan of Chloe always sticks together, no matter what.   
Members in an Astorian Clan always take care of each other. It is considered a   
great shame, Kami Orchida, if a Clan cannot take care of its own, and the Clan   
of Chloe is the strongest of all the Clans of Astoria. Clans take care of their   
own kind, and Astorians take care of their own kind. As long as I have my   
family, Kami Orchida, I will never be alone."   
  
Shalila smiled gravely, yet proudly, realizing that Tayla was   
repeating many of the words that she herself had said to Tayla many times in   
Tayla's short life. Kami Orchida smiled sadly at the child, and then the   
goddess turned to Shalila.  
  
"You've taught her well, Superior Gran," Orchida told her solemnly,   
"Too well, I'm afraid. She has to learn some independence, however; she is a   
little too sheltered. This time away from her family will do her some good. I   
fear, if things don't turn out well for Astoria, that there will be a time when   
Tayla will have to face life entirely on her own."  
  
Gracina and Dirkan, Tayla's appointed guardians, looked at the   
goddess in disbelief. Gracina stated boldly, "Kami Orchida, with all due   
respect, that will not happen. No matter what happens to Astoria or her people,   
Tayla will never be completely alone. She will always have someone to look   
after her. Tayla is part of a good, strong family who will do everything within   
their powers to protect her."  
  
Orchida kept her sad smile. "I hope, for Tayla's sake, that you are   
right, Princess Gracina." She turned to Tayla and kissed her lightly on her   
forehead. "Spend as much time with your family as you can, little princess, for   
after your grandmother's wedding, you will be brought back here."  
  
"Will I get to go home now and then?" Tayla asked her.  
"Not until the two years are up," Orchida told her.  
  
Tayla gave a resigned sigh; she did not truly want to leave her   
home, but she was wise enough to know that Kami Orchida's command was final, and   
that not even Nama would protest. Orchida sensed the child's reluctance, and   
she told her softly, "Tayla, it will be all right, I promise you; you will like   
it here."  
  
"I hope so," Tayla told her despondently, "I'm going to miss my   
family very much though."  
  
"Two years will pass before you know it," Orchida assured her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Orchida finally dismissed everyone, and they flew back to the Palace   
in the airship. Tayla was quiet for the entire trip, sitting in Shalila's lap   
with her head resting on Shalila's bosom. Gracina was stroking her hair, and   
Dirkan was watching Tayla comprehend with what was about to happen to her.   
Shalila herself was also very quiet, with one hand on Tayla's back, and the   
other in Dirkan's hand.  
  
"Are we doing the right thing by allowing this?" Shalila asked   
Dirkan.  
  
"Do we really have a choice, Shalila?" Dirkan asked her. "Kami Orchida does   
have a point though: it would be good for Tayla to learn some independence; I just pray to her that Tayla will never be without at least one of us."  
  
Shalila rested her shoulder on Dirkan's shoulder, and no one in the   
airship spoke again for the entire journey. 


	24. Shalila and Dirkan's Wedding

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Shalila and Dirkan's Wedding **

"Hold still for just one more moment, Princess," Mykia instructed Tayla, as she put a bright, gold butterfly pin in Tayla's French twist. Tayla looked much older in her new caftan and sash, at least eleven or twelve. "Now you are finished."

Little Tayla looked at herself in the mirror, and saw a young girl wearing a light lavender caftan with a mint-green sash and real glass slippers tinted lavender. Shalila had even consented to allow Mykia to put just a bit of blush and lipstick on Tayla's face, something that she did not normally permit.

"Ready, Princess?" Mykia asked her.

"Ready!" Tayla exclaimed boldly. "Let's go!" she said firmly, as if it were her wedding day.

She and Mykia flew downstairs to the Palace's landing docks, where many decorated airships were waiting to take them to the Temple of Chloe, where the wedding would take place.

* * *

Marya lit two fires in the two small cauldrons at the altar, one for Dirkan and one for Shalila at the altar. Shalila and Dirkan were already at the Temple in front of the altar. Shalila was dressed in a beautiful, lacy caftan of pure white silk covered with gold filigree and a gold taffeta sash. She wore gold-tinted glass slippers on her tiny feet. Her red hair was coiled in atwist similar to Tayla's, and her hair held tiny gold roses in the coil. She wore her gold necklace with a gold rose that had a diamond center and matching earrings; these were jewels that only the Superior Gran herself was allowed to wear. Around her red-gold hair, she wore a sparkling gold tiara with  
a large red ruby and two white diamonds, again something that only she was allowed to wear. She stood tall and proud for her short height, and she looked exceptionally well for someone ninety years old, looking, as if she were forty. 

Dirkan was handsomely arrayed in a white dress shirt and navy silk trousers with black leather boots. He and Shalila both had their swords perched on their backs in their sheaths. Shalila only reached up to his waist, but she stood as majestically and proud as he did. He looked at her with love, this tiny Astorian princess-turned-Superior-Gran that he had loved since she was twenty years old.

Seventy years was a long time. Dirkan remembered the day that he had first met Shalila. She had been a scrawny young girl, with much raw power that she was still learning how to use. He had met her when he had been badly injured during his last mercenary assignment; the killing had been successful, but Dirkan had been badly injured. His ship had crashed onto the East Kai's planet, known as Eastra. The East Kai, an expert hover bike rider, had been infuriated by Dirkan's wicked deeds, but she had her servants nurse him back to health anyway.

Strangely enough, the East Kai had believed that there was still some good in Dirkan, so she had him nursed back to health, and afterwards she told him that he had two choices: to either help train young Shalila Chloe and escort her to planet Astoria, or she would turn him over to the then-existing Intergalacticpol (the intergalactic police, who was destroyed many years later by Frieza himself when they had tried to arrest him.The Intergalacticpol had a warrant out for Dirkan's arrest, as well as for his former mistress, Queen Frost, and her minions. Dirkan had reluctantly chosen the later, although he had given Shalila a hard time for a long time, training her brutally, almost to the point of collapse. But Shalila's stamina was as strong as Dirkan's, and her strength soon increased to his level.

Then Charkan, Head Chief of the Intergalacticpol caught up with the renegade Dirkan and his young student before they had reached Astoria. It was on planet Burgess that Charkan had tried to capture Dirkan. Shalila had made an eloquent plea to the police chief not to arrest Dirkan, for the Namek mercenary had changed his evil ways by then. Charkan refused Shalila's plea, but after learning that she was an Astorian princess, he curtly informed her that Queen Frost was planning a partnership with the Saiyan King Dayrus that involved  
Astorian slavery. When Shalila heard this, she insisted that she and Dirkan be allowed to help end Queen Frost's reign of terror. Charkan grudgingly agreed; in fact he even promised Dirkan that he would drop all charges against him, if Dirkan and Shalila managed to destroy Queen Frost. Shalila turned spy for the police force, and she was inducted into Queen Frost's ranks, where she herself destroyed the evil terror eight months later. (Charkan was now retired from the police force, except as an advisor, and he now lived on Chloe in his own small house on the Palace grounds. Shalila had made him the head of her Interrogators.)

Then there was the epic, terrible battle with King Dayrus when Dayrus was in Oozaru form, and Shalila and Dirkan had both defeated him. They had been helping Astoria and the Rosetta Galaxy ever since with their problems, although with Frieza's increasing reign of terror, they now wisely decided to mainly look after Astoria's affairs.

Dirkan hoped that he could still continue to protect Shalila and make her happy; he was one-hundred-and-twenty-years old now, but the oldest Namek he had known had only lived to be one-hundred-and-seventy. Well, he still had fifty years, hopefully, but he was no longer young; he had not been young for a long time. It was during the Battle of Chloe that he had really began to feel his age, and it had taken him longer to recover from his injuries than usual because of his advanced years. He prayed to Orchida and the ancestors (prayer was not something Dirkan did often) that he would live long enough to know that Shalila and Astoria were safe from Frieza and the Saiyans forever...

* * *

...Shalila was not troubled by the same problems plaguing Dirkan. She was only thankful, very thankful that she was finally marrying the man that she had truly loved almost all of her life. Even though she had grown to love Bajal dearly, a small part of her had never stopped loving her Namek bodyguard and advisor. She was blissfully grateful, that after seventy years, she and Dirkan would be together-forever! Dirkan had been well worth the wait; Shalila had expected to die around the same time as Bajal, and although a part of her still missed Bajal, Dirkan was her true love. She touched his green and pink arm and smiled up at him, with all the love and happiness shining in her mourning dove- gray eyes. When Dirkan saw her smile like that, he instantly put his worries aside and focused on what was important-their long-delayed union. The Namek smiled tenderly at his Superior Gran, as she hooked her arm into his and squeezed his large green hand. 

All of the guests who were attending the wedding had arrived by then, and among the Astorians, were Sastorians, the three Meatians, Charkan the Dijonese man, and some Hyslians. The chapel was huge and expansive.

Tayla was sitting in Gracina's lap, near Mykia and Gracina's personal maid, Ebrona. Gracina's assorted children sat near their parents, with Riccan and Nikon punching and sparring with each other in their seats until Lektron pulled the boys apart and ordered them to behave themselves in a holy place. Tila and Tayka were contentedly sucking their thumbs in their sleep, as they lay in their carriages.

Raakon's family was sitting next to Gracina's family, with Kekron quickly studying his latest blueprint before he had to put it away. Arlina was assisting her Aunt Marya with lighting the numerous candles required for an Astorian wedding. Natala's head was resting on Raakon's shoulder, and she had her arm wrapped around her husband's waist, and Raakon's arm was around hers.

She and Raakon were one of the happiest couples on Chloe, and many were inspired by their love for each other. And there were many Astorians and aliens who were becoming inspired by Shalila and Dirkan's love as well.

Cletos and Farla were sitting behind Raakon's family with their children, Dedron (who had been picking his nose and shoving chocolate sugarplums in his mouth until Farla made him stop) and Petalia, petulant as her brother and very vain and proud of her looks. While Petalia's looks were definitely something to be admired with her white-blond hair and deep blue eyes and fair skin, she was nowhere near as beautiful as her spitting-image mother, Farla, or her Aunt Gracina and Aunt Natala, all three generally considered to be the Clan of Chloe beauties. Petalia continued to look in her hand mirror and admire herself, and was proud at the moment because she had already started to develop breasts. And unfortunately, like her brother, Dedron and her cousin Rojal (whom Petalia was already scheming to marry, so that she could become Superior Gran someday), she also disliked Tayla for no good reason except for jealousy.

Fayra, the daughter of Tayla's dead brother, Dejal, was sitting next to Petalia, her best friend. The only reason that Petalia considered Fayra to be her best friend was because Fayra was extremely placid, pliant, and submissive to her; she often took Fayra for granted and took advantage of her.

Arlon and Lukan sat near Fayra and Petalia, and Fayra acted flirtatiously with her two young uncles, even though she knew that she never marry either one of them. Arlon and Lukan paid Fayra no attention, as Fayra was only their niece and a plain, dull one at that. When Riccan saw them, he swiftly broke away from his parents and went to them, where all three boys began to roughhouse with each other until Lektron and Gracina arose and cuffed all three boys and told them to act like gentlemen, or they would have to leave. The three boys grudgingly gave in.

Lelina and Rojal were sandwiched between their parents, and their family was sitting in the special booth above the pews that was reserved exclusively for Gorna's family and Bajal's family because they were closest to inheriting Shalila's throne. Bajal and Alora were kissing each other passionately and irreverently until Gorna pulled them both apart and sharply reminded them that they were in a holy place where such behavior was not to occur. (Bajal had to prevent Alora from socking Gorna in her ribs just then.)

Lelina was looking about for Tayla anxiously, and she called out to her best friend when she saw her. Tayla called back to her, waving and crying out excitedly until Gracina hushed her. Rojal was smirking and making faces at Dedron, who was grinning and sticking his tongue out at Rojal until Cletos cuffed him in the back of his head. Gorna cuffed Rojal and told him to stay still and shut up. Rojal sulkily did so, and Lelina tried to keep from gloating that it was Rojal who got scolded this time and not her. Gorna was grudgingly resigned to her grandmother's wedding to Dirkan, and Etros was thanking Orchida silently for the reprieve from Gorna's nagging tongue.

Shalila's other children and their families were there, as well. Aijal, Shalila's second oldest child, would be escorting his mother down the altar; the honor always went to the oldest surviving sibling in cases of second marriages. Aijal was the father of Etros, his oldest, Lektron, his second oldest, and Farla, histhird oldest (Aijal's daughter, Shalila, was fourth oldest) along with seven younger children. His wife, Hilaria, was pregnant with what Aijal honestly hoped would be their final child; he had no intention of trying to beat his deceased brother, Mantros' record of twenty children.

Aijal's children and grandchildren were sitting behind Mantros' children and grandchildren. Shalila's three daughters, Felinda, Jesynthia, and Petrula, and their extended families were sitting near Aijal's family. Their brother, Korin (named after the Earth cat, Korin), was sitting behind Felinda, alone. Korin was Shalila's only unmarried child, much to Shalila's dismay, but she did not pester him about it since it was unlikely that Korin would ever inherit Astoria's throne.

The youngest child, Gohan (named after a former Earth beau of Shalila's) had been unable to attend; he was currently the chief of Intergalacticpol, and he was investigating the explosion of Planet Vegeta and the clearing of planets Meat and Kanassa. He was as heroic and strong as Shalila and his oldest sibling, Mantros, had been, and his fame and brave deeds were well know throughout all of the Rosetta Galaxy, including Frieza, who had put out a bounty on his head. He was on his way to Astoria to congratulate his mother and interrogate the three Meatian refugees about Frieza's actions. Shalila was disappointed that Gohan could not be at her wedding, but she understood. After Mantros, Gohan had been Shalila's favorite child because he was so brave and daring, even though his recklessness often worried her. Gohan had promised her over radio that he'd be home, as soon as he could.

Finally, all of the Clan of Chloe and special guests of Shalila and Dirkan's were seated in the Temple pew, and Tayla cast her chocolate eyes upon a strange older man standing in the corner of the Temple chapel. He had black hair and brown eyes very similar to her own, and he actually was an older, masculine version of her. He even had the same double dimples on the left corner of his lip-like her (she had noticed this when the normally solemn man smiled for a moment).

"Gracina, who's that?" Tayla whispered, nudging her elder sister. She pointed to the strange man.

Gracina would have normally corrected Tayla for pointing at another person, but she gasped in amazement when she saw whom her little sister was pointing at.

"He made it after all," Gracina gasped, stunned. "Nama will be so happy!"

"Why?" Tayla asked her.

"That's your Uncle Gohan, sweetheart," Gracina told her.

Tayla's eyes widened past their normal saucer size. "He looks so much like me!"

"He does, doesn't he?" Gracina said thoughtfully_. If we didn't know that Tayla was conceived on the Korin, and that Mamma would have never betrayed Pappa, Uncle Gohan could pass as Tayla's father_.

"Who's that strange, pretty lady with him?" Tayla asked, noticing an odd little young woman standing next to her new uncle, an uncle that Tayla had never met. Gracina herself had not seen Uncle Gohan in ten years, and the last she had seen had been her Aunt Kayra's funeral. Kayra had died during a minor skirmish with the Saiyans on planet Saydran, where Gohan and Kayra, his wife and fellow Astorian and Intergalacticpol officer, had been helping to protect Saydran's inhabitants from annihilation. Saydran had been saved, and the Saiyans had been killed, but so had Kayra and many other Intergalacticpol officers and Saydran warriors.Gohan Chloe had refused to take another mate since his wife's passing. Gohan was fifteen years younger than his crown prince brother, Mantros.

And now there was this strange young woman in her early twenties beside him with brown skin darker than Tayla's eyes and brown eyes even darker than her skin. She had long, stiff, wiry coal-black hair that flowed behind her head like a waterfall, and only gold combs were in it. She wore a lavender dress that was not made like the usual dresses Astorian women wore. This dress was sleeveless, and the dress was only knee-length, and her perfect, coffee-colored legs hung gracefully from under the dress. Tayla and Gracina forget about their grandmother getting married for the moment; they couldn't help staring at the strange woman. Who was she? What race was she? What planet had she come from? They had never seen anyone like her, for there were no women on Astoria with skin that dark and brown.

Marya's soft, melodic voice called everyone's attention, even Gracina and Tayla's to her. "We shall begin," she stated softly.

"My dear Astorians, we are gathered here today to witness the joyous union of our Superior Gran Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Meridia Calinadora Chloe and Commander Dirkan of Astoria's United Clan Forces in holy matrimony. I feel that Orchida and the ancestors would be greatly pleased. Our Superior Gran and Commander will unite as one couple, and Commander Dirkan will become our new Superior Granden of Astoria. They will be mated for life, and married for life, no matter what happens. We should consider ourselves fortunate to witness such a strong love and union, and may this union created today not be torn asunder. Dirkan and Nama, would you stick out your index fingers please?"

Dirkan and Shalila did, and Marya pricked each finger with two separate clean needles. She instructed the couple to dab each other's hands with each other's blood, and they did. Marya then clipped off a small lock of her grandmother's hair, and she placed the lock in Dirkan's hand, mixing the blood and hair together with her finger. If Dirkan had had any hair himself, Marya would have done the same with Shalila's hand and blood.

"Hold your hands together," Marya instructed them softly. Shalila and Dirkan did, and Marya said, "Commander Dirkan, do you so swear, by all of the ancestors, Kais, and Kaioshins, that you will renounce all others forever, and love, honor, and protect Superior Gran Shalila through thick and thin, good and evil, sickness and in health, for better and for worse, until death do you part, Seven Moons Oath?"

"I do," Dirkan told her solemnly. He smiled quietly at Shalila.

"And Superior Gran Shalila, do you so swear, by all of the ancestors, Kais, and Kaioshins, that you will renounce all others forever, and love, honor, and protect Commander Dirkan through thick and thin, good and evil, sickness and in health, for better and for worse, until death do you part, Seven Moons Oath?"

"I do," Shalila told her happily.

"Uncle Aijal, would you hand them their bracelets, please?" Marya said, turning to her uncle.

Aijal Chloe did, and Shalila and Dirkan put the gold and diamond bracelets on each other's wrists. Then Marya had them clasp each other's hands, and she kissed them both on their foreheads, as if they were children. She whispered to them an Astorian blessing of good luck, peace, and love.

"Turn around and greet your people," Marya told them. "For you are now...husband and wife!" Shalila and Dirkan happily did so, and Marya announced, "I now pronounce Superior Gran Shalila and Commander Dirkan husband and wife!" The entire chapel filled with applause and shouts, and even those who had disapproved their marriage allowed themselves to smile. Gorna even allowed herself a grim smile; she still didn't approve of what Nama had just done, but at least Nama would be happy, and Dirkan would be good to her.

Shalila and Dirkan walked proudly up the aisle, as everyone threw rose petals and released giant, colorful butterflies at them. They laughed as the butterflies danced about them and rose petals landed on them.

And so, Shalila and Dirkan were wed-at long last!


	25. Prince Gohan's Fiancee

Chapter Twenty-Five: Prince Gohan Chloe's Fiancée  
  
A grand reception was held in the Palace ballroom, and everyone,   
even the smallest children were dancing. Gracina and Lektron were dancing close   
together, and it was likewise with all spouses. Tayla was delighted when   
Bendros had asked her to dance with him, and she had immediately accepted.   
Lelina danced with Kekron, and Kekron's dancing had improved immensely; he did   
not step on anyone's feet this time. Riccan insisted that Tayla dance with him,   
after she was done with Bendros, and Tayla did so, even though Riccan's style of   
dancing resembled sparring.   
  
Rojal was looking miserable, because as the Crown Prince of Chloe,   
heir apparent to Shalila's throne, he had to dance with all of his closest   
female relatives in the Mantros Chloe family, from Shalila, his mother, his   
sister and all of his aunts (which included Tayla), to his youngest female   
cousins that could walk. He would have rather gone outside in the courtyard and   
sparred with his uncles Arlon and Lukan, and his cousin Dedron, but he knew that   
his mother would yell at him, if he did not follow tradition. Rojal would   
rather have his mother cuff him, than nag at him. He was currently dancing   
miserably with his cousin, Petalia, who was thoroughly enjoying herself and   
flirting with him. Petalia made him dance with her three times, and twice she   
had stepped on his feet. Petalia was determined to get Rojal to marry her when   
they grew older, and she also bore a crush on him under her opportunistic   
exterior.   
  
Tayla was leading the other children, which included the Meatian   
girl, Veal, in a group dance, with all of them holding hands and playing a game   
similar to ring-around-a-rosy. The children were just learning the group dance,   
but they were having fun, laughing and tumbling over each other happily. The   
girls dusted off their caftans in between movements, and the boys had started   
sparring with each other, something the girls couldn't do because they were   
wearing their best dresses. They all took off their dress shoes and began   
sliding merrily on the slick ballroom floor in the children's corner of the   
ballroom.  
  
"Let's have a foot sliding contest!" Tayla suggested loudly.  
  
"First girl that falls has to dance with Rojal!" Riccan cried. The   
girls groaned. Kekron was relieved to hear this, because it used to be that the   
first falling girl would have had to dance with him, who used to always step on   
his partner's toes.  
  
"First boy that falls has to dance with Petalia!" Lelina cried. The   
boys all gagged at this, for Petalia trampled as many feet as Kekron used to.  
  
Tayla upped the dare. "First boy that falls has to kiss Petalia!   
On the lips too!"  
  
The boys gagged louder than ever. Riccan retched and declared that the first   
girl to fall would have to kiss Rojal on his lips. All the girls stuck their   
tongues out at Riccan in unladylike manners.  
  
All the children stood in a row, and they all began sliding across   
the floor some more, trying to keep from falling down. They were laughing and   
shouting, and they all gave poor Kekron a hard time when he slipped and fell.  
  
"Kekron has to kiss Petalia!" Jaca squealed.  
  
"Kekron kiss Petalia!" Nikon repeated.  
  
Kekron retched, and all of the boys looked at him with unspoken   
sympathy. Tayla went over to comfort her nephew, but then she slipped and fell   
on her bottom!  
  
"Tayla has to kiss Rojal!" Riccan cried.  
  
Tayla stuck her tongue out at Riccan in an unladylike manner, as she   
rubbed her sore bottom. The children alternated between sympathizing with Tayla   
and Rojal and mocking them for falling down first. Only Veal completely   
sympathized with Tayla and Kekron, and she patted both of their backs.  
  
"Well, come on, Tayla," Kekron told her, "let's get this over with."   
Tayla's misery reflected his. She wished she had never mentioned kissing to any   
of their peers.  
  
"Hey, about you two kiss them with your tongues in their mouths!"   
Jaca cried out. The children all looked at Jaca with horror. Kissing with   
tongues was something strange and forbidding to them, something that only   
grown-ups did.  
  
"Yuck!" everyone chorused. Tayla and Kekron both gagged.  
  
Tayla and Kekron sought out Rojal and Petalia; they both wanted to   
get this over with as soon as possible. Finally, they saw Rojal trying to get   
out of dancing with the annoying Petalia for a fifth time. He was squirming to   
free himself from Petalia's firm grip. Kekron trembled, until Tayla nudged him.  
  
"Um, Petalia," Kekron interrupted, "may I see you for a moment?"  
  
"That's a good idea," Rojal crowed; it was rare that he and Kekron   
were in agreement on anything. "Petalia, I have to sit down, for just a minute.   
Please go see what Kekron wants."  
  
"But I'd rather stay with you, my darling Rojal!" Petalia purred.   
Tayla and Kekron both groaned.  
  
"Go with him!" Rojal ordered her sharply, "Or I'll never dance with   
you again, no matter what my mother says!"  
  
"Fine," Petalia moaned softly, as she followed Kekron away from   
Rojal and Tayla. Tayla noticed a glimmer of a tear in Petalia's eye, and even   
though Tayla did not think much of Petalia, she pitied her. Petalia was   
extremely annoying, but Rojal was extremely cruel at times.  
  
Rojal glared at Tayla darkly. "What do you want?" he sneered. He   
could not abuse her because of his Seven Moons Oath to Great-Nama, but he could   
snub her. He was thinking of going to the Temple to find a gullible Priest or   
Priestess to release him from his oath.  
  
"I just wanted to ask you something," Tayla told him shakily. She   
really wanted to get this over with.  
  
"And what's that?" Rojal asked with a sneer.  
  
"My hair is caught in my necklace, so do you think you could   
untangle it for me?"  
  
"Can't you have Aunt Gracina or your maid do that?"  
  
"I can't find them."  
  
Rojal grumbled. He didn't want to help Tayla, but he didn't want   
Tayla going to Great-Nama about him treating her badly again, so he bent down   
towards Tayla. Tayla quickly threw her arms about Rojal's neck and swiftly   
kissed him on his lips! Tayla then turned away fast and secretly wiped off her   
lips, removing the taste of Rojal's mouth  
  
"Yuck!" Rojal shrieked angrily. "I'll get you for that, brat!" He   
scrubbed his lips with the back of his hand.  
  
Tayla smirked then. "Bye, Rojal! Sorry to do that, but we had a   
dare going! See you!" She began to trot off when Rojal made a grab for her.   
He intended to seize the little wench and teach her a lesson about respecting   
her betters, but then Gracina showed up near them.  
  
Tayla threw her arms around Gracina's waist and hugged her tightly.   
Gracina laughed and asked Tayla, "What is this about?"  
  
"Nothing," Tayla told her innocently, "I just wanted to give you a   
hug."  
  
Gracina smiled broadly. "Aren't you sweet?" Rojal glared darkly at   
Tayla. Gracina noticed and asked gently, "Why the sour face, Rojal?"  
  
"Ask Tayla," he told his blond aunt through gritted teeth.  
  
"Tayla?" Gracina asked, "What is this about?"  
  
Tayla shrugged. "You know Rojal; he's always mad at me about   
something." She gave Gracina another squeeze and ran back to join the other   
children, who were congratulating Kekron for surviving a punch from Petalia   
after he had kissed her. Kekron was rubbing his swollen eye.  
  
"Rojal?" Gracina asked softly.  
  
"Never mind, Aunt Gracina, it was nothing important," Rojal   
grumbled. Gracina always took Tayla's side, no matter what. She'd never   
believe him. He stormed off, and Gracina wondered what children were up to   
these days.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
Gohan was proudly escorting the young, dark-skinned woman besides   
him, as she looked nervously about the ballroom. Whispers and stares followed   
her everywhere; no one snubbed or mistreated her, but they were all stunned by   
her presence. Who was she?  
  
Shalila and Dirkan were determined to find out, so they approached   
Gohan and his companion. Shalila smiled kindly at the young woman, for she knew   
what race the woman was from, and where she had came from.  
  
The dark-skinned woman was Human, from planet Earth.  
  
Shalila's smile turned to a puzzled frown. How did an Earthling   
make it to Astoria? And what was she with Gohan for? Shalila had seen black   
Earthlings before, but it had been so many years that the young woman's presence   
had startled her at first. Shalila returned to her smile, and she held out both   
hands to the strange Human.  
  
The Human woman, uncertain as what to do, embraced Shalila quickly,   
even though technically she was supposed to shake both of Shalila's hands with   
her own, like any proper Astorian would have done.  
  
"I am Superior Gran Shalila, ruler of Astoria, and Gohan's mother,"   
Shalila told the woman gently. "May I ask your name?"  
  
"Hazel Louise Carr, ma'am," the woman told her in a rough, yet   
honey-coated voice. "Congratulations on your marriage." She was thankful that   
she had learned to speak proper grammar years ago and abandon her "street talk",   
with words and phrases normal to her culture, but that would be considered   
bizarre to the Astorians.  
  
"Thank you," Shalila told her graciously  
  
"Mother, I wish to marry Miss Carr," Gohan told her. "We left for   
Astoria early in order to be there for you and Dirkan and to secure your   
blessing for our marriage."  
  
Shalila did not give consent right away. She wanted to interview   
the young woman first, and find out how she had wandered so far from Earth-and   
what Gohan had seen in her.  
  
"Miss Carr, please come with my husband and I," Shalila told her.   
Hazel did not move right away; she was staring at Superior Granden Dirkan, for   
she had never seen a Namek before.  
  
Gohan gently nudged her. "Go with her, Hazel. She is a good woman,   
my mother."  
  
Hazel nervously did so, hoping that her beloved Gohan's mother meant   
good intentions. She looked fearfully at Shalila and Dirkan, as she followed   
them out to the courtyard.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Miss Carr," Shalila told her quietly. "I understand that you wish   
to marry my son." They were all sitting on stone benches in the courtyard.  
  
"Why, yes ma'am, I do," Hazel Louise Carr crooned a bit nervously.   
"I love your son very much, Mrs. Chloe."  
  
Shalila allowed the incorrect addressing to slide; Earthlings had to   
have some allowances made for them. "You are from Earth, aren't you? A human   
woman?"  
  
Hazel nodded. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
"Why did you leave Earth?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
Hazel looked down. "You see, Mr.-um, um..."  
  
"Commander Dirkan," Dirkan told her, "But Dirkan alone will do fine. You may   
continue, Miss Carr."  
  
"Well," Hazel stammered, "my story is a strange one. I was a   
college student. I graduated with a degree in astronomy, but I was also   
studying astrophysics and music-I love to sing. I was also an intern for   
Capsule Corp., that's a company that puts any kind of item or product in little   
capsules; I have some of the capsules with me, if you wish to see them."  
  
"Later, we would, yes," Shalila told her. She had lived on Earth a   
long time ago, and she knew about Capsule Corp. "About Capsule Corp., Miss   
Carr, does a Dr. Boxer Briefs and his wife, Thong, still run it?"  
  
"No, ma'am, they have retired. Dr. Briefs' son, Dr. Whitey John   
Briefs runs it now. He has a wife named Sara and a little girl named Bulma. I   
thought that Bulma was a pretty little thing with lavender hair and big blue   
eyes. She's as smart as a whip, Mrs. Chloe, and she's already inventing things,   
like her daddy and granddaddy. She was nine years old when I left Earth-that   
was two years ago."  
  
"How did you leave, Miss Carr?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
"Capsule Corp. had just opened a space travel division, and I was to   
be one of the first astronauts to test their spacecrafts. I was a junior in   
college at the time, but I took a year off from school to be in the program.   
They had been building a new space station for years, and it was finally   
complete. I was the head technician of that space station, and two months after   
it was complete and tested, it was launched into space. We traveled lightly;   
all of us got one suitcase apiece with all of our essentials in those little   
capsules. Everything was going unusually well, until the space station that was   
set near Earth was knocked out of orbit by an unexpected comet! The space   
station that we were on was pushed into space, and we had radioed a message for   
help back to Earth, and as far as we know, Earth sent out rescue teams, but they   
didn't make it time for-for"  
  
Hazel began to tremble then. Shalila stopped a passing servant and   
ordered him to bring Hazel a glass of milk, and the servant went to do her   
bidding. Hazel took a deep breath and continued:  
  
"Two months later, we were still waiting for help and floating about   
helplessly in space. Our space station had quickly made it as far as Neptune,   
and there some strange space pods hovered near our station's landing port. One   
of the voices that managed to get through to our communication room was smooth   
and a bit snobbish. He introduced himself as Zarbon, and he assured us that he   
and his three companions, Dodoria, Balair, and Diamonique had come to us in   
peace."  
  
Shalila and Dirkan both gasped in horror. How far did Frieza's   
power reach? Earth and Neptune were in the Milky Way Galaxy, near the star,   
Solaris (Earth and Neptune's sun). The Milky Way was a good three-year journey   
from Astoria in the Rosetta Galaxy. Frieza was expanding his empire, and the   
thought alone made them both shiver with terror.  
  
Hazel tried not to note how her words were affecting Astoria's   
rulers. Instead she looked up in the starry night sky at the aforementioned   
Solaris; Gohan had told her that was the name for her Earth's sun. With a good   
telescope, Solaris' nine known planets could be seen, even little Earth. Hazel   
wished she had her lover's telescope right now, so that she could see her home   
planet. She just then remembered that Polaris, also known as the North Star,   
was the sun for Astoria and seventeen other planets. Homesickness struck Hazel   
just then; she realized that it was a slim chance that she would ever see her   
planet or her family again; Gohan had promised her that one day they would go   
back to Earth to visit, but with Frieza and his minions running about the   
universe, extended space travel was too risky, especially for non-business   
trips.   
  
Tears clouded Hazel's cocoa brown eyes; even though she had come   
from a rough neighborhood on Earth, she still missed her family, her mother,   
grandmother, two sisters, and three brothers. She had worked her way through   
school, while growing up in the slums of downtown East St. Louis, Illinois,   
United States of America, Earth. Despite the enormous crime and gang activity   
in her neighborhood, she had beaten the odds and graduated as valedictorian of   
her high school and college classes, and she had been an excellent science   
student, music student, and athlete; Hazel had led a busy and full life. She   
had been extremely fortunate for someone who had grown up in such a dangerous   
area of East St. Louis. Her five siblings and friends had not been as lucky;   
her two sisters now had children out of wedlock, and one of her brothers had   
been involved in a gang. He was now in prison for fifteen years. Another one   
of her brothers had joined the Army after he had graduated from high school (he   
and Hazel had been the only ones to do so) and no one had seen him or heard from   
him since. The third brother was living with his girlfriend and received his   
income from mysterious and ominous sources.  
  
Her mother and grandmother had done the best they could for the children, but   
her grandmother had been ill and crippled for much of Hazel's life, and her   
mother had to work two full time jobs in order to support her large family. Her   
mother had no time to supervise or attend to her children, and they had to fend   
for themselves most of the time when their mother had not been home. Their   
father had abandoned them.  
  
Hazel had been planning to establish herself at Capsule Corp., so   
that she could get her family out of the East St. Louis slums. But she had   
never made it back to Earth, and it was unlikely that she ever would, unless   
Frieza was destroyed in her lifetime. She was twenty-three years old, and she   
would never see Earth again. She was a beautiful, graceful young black woman,   
once destined for a great career as a Capsule Corp. technician, and now-  
  
Well, maybe things didn't work out entirely too badly, after all.   
She had met a wonderful intergalactic police chief who was twenty years older   
than she was, and by the time they had fallen in love with each other, she had   
found out he was a prince, a prince from an alien race, but nevertheless a   
prince! Not that Hazel wouldn't have loved him anyway, but she was a bit   
tickled to know that a prince had fallen in love with her, ordinary Hazel Louise   
Carr, from the dirtiest, dangerous slums of an inner city. If only her family   
knew! If only her reprobate, deadbeat father, who had abandoned her and her   
entire family, knew! That scumbag had not bothered to pay child support for   
them, since Hazel had been a baby. And if Gohan's mother, Superior Gran   
Shalila, gave consent, she and her beloved Gohan would be married and together   
forever! And as icing on the cake, she would be a princess! But even if Gohan   
had not been royalty, Hazel would have loved and married him anyway. Hazel   
thought that it was odd that a forty-three year old man would ask his mother's   
permission and blessing to marry, but she tried to understand that Gohan's   
culture was entirely different from her own.  
  
Dirkan regained his composure before Shalila did. "Continue your   
story, Miss Carr," he told her firmly.  
  
"Our leader was hesitant to allow them to stay aboard, but we   
figured we may as well let them know that we at least accepted them in peace.   
So, our crew leader gave this Zarbon and his friends the permission to board,   
and that would turn out to be a fatal mistake. For you see, they meant to make   
us their captives, and only two of us knew how to really fight; there were   
seventeen of us on board at the time. One of the astronauts with us was Bhodie   
Lett, a powerful ex-kung-fu instructor-turned -astronaut. I had a bit of a   
crush on him at the time, although he was white and I was black. Bhodie managed   
to put up a good fight, along with Jung Su, a female karate instructor-turned-astronaut. The blue-haired girl called Diamonique broke Jung's windpipe with just one blow, and that-that-that monster, a red lizard named Balair turned himself into gas-vaporized himself literally-and that red cloud of gas entered the lungs of half of our crew and caused them to explode!   
Right before our eyes! Oh my! No!" Hazel's body began to shake, and she   
started to sob. Shalila lent the sobbing girl her handkerchief. Shalila's eyes   
were starting to look moist.  
  
"Only eight of us were left, and Zarbon gave the order to have the   
rest of us killed, except for Bhodie, whom he decided would make a good recruit   
for that strange beast named Frieza. The rest of the crew didn't stand a   
chance, and the pink puffball named Dodoria blasted them away with a blast of   
fire from his mouth! His mouth, I tell you!"  
  
"Bhodie and I ran for our lives then, and we barely managed to make   
it to an escape ship before Zarbon and Dodoria caught up to us!" Hazel was   
wheezing for air by then. "They-they captured Bhodie, Zarbon and Dodoria did,   
and I wasn't able to stop them! The door to the escape pod was already open,   
and after struggling to keep Zarbon from capturing me, I accidentally fell   
inside the ship and hit the start button, which closed the hatch to the pod and   
launched the craft! I screamed out to Bhodie, but Diamonique had hit Bhodie   
hard in the back of his head, rendering him unconscious, and of course, he   
couldn't hear me! The pod was already out in space, and it was too late for me   
to save him! And then to my other horror, Zarbon and Dodoria chased my craft   
into space, and they didn't wear spacesuits or anything; they simply survived in   
space without any means of support, Mrs. Chloe! I buckled myself in on time,   
and I tried to speed up the escape pod, as fast as I could! I had no idea where   
my little ship was headed, but I could not shake Zarbon and Dodoria, to save my   
soul! Finally they caught up with me, in what seemed to be days, but in space,   
I had no concept of actual time, except for my watch." Hazel gulped down the   
milk that Shalila's servant had just given to her.   
  
"I thought my life was over, but then a strange ship came along,   
decked out in blue and green, and it wasn't until later I learned that it was an   
Intergalacticpol ship; I didn't know the universe had an intergalactic police   
force! And then Gohan and his men saved me from Zarbon and Dodoria. I am very   
thankful for that, I assure you, Mrs. Chloe, although I am sorry for the lives   
that were taken trying to rescue me. Gohan and his police officers managed to   
scare Zarbon and Dodoria off, and Gohan was mad because he couldn't capture them   
and force them to lead him to Frieza. I had never seen this Frieza, except in   
pictures, but he was Gohan's main target; the Intergalacticpol had an "shoot to   
kill" warrant out on him, and arrest warrants for many of his elite men,   
including the monkey men called Saiyans. I remember a warrant being out for a   
little boy named Prince Vegeta, and I thought that it was strange that a police   
force would be after a little boy, but Gohan told me how much damage a little   
Saiyan child could do, and I was stunned, to say the least."  
  
"Prince Vegeta," Dirkan informed Hazel briefly, "tried to kidnap   
Princess Tayla, Shalila's granddaughter and your Gohan's niece, with the help of   
a couple of his friends. They were going to take her to Frieza to force the   
poor child to work for him."  
  
"I don't think Gohan knew that much. He was mainly after little   
Vegeta because he had blown up a planet called Dungess. Last time, I heard,   
Gohan and his superiors were talking about placing "shoot to kill" orders out on   
all full-blooded Saiyans, including their children."  
  
"Well," Shalila told her, "there are only two Saiyans left that we   
know of, the Prince Vegeta and his sister, Princess Journa. Frieza blew up   
Planet Vegeta."  
  
Hazel nodded knowingly. "That is what Gohan is investigating   
now-the explosion of Planet Vegeta. It was another reason we came to Astoria,   
so that he could question the Meatian refugees."  
  
She continued, "Gohan and I have been traveling around the universe   
for an entire year and a half; well I'm counting that in Earth years, but   
Astorian years may be different. The Earth year is three-hundred-and-sixty-five   
days, and one extra day is added to a leap year, which is every four years."  
  
Shalila smiled slowly. "I was aware of that, my dear; I lived on   
Earth from the time I was eight to the time I was seventeen. The Astorian year   
isn't that much different."  
  
"Do you have any plans to try to go back to Earth?" Dirkan asked her.  
  
Hazel sighed. "I'd love to go back, at least to see my family and   
let them know that I'm alive, but I know it's unlikely I will ever get to go   
home again. Not that I want to leave Gohan, but I wish I could go to Earth one   
last time."  
  
Shalila looked at Hazel sadly. "I wish there was a way we could get   
you back home to Earth, but such a journey, Miss Carr, would take us three to   
five years to get you there. I myself did not make the entire journey to   
Astoria by spaceship; the North Kai had trained me, and then he had me   
teleported to planet Eastra, where the East Kai resides, and after training with   
her, Dirkan and I went here. The journey from Eastra to Astoria took two years,   
and we had one of the fastest ships available at the time. Of course, maybe   
some ships are so fast now that you could be transported to Earth within months.   
But unfortunately, we cannot spare anyone to escort you to Earth at this time;   
we have plenty to worry with Frieza. But I do promise you, Miss Carr, that we   
will find a way someday to get you home, if you really need to go back."  
  
Hazel smiled wistfully, even though she was confused as to whom the   
East Kai and the North Kai were. "I don't absolutely have to go back right   
away, Mrs. Chloe. I wish to marry your son, and I would not mind living here   
for the rest of my life; I just miss my family so much. I wish they could be   
here with me, at least."  
  
"Maybe someday, if Frieza is destroyed in your lifetime," Dirkan   
told her.  
  
"Do you think you could be happy here on Astoria?" Shalila asked.   
"Astorians do many things here in a different way than Earthlings do, and our   
philosophies and values differ greatly. For example, drinking alcohol and   
smoking are not allowed here, and some things that Earth has, Astoria does not   
have, and vice versa."  
  
Hazel nodded. She was glad that she had given up smoking three   
years before she started work at Capsule Corp., she had been smoking since she   
had been fourteen, but she managed successfully to quit at age twenty. Hazel   
was a bit disappointed about the alcohol though; she loved a can of her favorite   
beer now and then, but Gohan had already told her that alcohol was not permitted   
on Astoria. And during college, she had loved to go "clubbing" with her   
friends, and a bit of barhopping. She loved a good party, as well as any Earth   
woman of America did, but she suspected the only parties on Astoria were like   
those she had seen tonight.  
  
She truly was on another planet. She had fit in perfectly in her   
"posse" on Earth, with her best girlfriends, having fun when they weren't   
studying hard. But she had heard that most Astorian women her age were already   
married with children, and Astorian princesses had maids to wait on them.   
Astorian women were career women too, but they were three times more   
conservative than some Earth women were. Hazel knew that her short lavender   
dress had shocked many of the Astorian women, who always wore long caftans with   
sashes when they weren't training for combat. And Astorian women were so   
protected, despite the fact that many of them were warriors.   
  
Gohan had told her that Astorian children learned things rapidly,   
and that there were teenagers performing complicated tasks such as brain   
surgery. And Hazel had witnesses some of Gohan's fighting powers and ki   
attacks, which had frightened her at first, until she realized that he would   
never use those powers to harm innocent people. The Astorians were an odd, but   
wonderful breed.  
  
And they had so many advantages over Earthlings. The Astorians were   
far ahead of their time in the medical treatments and technology. The   
Earthlings were still fighting to find cures for venereal diseases, cancer,   
sickle cell disease, colds, influenza, and various other deadly diseases, but   
the Astorians had cures for almost all of them. And as for AIDS, the Astorians   
had never heard of it; it seemed to be strictly an Earth disease. Astorians   
mated for life, and divorce was extremely rare. From what she had heard of   
Astorians' sex lives, Astorian society was more tolerant of widows and widowers   
having sex outside of marriage, but for never-married Astorians, premarital sex   
was not tolerated at all. Sex for widows and widowers outside of marriage was   
not thought greatly of either, but society tended to look the other way more for   
them, especially if such an affair ended in marriage. Adultery was considered a   
grave offense, and those who committed it were banned from their home Clans,   
divorced, and generally shunned for the rest of their lives.  
  
Hazel knew that the Clans were large family units who always looked   
after their own kind, and a good Clan always insured that everyone member was   
fed and clothed and care for. The Clans were like mini-cities, supplying   
themselves with everything from food to free medical care.  
  
Maybe Astoria wouldn't be so bad. And she would have Gohan, who had   
insisted that they wait until they were married to have sex because Hazel had   
never been married before, nor had she had sex before.  
  
Princess Hazel Louise Carr Chloe. She said that name under her   
breath, with only a faint note of caution.  
  
"Yes, I could, Mrs. Chloe," Hazel told her brightly.  
  
Shalila nodded approvingly. "Well then I don't see any reason why I   
shouldn't give consent. You two have my permission to wed. We'll discuss   
wedding details tomorrow. Farewell, and have a good time tonight." The three   
arose and went back inside the ballroom. 


	26. Jaypros And Farla

Chapter Twenty-Six: Jaypros and Farla-Having An Affair?  
  
Three days later.  
  
"I'm going to miss everyone here," Tayla told her grandmother. "Are   
you sure that I'm coming back home again?" Tayla was to leave for the Isle of   
Chloe Orchid in one week, and Shalila, Gracina, and Mykia were helping her pack   
her things.  
  
Shalila smiled bravely and kissed her granddaughter. "Yes,   
dandelion, you'll come back home again. I'll miss you, little one."  
  
"Can't you and Dirkan come with me?" Tayla asked earnestly.  
  
Shalila smiled sadly. "You know we can't, sweetheart. Who's going   
to run Astoria while we're gone?"  
  
"Raakon or Gracina can do it. Wait, couldn't they come, if you   
couldn't?"  
  
"Tayla," Shalila told her gently, "This trip you will have to be on   
your own, with Orchida."  
  
"I can't even take Mykia? Or my puppy, Hugs?" Hugs was Tayla's new   
chocolate-colored cocker-spaniel-like dog with four floppy ears, instead of two;   
all Astorian dogs had four ears and two tails. Bajal had given Tayla Hugs for   
her eighth birthday, and Tayla thought that the little animal was the best gift   
of all.   
  
"Kami Orchida will let Hugs and Mykia come see you from time to time   
with us, sweetheart," Shalila tried to reassure her.  
  
"Don't let Hugs forget about me," Tayla said, as sternly as possible   
for an eight-year-old.  
  
Shalila smiled. "I won't, dandelion."  
  
Tayla then started to worry about Mykia. "What's going to happen to   
Mykia? She's going to be out of a job! She'll have to go back to Brimmel,   
won't she? I don't want her to leave Chloe! She has to come with me, Nama!"  
  
"Tayla, calm yourself," Shalila told her. "Mykia will be reassigned   
as a domestic servant in the Palace. When you return home, she will be your   
maid again. She's not going anywhere."  
  
"Princess," Mykia told her softly, kissing Tayla on her worried   
face. "I will be right here waiting for you when you come home to stay."  
  
"And then I won't ever have to leave Chloe again, right?"  
  
"Not if you don't want to," Shalila told her.  
  
Gracina bent down and kissed Tayla on her cheek. "We all love you,   
little Tayla, and we will miss you greatly."  
  
Tayla hugged her fiercely, and Gracina hugged her back, as if she   
never wanted to let Tayla go. If only Tayla had been her child, then Gracina   
could have found a way to make Tayla stay. Well maybe not, since not even Nama   
would oppose Orchida.  
  
Tayla declared, "When I come back home, I am never, never, never   
leaving my family again!" Shalila, Gracina, and Mykia laughed softly.  
  
"What if you marry someone outside your Clan, Princess?" Mykia asked   
her.  
  
"I'll just have to marry someone in my own Clan, or he'll have to   
live here on Chloe, or else I won't marry him!" Tayla told her firmly, as if   
that matter was settled.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Tayla is going away! Tayla is going away! Hey, ho, merry O,   
Tayla's is going away! Yay!" Rojal crowed in front of his despondent sister,   
Lelina, who had cried all night because her best friend was leaving her. Did   
Great-Nama really have to send her away?  
  
Riccan had picked fights with all of the other children, especially   
little Nikon, as a way of relieving his feelings about Tayla leaving. Tayla was   
one of his best friends, and one of the few viable sparring partners close to   
his size. Nikon was still too small and weak to be of any use to Riccan as a   
partner.  
  
Kekron was trying to comfort Lelina, reassuring her that Tayla would   
come back someday, and it made Lelina feel a little bit better, but not much.   
Arlina had cried too, for although she was a Priestess in training, she was   
still a little girl herself. Veal had also cried all night.  
  
Tila, Tayka, and Nikon were too young to realize yet that Tayla   
would not be playing with them and the others for a while. Jaca and Fayra were   
sad too; they had not really been close to Tayla, but Tayla had always made   
things fun and interesting. Petalia, Dedron, and Rojal were happy that Tayla   
was leaving; maybe they'd get more time with Great-Nama, now that Tayla would be   
gone. Petalia was jealous of Tayla's popularity and beauty, although at that   
time Petalia was considered prettier than Tayla. The children from other Clan   
of Chloe families were divided: two-thirds of the children knew they'd miss   
Tayla greatly, but one-third agreed with Rojal, Dedron and Petalia, saying that   
Rojal was right about Tayla receiving too much from Shalila.  
  
"Rojal, you are mean!" Lelina exclaimed angrily. "Tayla is our aunt   
and my best friend!"  
  
"And?" Rojal prompted her. "I rank above her."  
  
"You should show Tayla more respect, Rojal," Kekron scolded. "If   
there is no other reason for you to show consideration for her, then respect her   
because she is your aunt-and mine. And didn't Great-Nama make you swear Seven   
Moons Oath that you would not be cruel to her anymore."  
  
Rojal glared darkly at Kekron. "I am to be Superior Granden one   
day, and she will have to respect me! She better just keep out of my   
way-especially after that kiss she gave me at Great-Nama's wedding ball!" He   
scrubbed his lips in disgust.  
  
"It was just a dumb dare we did, Rojal," Kekron told him. "Tayla   
and I fell down first and we had to kiss you and Petalia."  
  
Rojal smirked. "How's that eye of yours, Kekron?" Kekron   
unconsciously rubbed his swollen eye, given to him by Petalia. Kekron kissing   
Petalia had inadvertently caused an argument between his father, Raakon, and   
Petalia's father, Cletos, who had listened to an overdramatic, sobbing Petalia   
claim that Kekron had accosted and molested her. Petalia had made Kekron seem   
like an oversexed pervert, even though he was only twelve, and Cletos had   
confronted Kekron and raged at him for bothering his daughter. Raakon had   
intervened and insisted that Kekron tell exactly what he had done to Petalia.   
Raakon didn't think that Kekron was right to force a kiss on Petalia, even on a   
dare, but he didn't think that a quick kiss would traumatize Petalia for life.   
He told Cletos that much, and Cletos took it entirely the wrong way.  
  
"How would you like it, Raakon, if my Dedron had kissed your Arlina   
like that?" Cletos had raged at his younger brother.  
  
"Cletos, please, Kekron just did it because of a stupid game the   
children had going," Raakon had tried to appease his brother. He had always   
been one of the peacemakers in Mantros Chloe's family. He turned to his   
embarrassed son. "But you won't do it anymore, will you, Kekron?"  
  
"No, Father," Kekron had told his father, ashamed now.  
  
"And you will apologize to Petalia," Raakon had continued. Kekron   
muttered a quick, embarrassed apology to Petalia, who grudgingly accepted it.  
  
"I'll forgive you this time, Kekron, but if you ever touch me again,   
I'll have my father or my brother pound you into a bloody pulp!" Petalia had   
replied resentfully.  
  
"Petalia," Raakon scolded, "My son has apologized to you, so there   
is no cause for you to threaten him like that." He sighed; he was surprised   
that Petalia had not been chosen to be a warrior, for she was fierce and nasty   
enough to be one. But Petalia had been born with too low a ki level to qualify.   
Because of her powerful singing voice, she had been chosen to become an Artisan   
instead, a singer. (Artisans on Astoria included singers, musicians, poets,   
painters and anyone involved in fine arts.)  
  
Cletos had been in a rotten mood to begin with before Petalia had   
sobbed her story about Kekron to him. His marriage to his Scribe wife, Farla,   
had not been going well lately; he suspected that Farla was cheating on him, but   
he could not prove it. Farla being always pretty and flirtatious did not help   
matters any either. So he had taken his anger out on Raakon and Kekron.  
  
"Just keep your son away from my daughter until he learns to behave   
himself," Cletos had scolded him.  
  
Raakon had told Kekron not to worry about him and Cletos, and that   
they would work things out, but Kekron still felt bad about what happened.  
  
Kekron didn't feel like fighting with Rojal, so he merely said,   
"It's healing, Rojal."  
  
Rojal smirked again. "Let's hope Petalia's ego is healing too-for   
your sake."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Cletos stopped by Tayla's room to give her a going-away present of a   
new gold necklace with a small emerald. He was morose and worried about his   
marriage to Farla; their marriage seemed to be falling apart, and they had not   
mated for seven weeks. Farla seemed to be making more and more excuses why she   
couldn't spend time with her husband, when before she had been complaining that   
Cletos had never spent enough time with her. Cletos scratched his red hair that   
was the same shade as his sister, Marya's (he was a masculine version of her and   
of their mother, Tika). He suspected that Farla was having an affair, but he   
couldn't figure out who it would be. Probably one of his man servants; there   
were two young handsome men that regularly attended Prince Cletos that had been   
showing too much interest in Princess Farla.  
  
Tayla, after sensing Cletos coming, poked her head out of her   
doorway. "Hello, Cletos!"  
  
"Hello, Tayla! I have something for you." Cletos handed the child   
her present, wrapped in pink tissue paper.  
  
Tayla tore off the paper, and she squealed in delight when she saw   
the necklace. "Thank you, Cletos! This is pretty! I like it!" Cletos put the   
necklace on her neck, thankful that he managed to get it to her before Petalia   
saw it. Petalia would have been furious that her father was giving Tayla a   
necklace and not her, especially since emeralds were Petalia's favorite gems.  
  
"Look, Nama, Gracina, Mykia! Look at what Cletos gave me!" Tayla   
ran inside her room and showed them her new treasure.  
  
Shalila smiled and examined Tayla's new gift. "It is a pretty   
necklace, dandelion."  
  
Tayla twirled around the room, so that she could see the chain of   
her necklace swish about in rhythm to her flowing sky-blue caftan.  
  
Cletos told the group, "I would stay, but I need to find my wife.   
Has anyone seen her in the last few hours?"  
  
No one had. Cletos sighed wearily. "She didn't come to breakfast   
or lunch. She didn't go to the bathhouse today?"  
  
All four females shook their heads, and now they were starting to   
worry about Farla, as well.  
  
"Maybe she's sick," Tayla spoke up.  
  
"She would have gone to the Medical Wing, if she had, Tayla," Cletos   
told her. "And no one saw her there either. I can't sense her ki anywhere."   
  
"I'll find her," Tayla told him. "I need to go see Veal and Lelina   
anyway."  
  
"Don't you need to finish helping with your packing, dandelion?"   
Shalila asked her reprovingly.  
  
"I'll help when I get back, Nama, I promise," Tayla told her. "It   
won't take but a couple of hours. And we have all week. We're almost done   
anyway."  
  
"Two hours, Tayla, and then you must return here," Shalila told her   
firmly. "You have to be measured for new clothes for your stay at Chloe   
Orchida." Tayla is growing so fast, Shalila thought.  
  
Shalila hoped that Tayla would not have to grow up too soon.  
  
"Tayla, you don't need to hunt my wife down, if there are things   
that Nama needs to have you do," Cletos told her. "I will eventually find   
Farla."  
  
"Let her go, Cletos," Shalila told him. "She may as well spend as   
much time as she can with her friends while she can. If she can find her puppy   
when he gets lost in the wilderness, she can find your wife."  
  
"Bye now! Be back soon!" Tayla told everyone, as she stepped out   
the door of her chambers.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla went down to the bathhouses, thinking that Lelina was probably   
taking her bath, and that she would find her-and Farla-in the women's bathhouse.   
She sensed her brother, Jaypros', ki coming from the couples' bathhouse.  
  
Jaypros wasn't married; why would he be in the couples' bathhouse?   
Tayla decided not to worry about it for the moment, as she headed for the   
women's bathhouse. She called into the bathhouse and asked for Lelina and   
Farla, but the Bathing Laborers told her that neither Lelina nor Farla were in   
there.  
  
"Princess Lelina has not come for her bath yet, Princess," Saudra, a   
Bathing Laborer from the Clan of Ruben told her. "But I saw Princess Farla   
heading for the couples' bathhouse." Then Saudra gasped in horror and covered   
her wide mouth, as if she had already said too much.  
  
"Why would she go there without Cletos?" Tayla asked her.  
Saudra's first cousin, Aydra, who was a seventeen-year-old Bathing Laborer, also   
from the Clan of Ruben, laughed salaciously. "That's a good question, Princess!   
However that is one question only Princess Farla-and Prince Jaypros could   
answer. This isn't the first time those two went into the couples' bathhouse   
together." Aydra giggled. "The way those two act together, you would think   
Prince Jaypros was Princess Farla's husband, instead of Prince Cletos!"  
  
Saudra nearly cuffed Aydra. "Aydra! For shame, maligning the names   
of Princes and Princesses of Chloe! You don't know the whole story!" Saudra   
scolded her cousin sharply.  
  
Aydra was not to be repressed. "Oh, stop it, Saudra! Princess   
Tayla may as well know the truth, as you and I know it! You know as well as I   
do, Saudra, that Princess Farla and Prince Jaypros are having an illicit   
affair!" She winked at a confused Tayla, who had recently learned from   
indiscreet Palace servants and her brother, Bajal, what "illicit affair" meant.  
  
"Aydra! Hold you tongue-now!" Saudra screamed at her. Saudra   
quickly spoke to Tayla, "Princess, please pay no mind to what my foolish cousin says; she never knows what she is truly saying. I'm sure Princess Farla will come out here soon; I'll just tell her you stopped by."  
  
Aydra was no quieter after Saudra's outburst. "Tayla, don't worry   
about Farla; I am sure that she and Jaypros will be out here shortly." She   
grinned at Tayla, and Tayla noticed a malicious glint in Aydra's blue eyes. She   
did not know that Aydra greatly disliked Cletos Chloe's family because Cletos'   
bratty children, Dedron and Petalia, had played a mean prank on Aydra, nearly   
getting her fired from the Palace' s employ. Aydra had not forgiven them yet,   
especially since Prince Cletos and Princess Farla had let their children off   
with only a slap on their royal wrists. Aydra had also made romantic overtures   
to Prince Jaypros, who had snubbed her.  
  
"Aydra," Saudra snapped. "You are not to speak the names of royal   
members so casually. And you must not address Princess Tayla informally. You   
know that you must always use 'Princess' before her name." She turned to Tayla   
anxiously. "Princess, will you please excuse us? We must be returning to our   
work."  
  
"Wait!" Tayla exclaimed, "Jaypros and Farla wouldn't be having an   
affair, would they, Saudra? Please tell me that they are not!"  
  
"Princess," Saudra stammered nervously, "do you even know what an   
affair is?"  
  
Tayla nodded. She had ran into Bajal after hearing about Sedra and   
Trocos' illicit affair from the servants, and after asking Bajal, who was not as   
prudent as Shalila or Gracina, he had told her bluntly that Sedra was probably   
cheating on her husband with Trocos. Tayla had asked Bajal why it was so bad,   
and Bajal explained to his little sister that adultery was wrong, and that you   
were supposed to be faithful to your mate, no matter what. Tayla liked asking   
Bajal and their cousin, Lektron, about things like that because they didn't try   
to censor anything that they thought would be inappropriate for a child at her   
age to hear about.  
  
"If Jaypros and Farla are having an affair, they would be doing   
wrong, wouldn't they, Saudra?" Tayla pressed.  
  
Saudra grew more uncomfortable. She did not want to be involved in   
this situation, and even though she would never say so, she didn't think that   
Tayla should be either. "It is best to ask your grandmother about that," she   
told Tayla finally.   
  
Before Tayla could ask anything else, Saudra took Aydra by her arm,   
and they both hurried back into the bathhouse. They knew that leaving a   
Princess of Chloe like that was rude, but Saudra did not want to cause   
additional trouble for Prince Jaypros and Princess Farla, especially since they   
only suspected that the royals were having an affair.  
  
No one else was in the women's bathhouse, except for Saudra and   
Aydra, who were cleaning up the building. Tayla left the women's bathhouse and   
walked by the couples' bathhouse. She knew she could not enter, for the   
couples' bathhouse was off-limits to children, so she just sat on a stone bench   
in front of the bathhouse and waited.  
  
Dacos, a male Bathing Laborer, came out of the bathhouse and noticed   
Tayla sitting in front of the bathhouse. The elderly Laborer choked nervously   
when he saw Tayla sitting there. He began to tremble. Prince Jaypros and   
Princess Farla were in the couples' bathhouse, locked together in a private   
bathing room, doing only Orchida knew what, and now Prince Jaypros' little   
sister, Princess Tayla, had shown up. Dacos prayed to Orchida and the ancestors   
and good spirits that the small princess would not suspect what her older   
brother was up to with their first cousin, Princess Farla. Princess Farla was   
Prince Etros and Prince Lektron's younger sister.  
  
"Princess Tayla, what are you doing here?" Dacos finally spoke.   
"You know that the couples' bathhouse is off-limits to children. Your   
grandmother would not want you over here."  
  
"I'm just waiting on my brother, Jaypros, and my cousin, Farla.   
When are they coming out, if they are in there?"  
  
"Soon enough, Princess, but perhaps you should go now. I will tell   
them that you stopped by-"  
  
"I can't go yet. Cletos wants to know where Farla is, and I told   
him I'd find her for him," Tayla told the Bathing Laborer firmly.  
  
Dacos gasped in horror when Prince Jaypros and Princess Farla came   
out of the bathhouse, dressed only in their robes, walking about serenely, as if   
there was no one in the world but them. Farla was indiscriminately nibbling on   
Jaypros' ear, and Jaypros had his muscular arm wrapped around Farla's waist   
tightly. Jaypros was also boldly kissing Farla's white neck. Jaypros was a   
masculine version of his sister, Gracina, and he was considered the second   
handsome male in the Mantros Chloe family, next to his brother, Raakon. Farla   
was lithe and delicate in appearance, an older version of her beautiful   
daughter, Petalia.  
  
Tayla was scandalized to see Jaypros and Farla acting like this.   
What would she tell Cletos? Did she have to tell Cletos anything? Should she   
tell Cletos anything? She was so shocked, that she did not think of her first   
words to Jaypros and Farla, and they came out of her mouth faster than she could   
think about not saying them.  
  
"Are you two having an affair?" she asked them bluntly before she   
could censor herself. To her credit, Tayla did not truly know any better.   
Dacos gasped in horror, but he did not reprimand her; correcting her was not   
really his job, so he held his tongue. He was a Bathing Laborer, not her   
grandmother, her nursemaid, or her guardian.  
  
A horrified Farla, however, had no reservations about scolding her   
young cousin. "How dare you ask us such a thing?" she screeched at Tayla, who   
almost shrank back from Farla's sharp tone. "I had thought that Nama had taught   
you better manners than that!"  
  
"Don't be so hard on her, Farla; she's only eight," Jaypros   
protested. "She does not know any better."  
  
"But you do," Tayla told him softly. "If you are having an affair,   
it's adultery, and adultery is wrong. That is what Bajal told me. You can't   
have an affair with Farla 'cause Farla's married to Cletos."  
  
"T-Tayla," Jaypros laughed nervously, knowing that Tayla was right,   
so he could not snap at her for butting in his business. "Farla and I are very   
good friends; we were just spending time together."  
  
"Cletos wanted to see Farla," Tayla told him. "I told him that I   
would find her for him."  
  
Farla paled. "Tayla, will you please go back and tell Cletos that I   
will meet him for dinner later?" she asked in a more kindly tone. "I must get   
dressed, and I cannot meet him right now."  
  
"What shall I tell him, if he asks where I found you at?" Tayla   
asked her.  
  
"Just tell him th-that I was bathing," Farla stammered fearfully.   
"You don't need to say anything else."  
  
"Tayla," Jaypros began, as he knelt before his little sister and   
took her tiny hands into his large ones. "Cletos would be very upset, if you   
told him that Farla was with me. He would think badly of both of us, and Cletos   
would be very hurt. You don't want Cletos to be hurt, do you?"  
  
Tayla chewed on her lip uncomfortably. She looked down at her   
slippered feet.  
  
"Do you, Tayla?" Farla pressed. "Do you want Cletos' feelings hurt?   
If you don't, then you must not tell Cletos that Jaypros was here with me. The   
story you tell him is: I was bathing, so I could not come, and that I will see   
him at dinner. That's all you have to say. It's that simple."  
  
"And you are going away soon anyway, so there's no real chance that   
Cletos would question you further," Jaypros added. Dacos glared at the royals   
darkly, for trying to make an innocent child cover up a scandalous affair, but   
he did not say anything; he didn't feel it was his place to do so.  
  
"But you were kissing Farla's neck-that counts as adultery; Bajal   
told me so," Tayla told him persistently.  
  
"Does Bajal know about us?" Jaypros asked worriedly.  
  
Tayla shook her head. "I don't think so. We were talking about a   
couple of Bathing Laborers that the servants were talking about." Dacos shook   
his aged head at this; he knew about Sedra and Trocos' affair, and he knew that   
one day the two would get caught. He suspected that Superior Gran Shalila had   
been having an affair with Commander Dirkan before they were wed, but Astoria's   
leader had been a widow, and at least she and her bodyguard had done the right   
thing and married, so there was nothing left to say about that. And they had   
not been married to others when they had started courting.  
  
"Tayla, just use the story that Farla gave you, okay?" Jaypros   
pleaded. "There is no real need to say anything else."  
  
"Um..." Tayla stammered, shifting from foot to foot.  
  
"Tayla!" It was Shalila's voice. Jaypros, Farla, and Dacos froze   
when they heard their ruler.  
  
"Um...I have to go now...Nama's calling me," Tayla said quickly,   
thankful for an excuse to get away. Tayla hurried away to where Shalila was   
calling her from inside the entryway to the gardens and bathhouses.  
  
"Tayla, wait, please," Jaypros begged. "Don't go just yet!"  
  
Farla trembled with fear, especially when she heard another voice:  
  
"Farla? Farla, where are you?" It was Aijal, Farla's father and   
Shalila's second oldest son.  
  
"My father!" Farla gasped. "Jaypros, I have to go; I am sorry!"   
But she did not run towards her father's voice; instead she ran off in the other   
direction.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Tayla, there you are! I need you to come back sooner than I   
thought, I am sorry," Shalila told her granddaughter. "The Tailoring Laborers   
came sooner than I thought they would. You will need to be measured for your   
new clothes for your trip."  
  
Aijal addressed his youngest niece. "Tayla, did you ever find   
Farla? Cletos told me that you went to find her."  
  
"Um..." Tayla stuttered.  
  
"Well?" Aijal pressed her.  
  
"Yes," Tayla mumbled.  
  
"What was she doing?" Aijal asked  
  
"She was bathing." Tayla was not a good deceiver, and Shalila   
quickly realized that Tayla was hiding something. She could read Tayla like a   
book. Tayla was looking neither her nor Aijal in their eyes, and she was   
squinting her eyes, sure signs that something was not right.  
  
"Tayla," Shalila began firmly, but gently, "is there something that   
you're not telling us?"  
  
Tayla looked down at her feet again. She could never lie to Nama.   
"Yes, Nama, but if I say anything, it will get someone in trouble."  
  
Shalila continued, "Will it get this person in major trouble or   
minor trouble?"  
  
"Major trouble. Very major. I don't want these people to get in   
trouble, even though they may have done something wrong."  
  
"Well, Tayla," Shalila told her, "if they did something wrong, they   
would deserve to get in trouble, don't you think?"  
  
"That's just it, Nama. I don't know if they actually did what I   
thought they did, but I know that if they did do what I thought they did, they   
would get in big, big trouble, and someone's feelings would be hurt."  
  
Aijal interrupted then. He peppered the girl with questions.   
"Tayla, what did these people do? Is my daughter involved? Did someone ask you   
to keep things a secret?"  
  
"Well not exactly, Uncle Aijal, for you see, she just told me to   
just say that she was bathing-Oops!" Tayla covered her mouth.  
  
Shalila looked Tayla directly in her eyes. "Tayla, did Farla do   
something that she wasn't supposed to do?"  
  
Tayla nodded, but she said, "I don't like to tattle on people, or   
get them in trouble."  
  
"I know you don't," Shalila told her understandingly, "but sometimes   
we have no choice but to tell. Just tell us what you think happened, and we   
will decide if Farla and whoever else was involved should be confronted. Then   
it will be our worry and not yours."  
  
"They're going to hate me," Tayla whispered.  
  
"No, they won't," Shalila promised her. Tayla beckoned Shalila to   
bend down, so that she could whisper in her ear. Aijal thought about forcing   
Tayla to say her secret out loud, but decided against it. He knew that his   
mother would tell him, if she thought it necessary.  
  
Tayla whispered what she knew in Shalila's ear, and Shalila listened   
and nodded gravely. "Thank you, Tayla," she told her quietly, when Tayla had finished. "That is all I needed to know. Now return to your room, so that you may be measured for your dresses and uniforms."  
  
"Am I going to get in trouble?" Tayla asked worriedly.  
  
Shalila solemnly kissed her cheek. "No, dandelion, do not concern   
yourself with this; this is no longer your worry." She gave Tayla a small smile   
to reassure her, and then she patted Tayla's back and told her to go.  
  
Shalila called to Tayla, just as Tayla was leaving, "Tayla, don't   
mention this to anyone else just yet. Keep mum for now until I have a chance to   
handle this problem."  
  
"Yes, Nama!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Jaypros had sent Dacos away, and not knowing what else to do, he sat   
down on the stone bench and rested his head on his chin. Shalila came into the   
bathhouse area; Aijal had left his mother to find his errant daughter. Aijal   
had demanded that his mother tell him what was going on, but Shalila silenced   
him with a withering glare and told him that he would know everything soon   
enough-when she was ready to tell him. She had sent Aijal on his way and told   
him to find Farla.  
  
"Jaypros," Shalila said sternly, "we need to talk."  
  
"A-about what, Nama?" he stammered.  
  
"I think you know, Jaypros," Shalila told him severely, as she sat   
down next to her grandson on the bench, rigid as one of the courtyard statues.  
  
"If it's about me and Farla, Nama," Jaypros began, "we are just good   
friends. You know that Farla and I have always been close, ever since we were   
children."  
  
"I am aware of that," Shalila continued in a steely tone. "I am   
also aware of certain other things as well, such as you once loved Farla   
yourself a long time ago, but before things became serious between you two,   
Cletos had begun to woo her himself-"  
  
"She has never truly loved Cletos!" Jaypros cried out fiercely.   
"She loves me, and I love her!" Shalila was taken aback by Jaypros' outburst,   
and then she started to worry. She had honestly been hoping that it had only   
been a casual affair between Jaypros and Farla.  
  
"So it is true then," Shalila told him finally. "You have been   
having an affair with your brother's wife?"  
  
Jaypros nodded shamefacedly, and Shalila felt a small spark of pity   
for him. But she could not show her sorrow; she was the Superior Gran of   
Astoria, and she had to maintain Astorian law and standards, even with her own   
grandson. And she would have to correct her grandson and make him see the error   
of his ways.  
  
"Jaypros," Shalila said, keeping her uncompromising tone of voice,   
"you know that what you are doing is wrong. You will have hurt your brother,   
Cletos, greatly with your actions. How could you do this to your own brother?   
How could Farla do this to her own husband? What has Cletos done to you two   
that you two would do such a horrible thing to him? Cletos has done you no   
wrong, Jaypros."  
  
"I know," Jaypros mumbled miserably. "I don't wish to hurt him,   
Nama, nor does Farla, but we love each other, and that fact can't be changed.   
Nama, Farla wishes to divorce Cletos to be with me."  
  
"I cannot allow it," Shalila said severely. Her gray eyes became   
hard and stern, like the walls of stone surrounding the gardens. "She cannot   
divorce Cletos just because her fancy in men has changed; you know that,   
Jaypros. You must forget about her, I am sorry, but she is married to your   
brother, and there is no true cause for her to divorce him for you. Cletos has   
not cheated on her or abused her. If I allowed people to divorce their spouses   
just because they happen to fall in love with someone else, Astoria's divorce   
rate would go through the atmosphere. And think about the pain and scandal a   
divorce would cause Dedron and Petalia, Farla's children who are innocent in   
this. They do not deserve to be hurt just because their mother cannot keep her   
caftan pulled down away from their father! They do not deserve to be hurt just   
because their mother and their uncle can't keep their hands off of each other!"   
  
"Nama, there is no need to be so crude about this," Jaypros told her   
softly.  
  
"Me, being crude?" Shalila hissed. "What do you call your sordid   
affair with your brother's wife, Jaypros? Pure and clean? Where is Farla   
hiding?"  
  
"I-I don't know, Nama," Jaypros voice shook. "She-she left after   
you called for Tayla."  
  
"And about Tayla," Shalila continued angrily, "she had to witness   
your nasty business with Farla. All right, so you did nothing more in front of   
her than kiss Farla's neck, but still-"  
  
"T-Tayla told you?" Jaypros cried in dismay. How could she do that   
to me, her own brother?  
  
"I made her," Shalila said stonily, "so do not take your anger out   
on her. If you wish to be angry with someone, then you may be angry with me.   
She did not want to tell on you two, but I insisted that she did. It was noble   
of her to want to protect you, but she had misguided intentions. She is not a   
good deceiver, Jaypros, and it was shameful for you both to involve that   
innocent girl in hiding your illicit affair. What kind of example does that set   
for her? And from what else I heard, you happen to be the talk of the Bathing   
Laborers." She meant to confront Saudra and Aydra later about how long they   
had known about Jaypros and Farla's affair. 


	27. The Scandal Heard Around Chloe

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Scandal Heard Around Chloe  
  
She sensed Aijal and Farla's energies approaching them. Shalila   
arose to meet them.  
  
"Mamma, I want to know what is going on here," Aijal told his mother   
firmly.  
  
"Ask your daughter," Shalila told him. Aijal turned around and   
looked directly at Farla, who was avoiding her father's eyes.  
  
"Farla? What is going on here?" Aijal asked her.  
  
Farla said nothing. She kept looking at Jaypros, who avoided her   
searching eyes.  
  
"Farla, answer me," Aijal told her sternly. "Even though you are   
married with children, you are still my daughter. Answer me."  
  
Farla mumbled under her breath, "I have been seeing Jaypros."  
  
"You have been having an affair with your brother-in-law and   
cousin?"  
  
Farla nodded, her head and eyes lowered.  
  
"Slut!" Aijal hissed, raising his hand to her. Shalila quickly   
seized her angry son's flying wrist and grabbed both of his arms, holding them   
behind his back before he could slap Farla. Aijal struggled in his mother's   
grip, but it was useless; his mother had always been stronger than him   
physically. Age had not weakened her one bit, for Shalila constantly trained   
and trained to stay at peak fighting condition.  
  
"Stay still, Aijal," Shalila ordered her son sternly. "You'll   
accomplish nothing by striking her. She is not a warrior, and she cannot fight   
you back."  
  
Aijal stopped struggling, but he continued to shout at his adulterous daughter.   
"Adulteress! Tramp! Betrayer! You and that-that adulterous, sleazy nephew of   
mine have disgraced our family, shamed the Clan of Chloe name! Both the Aijal   
Chloe and the Mantros Chloe families will be the laughingstock of all Astoria   
and the Clan of Chloe!"  
  
  
Farla shrank back against Jaypros, and finally Jaypros stood and put   
his arm around her waist, holding her close. "Uncle Aijal, I am sorry that I   
shamed your daughter and my brother," Jaypros told him softly, but firmly, "but   
I love your daughter and wish to marry her."  
  
"She is already married-to your brother, the very brother you   
betrayed, you piece of cow dung! If one of my own brothers had ever betrayed me   
like you have betrayed your brother, I would kill him by pounding him into a   
fine pulp, just like Cletos ought to do to you!" Aijal raged. "And don't think   
that he won't do it, either! And I'll laugh when it happens! You both are   
equally guilty, equally tainted! Both of you get out of my sight before I kill   
you both!" He started to struggle harder than ever, so that he could get at   
Jaypros, and even Shalila was having difficulty restraining him, for she was   
wearing of her grandchildren's adultery. And after a hard day of training   
before helping Tayla to pack, she was unusually tired.  
  
"You two better go," she told both Farla and Jaypros. The two arose   
to leave quickly. "And go to separate rooms! Farla, you go directly to your   
husband and try to think of ways that you can make up for the way you have   
treated him, for I will grant no divorce. Jaypros, you better figure out how   
you are going to get over Farla, for you must forget about her and pick a woman   
who is not married to someone else."  
  
Jaypros and Farla looked at each other with sad longing in their   
eyes. What could they do to be together forever? They had grown to love each   
other so much, and their affair had started eighteen months ago.  
  
They left the bathhouse area together, and Farla whispered fearfully   
to Jaypros, "They will tell Cletos on us, won't they?"  
  
"I don't know about Nama," Jaypros told her, "but I am certain that   
your father would."  
  
Farla started to cry, and Jaypros pulled her close and hugged her. Then he   
stood up, proud and brave. He had an idea on how they could be together   
forever.  
  
"Listen," he told his sobbing lover. "I have a plan, but it means   
that we will have to give up everything we have to be together."  
  
"I'd give up my title for you, Jaypros!" Farla cried passionately.   
"I should have never married Cletos, for it is you that I have always loved!"  
  
Jaypros smiled slowly. "Give me a pen and a scrap of paper." He and   
Farla went into the Palace meeting room, where meetings between Astorian and   
alien leaders had been taking place for over seventy years. Jaypros retrieved a   
smooth piece of white paper from one of the tablets, and he also took a fine,   
mahogany fountain pen from one the canisters on the teak meeting room table. He   
wrote a quick, yet lengthy letter in smooth, neat, bold strokes of the fountain   
pen. He left blanks in the letter, so that Farla could add her comments. When   
he was finished, he had Farla overlook the letter, and she filled in what she   
wanted to say. Then they both signed it.  
  
"I will miss my children," Farla said sadly, "but I know that they   
will be in good hands. They won't want for anything. Our Clan will not abandon   
them because of what we are about to do."   
  
Jaypros patted Farla's stomach, which was slightly swollen with his   
child. They knew without a DNA test that it was Jaypros' child because Farla   
had conceived three weeks ago, and she and Cletos had not mated for seven weeks.   
"We will start a new family," he told her softly.  
  
"Let's take my children with us, please, Jaypros," Farla begged   
suddenly.   
  
"We can't, Farla; they will hate us enough for what we are about to   
do. And we can't take them from your husband; he will search the ends of the   
universe to find them and us."  
  
Farla straightened up, and she said softly to Jaypros. "I must go   
see them one last time. I will not tell them that we are leaving, but I will   
let them know that I love them."  
  
She hurried to the training yard, where she suspected that Dedron would be   
training with Rojal, his best friend. She was right, and she also saw her   
daughter sitting on a stone bench, watching Rojal and her brother train together   
with their swords and minor ki attacks. Petalia kept trying to flirt with   
Rojal, but he ignored her as usual.  
  
Farla cried out, "Petalia and Dedron, may I see you both together,   
please?"  
  
Dedron came after firing a small ki ball at Rojal, who easily dodged it. Farla   
addressed Rojal quickly:  
  
"Rojal, I am sure that you will be a fine ruler over all of us   
someday. I just want you to know that you are turning out well, into a fine   
warrior and leader. If anything happens to me, will you see that Petalia and   
Dedron are looked after when you ascend your throne?"  
  
Rojal shrugged noncommittally. "'Kay, sure. Nothing's going to   
happen to them."  
  
"Good," Farla told him distractedly, as Dedron and Petalia   
approached her. Farla quickly kissed both of them on their cheeks and embraced   
each of them tightly.  
  
"I love you both very much," she told them fiercely. "Petalia, grow   
up to become beautiful and good. Keep on with your singing. And Dedron, look   
after your sister and take care of her. I am proud of both of you." She   
covered them with kisses.  
  
"Mamma," Petalia stammered, "you sound as if you are leaving us.   
Where are you going?"  
  
Farla laughed as merrily as possible. "Why would I leave you? I am just   
telling you how much I love you."  
  
Dedron looked at his mother suspiciously, and so did Rojal. What   
was she up to?  
  
"Dedron, don't look so worried. I just wanted to love you both and   
give you some good advice." Farla kissed her son soundly on his cheek. "I must   
go now. See you at dinner?"  
  
Dedron and Petalia nodded, but Rojal watched his aunt warily. He   
glared darkly at Dedron and Petalia. Didn't they realize that their mother was   
leaving, for Orchida only knew where?  
  
Farla hurried away out of the training yard, blowing kisses to her children.   
She had to meet destiny and Jaypros. She then allowed herself a few tears, for   
Dedron and Petalia would never get to know their unborn sibling.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dinnertime came, in the great dining hall of red and gold, where all   
of the Clan of Chloe members ate dinner together. The dining hall was not large   
enough to hold all of the members of the Clan of Chloe (there were over   
nine-thousand of them total), so dinner was given in four shifts: one shift at   
three o'clock pm for the Superior Gran and Granden, and the Mantros, Aijal,   
Felinda and Jesynthia Chloe families, the second shift for the Petrula, Korin,   
and Gohan Chloe families at five o'clock pm, and the third shift and fourth   
shifts that were held at seven and nine o'clock pm were for all other Clan of   
Chloe members. Dinner officially ended at eleven o'clock pm. The servants ate   
in a separate dining hall decked out in green and yellow, where they ate in   
three shifts, depending on whom they were serving or what area of employ in the   
Palace they were in.  
  
After breakfast (which the Kitchen Laborers always started at four   
o'clock am to have on time at nine o'clock am) they would start cooking dinner   
right at nine o'clock after breakfast, and only ten of them were spared to make   
lunch for the Clan of Chloe, and those servants had to start lunch at seven   
o'clock am. Lunch was the lightest meal of the day, so that the royalty would   
have room in their stomachs for dinner. All the Kitchen Laborers were thankful   
for the fancy equipment and robots that helped them to cook good and genuine   
food quickly.  
  
Cletos searched the room anxiously for his wife, but he could not   
find her at all. Dedron was shoveling food in his mouth at their table, and   
Petalia was applying scarlet lipstick even though she was only ten years old.   
Normally Cletos would have scolded them both, but he was too distracted, and   
Tayla had been avoiding him, afraid that he would ask her about his wife.  
  
He also noticed that Jaypros was not at dinner as well, and his   
servants had not seen him since breakfast.  
  
Finally, Farla's maid, Traca, came to his table, and she quickly   
slipped him a note onto his nearly untouched plate. The envelope was scented   
with Farla's favorite violet perfume; Cletos would later hate violets for the   
rest of his life, for violets were Farla's favorite flowers.  
  
Before he could question Traca about Farla's whereabouts, Traca   
hurried away, and Cletos held the scented envelope in his hands. Then he   
smiled, for that was how Farla used to send him love notes; he had grown to love   
those scented violet letters, scented with violet perfume and written on   
lavender paper.  
  
He would never love them again.  
  
He opened the envelope quickly, and he read and reread the contents   
of that violet-scented letter with an unreadable expression on his face. Then   
he slowly realized what the letter really meant, what it was really saying:   
  
Dear Cletos,  
I pray that someday you can forgive us, for what we are about to do. Farla loves you dearly, Cletos, and so do I, but we cannot deny our love for each other any longer.  
  
Cletos, darling, please try and understand. I still love you, but it as a sister loves her brother, not as a wife should love her husband. Do not worry about telling the children goodbye for me, for I have already done so.  
  
As horrible, as this is going to sound to you, we have decided to elope and leave Chloe and Astoria behind for good. We know where we are going, but we cannot tell you, for you will surely follow us. We know that this is going to hurt you and Petalia and Dedron, but we pray to Orchida that you will understand.  
  
Cletos, please explain to the children for me what I have done. I know all three of you are going to hate me, and I don't blame all of you for doing so. Please comfort the children and give them the hugs and kisses that I cannot.  
  
Cletos, you have been a good brother to me, and I know what I am doing with your wife will hurt you, but hopefully, you will find a wife someday whom you can be happy with. I am not leaving with your wife to hurt you deliberately, but I just love her too much to let her go, and she feels the same way about me.   
  
You have been a good husband to me, Cletos, and I am grateful and thankful for the children you have given me and also for the years we have had together. Part of me will always love you, and I will never forget you.  
  
Cletos, no matter what tragedy our actions will cause you and the children, we will always love you and think of you. I know that I have done you a great wrong by taking your wife from you, but I hope that someday that you will understand. I am sorry for any hurt I am about to cause you, for I know that you will hate us both forever, especially me. And I don't blame you for doing so.  
  
Cletos, you would not want me back anyway, for I am carrying Jaypros' child. Dedron and Petalia will have a sibling that they will never get to know, and I am sorry for that, but it cannot be helped. Please don't hold this against your brother; instead, blame me.   
  
I wish you only happiness and love, and I am truly sorry for your coming grief that we are about to cause you. May Dedron and Petalia be a great comfort for you in this horrible time.  
  
May you always have happiness, Cletos, and good luck and blessings to you and our children. And Dedron, Petalia? I will always love you both, and I hope that someday that you two will forgive me for what I am about to do.  
  
  
Sincerely,  
Jaypros and Farla  
  
  
Cletos was enraged! He overturned the table, where he had been   
sitting at, tossing food, dishes and utensils on the dining room floor. He   
roared a feral cry of pain and agony, as Dedron and Petalia cowered near him.   
Petalia's white, lacy caftan was ruined; it was covered with food and streaked   
with the red lipstick that she had been using. Cletos did not pity her; that   
lipstick was her slut mother's anyway.  
  
"Father?" Dedron asked timidly, as all of the diners stared at him   
in horror. Shalila looked at Cletos with too much pity, for she had suspected   
that he had finally learned the truth. She and Dirkan left their private table   
and hurried over to poor Cletos.  
  
Tayla had not been sitting with Shalila and Dirkan that evening like   
she normally did. Instead, she had been dining with Gracina and her family.   
Gracina looked at Cletos with worry, and then back at Tayla. She was wondering   
if Cletos' rage had something to do with Tayla's unusual silence at dinner.   
Tayla had been quiet and morose the entire afternoon.  
  
"What's going on with Cletos?" Lektron wondered out loud to his   
wife.  
  
Gracina could not tell him, and Shalila had told Tayla not to tell   
anyone yet about Jaypros and Farla's affair, so she could not inform Gracina and   
Lektron of any possibilities. Tayla wished that she had not gone to Nama when   
Nama had called her; then no one would have ever known. She blamed herself for   
everything.  
  
"That whore!" Cletos cried, even though there were no prostitutes on   
Astoria. "I loved her, gave her everything, including my heart, and she does   
this to me! And Jaypros, my own brother! They both betrayed me, left me to run   
off together, to leave Chloe and Astoria forever! Farla has abandoned her own   
children! My wife has left me, and my brother took her from me! Tell me, what   
have I done to deserve this?" He shoved the letter at a worried Shalila.  
  
Shalila's face paled with shock, reddened with fury, and then   
finally regained its normal color, along with much pity for Cletos. Dirkan read   
the letter over Shalila's shoulder.  
  
"That little witch!" Dirkan roared. "And Jaypros is no better! How   
could they both do this to Cletos, to their own cousin and brother?"  
  
"They are banished from the Clan of Chloe!" Shalila exclaimed   
furiously, losing her usual composure. "Banished! They have hurt Cletos and   
his children and shamed us all! They can no longer call themselves royalty or   
Clan of Chloe!"  
  
Dirkan did not dispute her words. As much as he hated for Shalila   
to ban any of her grandchildren, he knew that Shalila was doing what she thought   
best. If Jaypros and Farla were allowed to get away with what they were doing,   
others would soon follow suit.  
  
Raakon took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He wanted to tell   
Nama not to be so rash in banishing her own grandchildren from the Clan, but he   
knew that Shalila, like Cletos, was too upset right now to listen to reason. He   
also knew deep down that his grandmother would think more carefully about what   
to do about her errant descendants once she eventually calmed down. Shalila was   
unlikely to banish any of her people outright without good cause.  
  
Cletos broke down and sobbed loudly, his cries echoing throughout   
the entire dining hall. Shalila gathered him into her arms and cradled him, as   
if he were a child. She managed to regain her composure, as she rocked Cletos   
back and forth in her arms, like she used to do when Cletos had been a little   
boy. She ran her fingers through Cletos' hair.  
  
Shalila was thankful for one moment that Mantros was not alive to   
witness his son's agony. Mantros would have hunted Jaypros down and emasculated   
him, son or not. And if Mantros could have, with no one stopping him, he would   
have broken the faithless Farla's neck. Shalila felt like doing the same things   
herself.  
  
Half of the dining room's occupants had quickly excused themselves,   
leaving their dinners untouched. No one had much of an appetite now anyway, not   
even Dedron, who was in shock over his mother's actions. The other half,   
including Gracina and Lektron, gathered around Cletos to see what comfort they   
could offer him.  
  
Gorna surprised them all. She went to Cletos and put her thick,   
meaty arm around his shoulders in a rare act of comfort and sympathy. "That   
little slut isn't worth your tears, Cletos," she said in an unusually kindly   
tone. "Neither is our bastard brother, Jaypros. As far as I am concerned, they   
are no longer my relatives. I don't know about Nama, but should those two ever   
come back on Astorian soil during my reign, they won't be welcome at all. In   
fact, they'll be lucky if they land on Astorian soil alive!"  
  
No one disputed Gorna on her harsh words, not even Shalila, Gracina,   
or Raakon. Raakon pitied his brother and Cletos' children more than anyone   
else. Raakon and Natala tried to comfort Petalia and Dedron the best they could   
by speaking softly to them and trying to hold their stiff, rigid bodies. Tears   
were sliding down Petalia's cheeks, and Tayla, who normally did not get along   
well with Petalia, offered her lace handkerchief to her heartbroken niece.   
Petalia muttered a weak thank you and accepted it, using it to wipe the many   
tears flowing down her face.  
  
"I'm sorry about your mother," she whispered softly.  
  
Petalia hissed, "I would have rather she had died!"  
  
"So do I!" Dedron screamed in unison. "Better a dead mother than   
one who has disgraced and hurt us!"  
  
Tayla did not entirely agree, for at least Dedron and Petalia had a   
mother, and she didn't. Tayla had wished she had gotten to know her mother,   
even though Nama had more than taken her mother's place in her life.  
  
"You are luckier than we are, Tayla!" Dedron cried. "Your mother is   
dead. At least your mother would have never hurt your father and siblings the way   
our mother had hurt all of us!"  
  
"Dedron!" Natala exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry, Aunt Natala, but it's true," Dedron mumbled.  
  
"That's right," Petalia agreed through her tears. "At least Tayla's   
mother will never hurt or embarrass her!"  
  
"I hate her!" Dedron cried. "I wish that Frieza or the Saiyans   
would capture Mamma and Uncle Jaypros and kill them! I hope they make them   
suffer!"  
  
"Dedron!" Raakon rebuked him gently. "I understand that you are   
hurt and angry, but that is not a nice thing to wish on anyone, no matter what."  
  
Arlina said quietly, "You should be careful what you wish for,   
Dedron, because it could come true."  
  
Dedron snorted contemptuously. "I couldn't be that lucky anyway.   
They'll probably spend the rest of their pathetic, cheating lives living out on   
some remote planet, giving birth to bastard children!"  
  
"They are fools anyway," Rojal snapped, "Going out into space like   
that alone! They deserve whatever they get! I no longer consider them my   
relatives either!"  
  
Gohan and Hazel stood nearby, unable to get into the crowd to see Cletos.   
"Wow," Hazel whispered, "Poor Cletos."  
  
"I feel sorry for my nephew," Gohan said softly.   
  
Korin, Gohan's brother and Shalila's sixth oldest child, spoke to   
Hazel, "Hazel, nothing against your people, but how is it that Humans can have   
so many divorces and illicit affairs all the time and get away with it?" Korin   
was a Scientist, and he had been gathering information from Hazel about her home   
planet, Earth. He had been especially interested in Human relationships and in   
the astronomical divorce rate among them.   
  
Felinda, Gohan's sister and Shalila's oldest daughter, agreed. "Your   
people must be miserable all of the time. Don't they ever stop to think about   
their actions, or how those actions can affect generations and families for   
years to come?"  
  
Hazel sighed wearily. She knew that many Human ways were seen as   
shocking or impossible by the Astorian people, especially the casual way that   
many Humans left their mates so easily for someone else.  
  
"Not all Humans are like that," was her best defense.  
  
"Probably not," Korin agreed, "It doesn't seem to be so in your case   
anyway. But you have to agree that Astoria has only five percent of the   
divorces that Earth seems to have." Korin was basically an unemotional man, all   
facts and figures and words. Most of the time, he neither paid little   
attention to other people nor cared for much of what they did. Korin was happy   
in his small world of facts, figures, sums, and words. He had never had a   
girlfriend in his life, which did not bother him, since he thought that women   
took up too much valuable studying time. He looked at the sobbing Cletos and   
angry children dispassionately, observing them as he would strangers, with only   
vague pity and remote interest.  
  
This is all my fault, Tayla thought. If I had just refused to   
tell Nama, we wouldn't be in this mess, and then Farla and Jaypros would have   
stayed.  
  
Shalila addressed several Clan of Chloe warriors quietly, "I want a   
search party sent out for Farla and Jaypros Chloe. And if you find them, they   
are to be arrested and put into protective custody."  
  
"Yes, Your Highness!" the warriors echoed.  
  
Raakon spoke up. "Nama, are you sure that you want to do that? You   
are asking them to arrest your own grandchildren: my cousin and my brother."  
  
Shalila narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not going to let them be   
harmed, Raakon," she told him coolly. "I merely want them to account for what   
they have done." It hurt her more than anyone knew to have to discipline her   
own grandchildren this way, but she had no choice; adultery could not be   
tolerated, for it would set a bad example for everyone else.  
  
"They could still be on Chloe," Natala spoke up hopefully.  
  
Oton, Shalila's oldest guard, who had just entered the chaotic   
dining hall, spoke, "I am afraid not, Princess Natala, for a ship is missing,   
and my guards have told me that Prince Jaypros and Princess Farla left in one of   
them three hours before dinner. We have managed to track the ship; it is now in   
outer space."  
  
Shalila cursed under her breath. 


	28. Getting To Know Hazel

Chapter Twenty-Eight:Getting to Know Hazel  
  
Later that evening.  
  
Shalila had Cletos put to bed, and Gracina, Bajal, Natala, and   
Raakon offered to stay with him. Shalila and Dirkan paced the halls outside of   
the Cletos Chloe family's door relentlessly, alternating between meditating and   
debating what to do about Jaypros and Farla.  
  
Shalila sighed wearily, as she and Dirkan finally sat down next to   
each other. "Perhaps I was too hasty in declaring that Jaypros and Farla be   
banished. But the hurt they have caused Cletos! I understand those two loved   
each other when they were children, but it was Farla that left Jaypros for   
Cletos. And Farla is married to Cletos! She even abandoned her own children,   
and that alone is inexcusable!"  
  
"Farla has always been a bit flighty and irresponsible," Dirkan   
reflected. "And Jaypros has always been rash and impulsive, but their   
characters do not excuse their actions. Shalila, you are doing the right thing   
by not tolerating this."  
  
"I understand that," Shalila moaned miserably, resting her head on   
Dirkan's shoulder. "But I still love them, no matter what horrid things they   
have done. I hate to banish any of my grandchildren, but I can't condone their   
actions."  
  
"No, you can't," Dirkan told her firmly, placing his green hand   
gently on her red hair. "Jaypros and Farla must understand that the great wrong   
they have done Cletos, Petalia, and Dedron. And the only way to make them see   
that is to be tough on them. Jaypros no longer has parents, and Farla's parents   
have indulged her every whim, from the time she was a child. I understand that   
we indulge Tayla quite a bit ourselves, but Tayla is taught right from wrong,   
and she knows exactly what she can and cannot get away with. Farla's parents   
have let that woman get away with murder."  
  
"Not the last time," Shalila told him wearily. She briefly   
described to Dirkan Aijal's nasty reaction to the news that his daughter was an   
adulteress.  
  
"Aijal tried to raise a hand against her?" Dirkan asked, amazed.   
"I've never known him to do so much as raise his voice against his favorite   
daughter."  
  
"He was embarrassed and furious, and I couldn't blame him; such a   
thing would embarrass any parent. If one of my own children acted that way, I   
probably would be very angry too," Shalila stated, her voice tired.  
  
Tayla appeared into the corridor, on the way to her own room. She   
looked Shalila and Dirkan directly in the eyes and whispered that she was sorry   
for causing so much trouble.  
  
Shalila patted her lap and told Tayla to sit in it, and Tayla   
reluctantly did. "Tayla, what has happened had nothing to do with you. You   
take things too much to heart, child. You are not to blame for what has   
occurred. "  
  
"I should have refused to tell," Tayla told her, "Then Jaypros and   
Farla would have stayed on Chloe, and Cletos would not be so miserable."  
  
"You should never refuse to tell your grandmother anything, Tayla,"   
Dirkan told her sternly. "It is never good to keep something like that to   
yourself. If you had covered up what you knew, you would have been enabling   
Jaypros and Farla. You would have been allowing them to continue doing wrong,   
which would be a wrong in itself. And you should know that you needn't keep   
secrets from your grandmother, ever."  
  
"Tayla, if you had not told me, I would have wondered what else you   
were hiding from me," Shalila added. "Deception destroys trust, and I want to   
know that I can always trust you. I don't want to think that you would ever   
hide anything from me. You should always tell the truth, like you did earlier."  
  
"I did, and people got hurt because of it," Tayla snapped bitterly.   
"If telling the truth hurts, I don't think it's such a good thing, after all!"   
She was holding back tears.  
  
"No one has ever told you that telling the truth would always be   
pleasant," Dirkan said, "Telling the truth is not meant to please people; it is   
to be doing the right thing. We understand that you didn't want to get Jaypros   
and Farla in trouble, but they were doing wrong, and they need to be corrected.   
There will be many unpleasant things in life that you will have to do, and   
telling the truth will sometimes be one of them."  
  
"Maybe, if I had told them to stop on their own and agree not to   
tell anyone, they would have stopped committing adultery, and Farla would have   
stayed with Cletos." Tayla offered this as a possibility.  
  
Shalila sighed and shook her head. "It wouldn't have been that   
simple, Tayla. Jaypros and Farla are deeply attached to each other, and no   
amount of persuasion or warnings would have made them stop. I am sorry that I   
had to refuse Farla a divorce from Cletos, but she had no real reason to leave   
him."  
  
"What is a divorce, Nama?" Tayla asked; she was confused by the   
strange word that she had been hearing a lot lately.  
  
Shalila closed her eyes and meditated for a few moments, trying to   
think of the best and honest way to answer Tayla's question without going into   
gritty details. Finally, she opened her eyes and said simply, "A divorce   
dissolves a marriage, making it nonexistent. A divorced couple is no longer   
married, and they may marry other people."  
  
"Why would anyone divorce?" Tayla asked softly.  
  
Shalila explained quietly, "In Jaypros and Farla's case, Farla   
wanted to leave Cletos and marry Jaypros because she thought that she loved   
Jaypros more, but I could not grant her a divorce. You see, little dandelion,   
Astorian law states that divorce may only be granted in cases of adultery or   
abuse-that means beating your spouse or treating him or her very badly. Cletos   
did not commit adultery against Farla, nor did he abuse her. So I could not   
grant a divorce."  
  
"But if Farla thought that she didn't love Cletos anymore, then why   
you were making her stay with him?"  
  
"Because, Tayla, wives cannot just divorce their husbands because   
they happen to fall in love with someone else, and it is the same for husbands.   
You cannot divorce your mate just because your love has changed. When you marry   
someone, it is to be for life, until death do you part. That is why you must be   
very selective about whom you choose to spend the rest of your life with. You   
must be sure that you are willing to love, support and protect your mate, no   
matter what happens. Marriage is for life, an eternal commitment that should   
end only with death."  
  
"And, if I allowed everyone to divorce their mates just because they   
happen to fall in love with someone new, so many people would wind up doing   
that, many lives would fall apart, and many families would be broken up. Let me   
put a test to you: how would you feel if Dirkan and I decided to divorce each   
other tomorrow and never see each other again? Be honest now."  
  
Tayla frowned. "I'd be very mad and hurt 'cause you two didn't love   
each other enough to stay together and take care of all of us. I want you two   
to stay together forever!"  
  
Shalila nodded approvingly. She smoothed Tayla's hair with her   
hand. "Exactly. And that is how children of divorce wind up feeling: angry and   
hurt. That is what Dedron and Petalia are feeling right now because they think   
that their mother didn't care enough to be with them. Their mother has   
abandoned them for their uncle, leaving them behind forever. Farla has hurt her   
children tremendously."  
  
"How can a mother abandon her children?"  
  
Shalila and Dirkan were quiet then, although it was not an unusual   
question for a young child to ask. Dirkan finally spoke, "Farla was not   
thinking straight when she left her family to run off with Jaypros. She did not   
stop and consider the consequences of her actions, nor did Jaypros consider the   
consequences of his actions. They were wrong to do what they did, and because   
of their cruel actions, Cletos will hurt for a long time, and his children will   
be wounded for a lifetime. Farla and Jaypros have left deep scars on all of   
them. And they have also disgraced your Clan and your family, marring the Clan   
of Chloe name."  
  
"What will you do, if they come back someday?"  
  
Shalila and Dirkan sighed. "We will decide that, if that should   
happen. Right now, we have no pat answers." Shalila ruffled Tayla's dark hair   
and said, "Time for bed, now. Give us a kiss and a hug good-night."  
  
Tayla did so gratefully, kissing them both soundly on their cheeks   
and squeezing them so tightly that Shalila and Dirkan could barely breathe.   
Both of them hugged and kissed her and patted her back, and they sent her off to   
bed.  
  
"Wait!" Tayla cried, as she was leaving, "Couldn't I see if Cletos   
is okay?"  
  
"We'll let him know that you were concerned," Shalila told her. "If   
he wishes, you may see him in the morning. Good-night, dandelion."  
  
"'Night, Nama! 'Night Dirkan!" Tayla flew off to her room.  
  
But she did not go straight to her room right away. She would have,   
but then she passed the entryway to the guest room wing of the Palace. She   
noticed Hazel, soon to be her aunt, wearing a strange pink, filmy, lacy garment   
that resembled a slip. The garment was only thigh-length and sheer. Hazel wore   
a sheer, lacy robe over the flimsy slip. Hazel was out in the hallway,   
standing, with her stiff, wiry hair down to her back. Tayla thought that she   
was one of the prettiest, strangest creatures that she had ever seen, with her   
coffee-colored skin and eyes, small bosom and trim waist.  
  
Tayla had never seen a nightgown like the one Hazel was wearing.   
She was still too young to understand that most of the women in her family would   
have considered such a garment indecent, at least to wear outside of the   
bedroom. Astorian nightwear was elegant and lovely, but modest and   
conservative, and Tayla had never seen anyone expose as much skin as Hazel did.   
Astorian women did not usually expose their legs in public, and their dresses   
were almost always ankle-length. Tayla looked down at her own nightgown which   
was pale-blue, ankle-length and lacy, but very modest.  
  
Being the curious child that she was, she approached Hazel, who was   
now sitting down in the hallway, in quiet thought. Tayla noticed her strange   
pink satin mules that were trimmed with pink marabou feathers.  
  
"I like your slippers," Tayla told her softly.  
  
Hazel favored her with a small smile. "Thanks, kid."  
  
"I've never seen a nightgown like yours before. I didn't know there   
were clothes that you could see through." Tayla was not saying this to condemn   
Hazel for her clothing; she was merely making an observation.  
  
Hazel laughed softly. She knew that Tayla was not criticizing her.   
She understood that Tayla had never seen a garment like hers before. "This is a   
normal Earth nightgown, although a couple of your relatives got on my case for   
it. They called it indecent and said it exposed too much skin."  
  
"I like the color of your skin," Tayla told her honestly. "I've   
never seen anyone with brown skin before. You look like a brown-skinned   
Astorian. Is your hair as soft as ours?"  
  
Hazel chuckled. "I'm afraid not, kid. My hair's stiff compared to   
yours. You want to touch it?"  
  
Tayla nodded and touched Hazel's hair. Hazel was right; her hair   
was stiff and wiry compared to her own.  
  
"We have hair-softening oils to make your hair softer," Tayla told   
her after touching Hazel's hair.  
  
Hazel nodded. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I heard Astorian   
hair is really soft, softer than rabbit's fur. I know Gohan's was. Is all   
Astorian hair the same way?"  
  
Tayla nodded. "You can touch mine, if you like. Normally I don't let people   
touch my hair unless I know them well, but I think I can trust you."  
  
Hazel tentatively touched Tayla's hair. She knew that Astorian   
women were particular about who touched their hair, and that their hair was   
considered an intimate part of their bodies, much like their breasts or bottom.   
She had learned this the hard way when she playfully ruffled the hair of one of   
the little Astorian princesses at the ball, and the child had ran crying to her   
mother. The mother, one of Princess Felinda Chloe's daughters, had ran over to   
Hazel and snapped at her for touching the child's hair without permission.   
Thankfully Felinda had intervened and explained to her daughter that Hazel was a   
Human, and she did not know that it had been improper to touch the child's hair.   
Felinda's daughter, Andrya, had calmed down, but she and her small daughter,   
Porta, kept giving Hazel wary looks for the rest of that evening.  
  
Tayla's hair was soft and down, much softer than an Angora sweater,   
and yet as strong and durable as spider silk. Hazel was amazed.  
  
"When it gets too long, my hair gets cut down to shoulder-length and   
made into cloth," Tayla explained. "This nightgown is made out of my own hair   
and silk." She let Hazel touch her nightgown, and Tayla's nightgown was softer   
than silk alone.  
  
Hazel smiled. "My nightgown is soft, but it's just made out of   
polyester and rayon."  
  
"What's polyester and rayon?"  
  
Ahh, Hazel thought, I really am not on Earth anymore. No one here   
has heard of polyester or rayon. I wonder what else they never heard of.  
  
"Man-made fabrics. The fabrics are made in factories on Earth,"   
Hazel informed her. She stood up and went towards her room. "Want to come real   
quick?"  
  
"Sure," Tayla told her, "I can't stay too long though 'cause I'm   
really supposed to be going to bed."  
  
"Ah, I see," Hazel told her with a grin. "Burning the midnight oil,   
huh?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Earth expression, never mind," Hazel said quickly, as she and Tayla   
entered her room.  
  
Hazel loved her room; it was actually a suite decorated in pine green and gold   
with wide bay windows and a large bed with a quilted bedspread and canopy decked   
in a green background with gold oak leaves. The wood furnishings were made out   
of mahogany and cherry, and the carpet was thick and deep, deep enough to cover   
Hazel's ankles. The suite had a sitting room, a bathroom, and a dressing room   
with two gigantic closets. Hazel's childhood house could have fitted into the   
entire suite.  
  
She went over to her suitcase and opened it, removing a small   
capsule. She threw the capsule on the ground, and to Tayla's shock, it   
exploded. When the smoke cleared, there was suddenly a small white   
refrigerator. Hazel opened the refrigerator and offered Tayla a strange can   
colored red, white and blue. Tayla took it and read the logo on the can, and   
the logo had a strange word that she had never seen before.  
  
"Pepsi?" she asked. "What's Pepsi?"  
  
"Cola, a soda," Hazel told her. "We drink them all the time on   
Earth. It's a popular drink."  
  
"Is it safe?"  
  
"Sure is," Hazel assured her. "You shouldn't drink too much of it   
though at bedtime because it can keep you awake all night, but one can probably   
won't hurt."  
  
Tayla kept turning the can about and staring at it until Hazel   
realized that Tayla did not know how to open it. So she showed the little   
princess how to open the can by popping the top. (Tayla liked hearing the sound   
of the can opening.) The child took a small sip, letting the bubbles settle on   
her tongue.  
  
"I like this," she decided finally, as she finished the drink within   
minutes.  
  
Hazel allowed Tayla to peek in the refrigerator, and Tayla noticed several   
strange wrapped bars inside. Hazel told her they were chocolate bars and Tayla   
was delighted, especially when she heard there were nuts in each of them. Hazel   
opened one of the chocolate bars and gave it to Tayla.  
  
Tayla cautiously took a bite, even though she had eaten chocolate   
and nuts before. "Delicious!" she declared.  
  
"That one is called a Snickers bar," Hazel explained to her.   
"That's my personal favorite."  
  
"I wish they made this stuff here," Tayla said, after finishing her   
chocolate bar.  
  
Hazel ate a Snickers bar herself, and Tayla thanked her for the soda   
and candy bar.  
  
"Have you ever eaten a chocolate sugarplum?" Tayla asked her.  
  
"Your uncle gave me one before; I've never had anything like   
it...that was pretty good," Hazel acknowledged.  
  
"I have some in my room, if you want some later."  
  
"Thanks, kid, I'll keep that in mind."  
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, Tayla awoke earlier than usual, even earlier than   
Mykia, who was naturally an early riser. Tayla hastily dressed herself without   
her maid's help; she decided to let Mykia sleep, but when the maid awoke, she   
panicked at finding Tayla gone.  
  
"Princess Tayla?" Mykia called worriedly. Tayla had never awakened   
before her; Mykia usually had to usher her small mistress out of bed each   
morning.  
  
"Princess?"  
  
Mykia dashed out of Tayla's suite, and she hurried down to the   
bathhouse. She asked Saudra and Aydra if Tayla had taken her morning bath yet.   
Both Bathing Laborers told her no.  
  
Shalila had come to the women's bathhouse this morning because Dirkan had   
decided to go into the wilderness for extra training and meditation. He did   
this every so often, and Shalila was used to it. She and Dirkan usually bathed   
together these days, but since Dirkan was gone, she decided to bath in the   
women's bathhouse again. Dalantra was with her.  
  
"Mykia? Where is Tayla?" Shalila asked worriedly, as Dalantra   
slowly washed her mistress's hair.  
  
"I-I don't know, Your Highness," Mykia stammered. "She woke up   
before me and was gone!"  
  
"Princess Tayla up that early! The child must be ill!" Dalantra   
exclaimed, for she and Shalila knew that Tayla was not naturally the early riser   
that her maid was.  
  
Shalila tried not to panic. It was possible that Tayla had gone off   
to play with one of her cousins or nieces and nephews, or decided to have   
breakfast early, or visit Gracina or Raakon, or...  
  
"You don't think that she went out into the wilderness to look for   
Dirkan, do you?" she asked both maids. Shalila's heart began to pound.  
  
The maids and the Bathing Laborers looked at each other worriedly.   
Tayla was a strong, capable child, but even she did not need to be wandering   
about in the Chloe wilderness by herself.  
  
Fortunately, Tayla herself came into the bathhouse, a little late   
for her early morning bath. She called out cheerfully to the servant women and   
her grandmother. The women were relieved to see her.  
  
"Tayla Chloe, where have you been?" Shalila exclaimed.  
  
"I just went to visit Hazel." Tayla quickly stripped and gave her   
clothes to Aydra before jumping into the bathing pool. She jubilantly did a   
cannonball dive and made a loud splash, wetting Shalila and Dalantra further.  
  
Dalantra covered her dull green eyes a few moments too late, as the   
tidal wave that Tayla created with her cannonball dive nearly engulfed her and   
Shalila. Shalila sighed and narrowed her silver-gray eyes at her mischievous   
granddaughter in both disapproval and amusement.  
  
"Tayla," she said sternly, trying to keep a straight face. "You   
were told before not to jump into the pool like that. The bathing pool is too   
shallow for you to practice your diving stunts; you could hit your head or knees   
on the bottom. And you splashed Dalantra and I."  
  
"Sorry, Nama, Dalantra," Tayla said quickly. She smiled broadly   
again and began to swim around in excitement, relishing the water. She did all   
sorts of crazy stunts and tricks in the water, standing on her head in the water   
and acting clownishly. Poor Mykia could not get her to stay still long enough   
to bath her; Princess Tayla was so unusually hyper this morning.   
  
Shalila and Dalantra permitted themselves to smile at Tayla's   
antics, then they grew wistful, for in two days, Tayla would be leaving for   
Chloe Orchida for two years. Shalila sighed again, sadder than ever, for what   
would she do without her favorite darling around? Of course there were the   
other grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she loved them all dearly, but   
they weren't Tayla. She would only get to see her little dandelion only once a   
month after Tayla left.   
  
Tayla happily swam over to her grandmother and hugged her tightly.   
Shalila returned her embrace, holding her, as if she never wanted to let her go.   
Ah, things would not be the same without Tayla around.  
  
Tayla called out to Aydra from her grandmother's embrace, "Aydra,   
would you bring me my bag, please? I have treats for everyone."  
  
Aydra obeyed, and she gave Tayla her small satchel. Tayla reached   
into the leather bag with her wet paws and pulled out two of the cans of soda   
that Hazel had given her this morning. She offered a can to her Nama, and she   
opened the can of cola for herself.  
  
Dalantra panicked when she saw Tayla start to drink the cola, and   
she quickly snatched the can out of Tayla's hand. Tayla was shocked at this and   
cried out in protest.  
  
"Dalantra! Why'd you do that?"  
  
Dalantra turned her worried eyes on Shalila, and Shalila looked down at her own   
can of soda. "Pardon me, mistress, but where did Tayla get these cans from?"  
  
Shalila did not answer, for she did not know. She knew what soda   
was, of course, but the only soda that she had drunk in her life was on planet   
Earth was a can of orange soda just before she left Earth permanently for King   
Kai's planet. Astoria had no soda at all; Astorians only drank milk, tea,   
juice, coffee, and water, mainly saltwater.  
  
Shalila could understand Dalantra's concern, for she did not know if   
this kind of soda was safe for Astorian consumption. She looked at Tayla.  
  
"Tayla, where did you get these from?"  
  
Tayla piped up, unaware of her grandmother's worry, "Hazel gave them   
to me."  
  
Shalila frowned then. "Tayla, I do not want you to drink any more   
of these until I know that these liquids are safe to drink." Shalila was   
troubled now, for any consumable items brought by aliens to Astoria were always   
supposed to be confiscated first for safety tests. Aliens landing on Astorian   
soil were required to turn over any food or drinks that they had brought with   
them to be tested for harmful germs and chemicals. What was edible and safe to   
other aliens could be deadly to Astorians. If the consumable items passed the   
safety tests, they were given back to the visitors that had brought them. Hazel   
should have turned over the sodas when she had landed on Astoria with Gohan.   
How had these strange drinks passed customs inspections? The Customs Laborers   
were supposed to thoroughly examine and inspect any luggage or packages that   
aliens brought with them. Any questionable items were automatically   
confiscated.  
  
"I drank one last night in Hazel's room, and it did nothing to me."  
  
Shalila sighed; Tayla should have gone straight to bed last night,   
but she refrained from scolding Tayla about it, for after all, the child was   
leaving in two days. "Tayla, does Hazel have any other food or drinks in her   
room that you know are not from this planet?"  
  
"Why yes!" Tayla chirped, "She has all sorts of goodies, Nama! She   
gave me a thing called a chocolate bar with nuts and stuff, and this morning she   
gave me a bag of cheesy puffs. They were wrapped in shiny, pretty paper, Nama."  
  
"How was she storing these?"  
  
"Oh, that's the really neat part, Nama! Hazel threw a capsule on   
the floor last night, and it exploded, and it turned into a refrigerator. All   
this stuff came out of the refrigerator! She says that capsules are the best   
way to preserve food like that."  
  
Hazel entered the bathhouse just then. The slender, beautiful black   
woman wished that she could have bathed with her fiancé, but she was not married   
to him yet, so she had to bath with the other women. She was a bit shy and   
nervous when she entered the bathhouse; she had not bathed with other people   
since she had been a child in East St. Louis.  
  
"Hello, Hazel!" Tayla called to her cheerfully. Hazel greeted her   
back.  
  
"Hey kid, decided to take your bath after all?" Hazel grinned.  
  
"Sure did! I offered Nama a soda, but-" Tayla was interrupted when   
Shalila put a finger on her small lips to silence her.  
  
"Tayla, I need to speak to Hazel for a moment." Shalila nodded   
towards Hazel's direction. "Hazel, may I see you on the other end of the   
bathing pool, please? I need to talk to you in private."  
  
Hazel grew uncomfortable then. Had she breached another Astorian   
custom again? This morning, she had worn another one of her sheer negligees,   
this time with a heavy robe covering it, and she had gone downstairs to the   
Chloe tearoom for breakfast. The other occupants had given her strange looks,   
and finally Jesynthia, Felinda's twin sister and Shalila's second oldest   
daughter, had told her why.  
  
Astorians always bathed and dressed before breakfast. No one wore   
his or her nightclothes to breakfast.  
  
Hazel had been extremely embarrassed, and although Jesynthia had   
assured her that things would be okay, Hazel had fled to her room and decided to   
skip breakfast. Tayla had come to her room early, and she and Hazel had shared   
a bag of cheesy puffs for breakfast. Tayla had not eaten anything else today   
besides that.  
  
Hazel walked slowly to the other end of the bathing pool, and   
Shalila had already beaten her there, for Shalila was a good, fast swimmer.  
  
"Sit down, Hazel," Shalila told her, and Hazel did so reluctantly,   
sitting on the edge of the pool, with her feet in the water. Shalila leaned her   
muscular back against the wall of the bathing pool and looked up at Hazel.  
  
"Hazel," Shalila began quietly. "Did the Customs Laborers know   
about these sodas and snacks that you have in your room?"  
  
"I don't think so, ma'am," Hazel told her briefly, "They just looked   
at the capsules and put them thorough the scanners. Nothing came up that   
alarmed them. They just let me keep them."  
  
"Hazel," Shalila said, "I understand that you were being generous   
with my granddaughter in sharing your goods with her, but those snacks and   
drinks could be dangerous for her health. Any consumable items should have been   
confiscated to be inspected for harmful germs and chemicals. What is safe and   
healthy for Humans could be deadly to Astorians and vice versa. We don't know   
the effect that the chemicals in your products could have on Astorians and other   
species."   
  
"I will have to have you turn over all drinks and snacks to me, so   
that I may have them tested. If they are considered to be safe for consumption,   
you may have them back, but I have to ensure their safety before any other   
Astorian consumes them. Have you offered these products to anyone else?"  
  
"No, ma'am," Hazel told her truthfully, "Tayla was going to offer   
sodas to some of her friends and family. Mrs. Chloe, I meant no harm,   
honestly."  
  
Shalila nodded understandingly. "I understand that, but I don't   
want you to offer Tayla or anyone else any more Earth treats until I know that   
they are safe for Astorian consumption. Hazel, you will have to take any   
consumable items that you have to the Science Wing to be inspected. And I will   
have to have Tayla examined to ensure that the Earth products that she has   
consumed has not harmed her."  
  
Hazel nodded worriedly. She had forgotten that little Tayla was not   
a Human child, but Tayla had seemed so much like a little Human girl that Hazel   
had not been thinking. Astorian children and Human children didn't seem to be   
that much different from each other, although of course Human children couldn't   
fly and shoot lasers out of their hands and swing swords around and electrocute   
people...  
  
...Astorians sure were a funny breed, and although Hazel was having   
trouble keeping from breaching their customs, she was actually starting to like   
Gohan's people. Astorians lived in a restrictive society compared to her   
society back home, but their society was a safe one. Crime was rare among the   
Astorian people, and perpetrators who did commit crimes were swiftly and   
properly punished. Hazel had learned that Astoria had only one prison for the   
entire planet, and that large prison was located on the moon of Eustachia. That   
prison was only half-full. Usually fear of Clan and planet banishment and   
public disgrace and shame were usually enough to keep criminals in line.   
Astorians did not fear each other as much as they did outside races, because   
their greatest danger came from forces outside of Astoria, such as the Saiyans   
and Frieza.  
  
There were no bars, taverns, or whorehouses anywhere on Astoria, and   
homeless people or vagrants did not inhabit the streets of Astorian cities.   
Homelessness did not exist among the Astorian people, for the Clans always took   
care of their own people; it was considered shameful and disgraceful to let your   
fellow Clan members or family members to go without basic needs and essentials.   
The Clans were paternalistic groups, taking care of their own and regulating   
conduct of their members. Recreation drugs, alcohol, smoking and gambling were   
strictly forbidden, for Astorians considered these things to be evil and   
reprehensible. When Hazel had described an old friend who had been using crack   
cocaine before she had died to Gracina and Natala four days before, both   
princesses had been horrified and they had wondered how Hazel, who was not a   
warrior, had managed to survive such a savage planet like Earth.   
  
Hazel had been having lunch with some of Gohan's family members that   
day, and neither they nor their fellow Clan of Chloe members could understand   
why anyone would want to inject harmful drugs into their systems or snort   
strange powders up their noses or get drunk. They also could not comprehend why   
anyone would want to smoke cigarettes that not only caused great harm to the   
smoker, but also harmed anyone who breathed the smoke.  
  
The Clan of Chloe people, or any other Astorian for that matter,   
were also shocked and angered to hear that elderly people were shut away in   
nursing homes and children who could not live with their parents were turned   
over to the government to be shuttled about from home to home until they became   
of an age to care for themselves.   
  
"Why aren't their families taking care of them?" Raakon had asked   
furiously, and many of his relatives had wondered the same thing.  
  
When Hazel had explained that some families did not care enough   
about their own kind to want to take better care of themselves and their own,   
the Astorians with her had just shaken their heads.  
  
"Shameful," Gracina had said disapprovingly.  
  
Astorians were even more adamant about alcohol. Alcohol was   
forbidden because the Astorians believed that it clouded judgment and good sense   
and was one of the roots of evil. Hazel missed not being able to have a beer,   
but she could understand the Astorians' point. She thought that Humans could   
learn many things from Astorians.   
  
Astorians were a close-knit people who kept close tabs on each other   
and their enemies. Everyone knew everyone else's business, even in such a large   
family...  
  
...Hazel hoped that she would make Gohan happy and fit into his   
large and complicated royal family. She looked briefly at her future   
mother-in-law and wondered how well they would get along. Shalila Chloe was an   
imposing woman, a woman that no one would ever dare to defy or oppose. She was   
not someone that Hazel would want for an enemy. Shalila was enormously   
protective of her large family, sometimes to the point of being domineering, but   
her intentions were always good. She had definitely earned her place as the   
Clan of Chloe Gran and Matriarch.  
  
And yet Shalila had a soft and kind heart under her authoritative   
demeanor; Hazel had seen how she had comforted Cletos, and Shalila was always   
affectionate and loving towards the little Tayla. Shalila would never let her   
family go without, and Hazel knew that any children that she had with Gohan   
would receive the best from Shalila and the rest of the Clan of Chloe.   
Hazel noticed a spark of understanding and sympathy in Shalila's eyes before   
Shalila returned to Dalantra to finish her bath, and Hazel realized that Shalila   
did know where she was coming from. 


	29. Tayla's Departure

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Tayla's Departure  
  
That morning, on her final day living at the Palace, Tayla in the   
garden, hugging and kissing Hugs goodbye, as the puppy whimpered, he knew that   
his young mistress was leaving him for a long time. Tayla was still in her blue   
nightgown, and she had snuck out of bed before her maid had. She had taken Hugs   
out of the pet menagerie, for no pets were allowed inside the Palace.  
  
"I'll miss you, Hugs, and I'll always love you," Tayla whispered to   
him, as she crouched down beside him behind her favorite red tea roses. She   
squeezed her puppy tightly, and Hugs gravely licked her face repeatedly.  
  
"Looks like Hugs already gave you your morning bath; I guess Mykia   
won't need to bathe you today, huh?" Tayla looked up at the speaker, whose long   
furry tail swished gracefully behind him. The tall, muscular man ran a hand   
through his black hair that was slightly spiked and ruffled.  
  
Tayla favored the visitor with her best smile. "Hello, Bendros,"   
she said softly.  
  
Bendros smiled. "Hello, little Tayla. Looking forward to your   
trip?"  
  
Tayla frowned and looked down at her brown-booted feet. "Not   
really," she admitted sadly.  
  
Bendros knelt down besides her. "It won't be so bad, Tayla; two   
years will be up before you know it."  
  
"I'm going to miss everyone, and I don't see why I have to go to   
Kami Orchida's. Nama and Dirkan can train me just as good as she can. I don't   
want to leave everyone."  
  
Bendros nodded understandingly. "Her Highness and Dirkan can train you as well   
as Kami Orchida can, but there are things that she can teach you that they   
can't. Kami Orchida is a great teacher, from what I have heard, although she   
can be as tough as your grandmother during her teaching. I sure wish I had your   
opportunity to train under her, little Tayla. You are lucky."  
  
"Maybe," Tayla told him mournfully. Bendros patted her shoulder,   
and Tayla rested her pointed chin on his cheek.   
  
"I'm going to miss you too," Tayla told him suddenly and earnestly,   
as she gazed into his coal-black eyes with her chocolate ones.  
  
Bendros sighed sadly. He had only known little Tayla for a short   
time, and yet he felt he had known her all of his life. Tayla was the little   
sister that he had never had. His mother, Gran Mauria of the Clan of Sahara,   
had remarried three years after his birth to a fellow Clan of Sahara Sastorian   
named Rektron. Sadly Granden Rektron had died fighting the Saiyans during the   
Saiyans' invasion of the ship, Korin. Gran Mauria had not remarried since then,   
but she had three sons by Rektron: Herkon, fifteen, Kiran, ten, and Dakal,   
seven. There were no daughters.  
  
He placed his hand again on Tayla's thin shoulder, and Tayla took   
his hand and placed it on her hair. That action indicated her complete trust in   
him. Bendros sighed again and stroked the child's hair.  
  
He smiled again. "I'll miss you too. Take care of yourself, little   
Tayla."  
  
Tayla nodded. "You too, Bendros, you too."  
  
  
  
  
  
Shalila had thrown a going-away ball for Tayla. It was a small,   
intimate ball of Tayla's closest friends and family members, but everyone had   
stopped by to tell Tayla good-bye. Tayla was wearing her caftan that she had   
worn to her Nama's wedding, and she kissed, hugged, and squeezed everyone until   
she could not do so anymore. She had hugged Shalila, Gracina and Dirkan the   
longest and made them swear Seven Moons Oath not to forget her.  
  
"Two years will be up before you know it," Dirkan had assured her,   
as he had kissed her on her forehead. Tayla had hugged him back, as if she   
would never let him go.  
  
Kekron and the girls, with the exception of Petalia, had kissed and hugged Tayla   
goodbye. Petalia had merely coolly kissed her on her cheek, and Dedron and   
Rojal had said nothing to her acknowledging her departure. Riccan had sparred   
with Tayla one last time for old times sake, with Tayla winning as usual.  
  
Arlina and Marya had arrived from the Temple to give Tayla special   
blessings and prayers for a safe trip and stay at Kami Orchida's. Marya had   
bent down before her youngest sibling and embraced her with a gentle kiss on her   
forehead.  
  
"Grow strong in body, spirit and heart, little sister," Marya   
whispered, as she stroked Tayla's hair. "We will miss you greatly, but you will   
learn much at Kami Orchida's. You have the potential to become stronger than   
all of us, and Astoria is counting on you. This training will help you."  
  
Tayla nodded and buried her face in Marya's neck, trying to hide the   
coming tears.  
  
Her uncles and aunts on both sides of Tayla's family had given her many gifts,   
kisses and hugs when they had stopped by to tell her farewell. Tayla's deceased   
father, Mantros, had had three brothers and three sisters, and her deceased   
mother, Tika (who had been the youngest), had six sisters and ten brothers on   
her side of the family. Tika's oldest sibling, Aunt Homina, the paternal   
grandmother of Bendros, had married a Sastorian warrior, Benjal, of the Clan of   
Sahara. Homina had actually been born twelve years before Shalila's return to   
Astoria. She and four other siblings had been alive during the Astorians'   
rebellion against the Saiyans. Another of Tika's sisters, the twelfth oldest sibling, Kildara, had married the Prince of a distant planet named Calmag. She was now Queen Kildara of Calmag. Hilaria, the thirteenth oldest sibling, was married to Aijal. Tika and her siblings were the children of Arbon (the former Superior Granden Bajal's brother) and Kazandra (Shalila's   
first cousin and one of her closest friends). Homina and Kildara had been   
unable to attend, and Tika's sister, Chloria, had died many years ago. Toria,   
the second oldest sibling who had been born ten years before Shalila's return to   
Astoria, had been the former High Priestess of the Temple of Chloe. She turned   
the position over to her sister, Marya, when she had been promoted to become the   
High Priestess of Astoria. The High Priestess or Priest of Astoria was in   
charge of all Astorian priests and priestesses, and he or she held the position   
until they died. Toria lived at Chloe Orchid, but she spent much of her time   
traveling around Astoria and her moons to train and teach the other Priests and   
Priestesses. She and Shalila were the only ones who could legally release   
Priests and Priestesses from their vows. She would also be assisting Orchida in   
Tayla's training, although her training would involve academics and meditation,   
instead of fighting. She had come to the Palace straight from Chloe Orchid to   
pick up Tayla and escort her to her new home.  
  
Eighty-year-old Toria, had still retained her golden-brown hair and   
emerald-green eyes, although she showed other signs of her age, watched Tayla   
say goodbye to all of her friends and family. Once the ball was over, she was   
to take Tayla away with her to Chloe Orchid. She knew that her niece was   
reluctant to leave her home, but she would get past her homesickness. Toria   
understood how Tayla felt, for she herself had only been six years old when Kami   
Orchida had summoned her to Chloe Orchid for training as a Priestess because of   
her phenomenal psychic abilities. She had first met Superior Gran Shalila when   
Shalila too had been summoned to Kami Orchida's for training as a warrior.   
Toria's predictions of Shalila had been accurate, from Shalila's marriage and   
happiness with Superior Granden Bajal to the Battle of Chloe and the eventual   
death of Tayla's parents. Toria tried to divine Tayla's future, but like Kami   
Orchida had told her, Tayla's future was not yet written in stone, and anything   
could happen with the girl. Toria dusted off her white caftan and gold sash (the   
traditional garments of the High Priestess; Chloe Priests and Priestesses wore   
white caftans with red sashes) and tried once again to get a glimpse or two of   
Tayla's future, but nothing would come-not yet anyway.  
  
Toria would have to meditate and give it time, for something would surely come   
to her then.  
  
  
  
  
  
A strange creature that was not Astorian, Namekian, Saiyan,   
Sastorian, Meatian, or Human was watching and observing Tayla closely. He was   
an alien from planet Arlia who had become one of Shalila's Interrogators ten   
years ago. He had landed on Astoria at the time, claiming that his planet had   
been destroyed by the Saiyans, and had begged for asylum, which had been granted   
to him. He was one of the Head Interrogator's most trusted employees, and the   
Astorians respected him. He resembled a giant brown cricket. He had to spend   
his life without a mate on Astoria because he was neither mating-compatible nor   
genetically compatible with the Astorians, so he could not marry into their   
race. But that did not bother him, for his only joy and purpose in life was to   
serve his true liege-which was not Superior Gran Shalila.  
  
His true liege was Lord Frieza.  
  
Reccor was his name and spying for Lord Frieza was his game, a   
satisfactory game that he played with great pleasure. Frieza had first sent him   
to Astoria to spy on Shalila and her husband, but then he added watching Tayla   
to his orders as well. Reccor stayed by Shalila's side whenever he could and   
always stayed nearby Tayla, trying to learn as much about her powers and plans   
as he could. His hearing was almost as good as the Meatians, and he used his   
abilities to listen in on Tayla's affairs.  
  
Tayla never paid much attention to him, although she knew him and   
had seen him around. The few times that she had bothered to notice him, she had   
noticed him watching her, or thought that he was. She noticed him at the party   
watching her now, and she wondered why he kept doing so. She was talking   
quietly with Lelina about little girl things when she had discovered that he was   
watching her again.  
  
"Lelina, I'll be right back," she told her, and she left to confront   
Reccor. She was going to find out once and for all what the "cricket-man" as   
she and her friends had dubbed him was so interested in her.  
  
Reccor, dressed in the red and gold garb of the Palace   
Interrogators, bowed humbly to the little Princess when she walked up to him.   
"Good afternoon, Princess Tayla," he told her cordially. "I hope that your   
journey will be a good one. I'm sure that Kami Orchida will teach you many   
things."  
  
"That's what everyone says," Tayla told him politely, "I just want   
to know something though, Reccor: how come you watch me so much? Every time I   
see you, you seem to be watching me. Why?"  
  
Reccor had the good grace to blush and look down. What was he   
supposed to tell her? Well, Princess Tayla, Lord Frieza has sent me here to   
your planet, and he wants me to spy on you so that he can learn about your   
strengths. He still wants you to become one of his fighters, and he plans to   
take you away from your people one day. And not only that, Princess, he also   
plans to destroy your planet and everyone on it. But he will spare you, my   
dear, because he thinks that you can be a great asset to him.  
  
Reccor began to sweat; he realized then that he was not being as   
discreet as he should be. Lord Frieza would be furious if he knew that Tayla   
was noticing him spying on her. He had to think of something to tell the child   
quickly, for it was likely that she would go to her grandmother about him   
watching her so intensely. And he didn't need her overprotective grandmother   
becoming suspicious of him. The Superior Gran throwing him off of Astoria would   
just make Frieza's day--and guarantee Reccor's demise by Frieza's hands.  
  
Finally he choked out, "You must pardon me, little Princess, for I   
was so entranced by your beauty that I completely forgot myself and my manners.   
Please forgive me, Princess. I promise it won't happen again."  
  
Tayla blushed slightly. "No problem. And thank you. Farewell,   
Reccor." Her round cheeks remained pink as she finally left him. Reccor let   
out a sigh of relief. He was also thankful that females always appreciated a   
good compliment, no matter what their age or species. Reccor let out another   
sigh of relief-and then he patted himself on the back for being so clever. Even   
the smallest and youngest females seemed to be easily pleased with a mere   
compliment.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
Reccor hid behind Chloe's ginkgo trees in the royal gardens, as he   
pulled out his scouter, which could also be used as a communicator. He   
contacted Frieza on it as he watched Tayla's servants load Tayla's luggage into   
the spaceship that Kami Orchida had sent for her. Tayla was clinging to   
Shalila, holding her for as long as she could. Riccan was standing next to   
them, using his dagger to cut an apple the size of his head. (Astorian fruits   
were usually the size of people's heads.) He sliced the apple in thick, uneven   
slices and gave a large slice to Tayla, who thanked him and nibbled on it   
gravely.  
  
"Yes, Reccor?" Frieza's voice entered the communicator on the   
scouter.  
  
"She is leaving the Palace now, sire. She will be staying at Chloe   
Orchid for two years to train under Kami Orchida. Do you wish to send troops to   
Astoria yet, sire?"  
  
Frieza's voice sighed, "Not yet. It is still too soon, and I don't   
want to take the girl away just yet. We will have plenty of time to destroy all   
of the Astorians. I want the girl to continue growing stronger; she may even   
become as strong as little Prince Vegeta."  
  
Reccor spoke up through the scouter. "Sire, may I advise you to   
perhaps try to take the princess as soon as possible? The stronger and older   
she becomes, the more difficult she will be to handle. I have heard Prince   
Vegeta is quite a handful for you now, and two older, powerful royal brats may   
be a problem for even you to handle. Better to take Princess Tayla away while   
she's still young, I think."  
  
"I don't pay you to think, Reccor! I pay you to spy and report to   
me of Princess Tayla's comings and goings-and of her grandmother, as well! I   
know what I am doing! I can more than handle both Prince Vegeta and Princess   
Tayla, when I send for her."  
  
"But sire, Prince Vegeta is already troublesome for you now, isn't   
he? I have heard about his attitude-"  
  
"His attitude does not disturb me, Reccor!" Frieza shouted again.   
Then he lowered his voice, "His bad attitude does infuriate me at times, but   
most of the time, I find it amusing. I am not worried about him at all. If he   
started to become quiet and docile, then that's when I would start to worry. As   
long as he remains cheeky and arrogant, but continues to grow strong, then I can   
rest at ease about him. It's his sister that really bothers me. She is not   
happy about being under my care permanently, and she doesn't hesitate to let   
everyone know it."  
  
"Does she and her brother suspect the truth about their people's   
demise?"  
  
"Not yet, and I will make sure that they will never know either. I   
can't worry about those two and those two other Saiyans that I spared, Nappa and   
Raditz, rising up against me. Raditz and Princess Journa seem to have affection   
for each other, but I cannot allow them to mate and produce a child, for the   
Saiyans seem to be growing stronger with each generation. I'd sooner the   
monkeys die out with Prince Vegeta and his bunch!"  
  
"But sire, you could have them breed a generation of Saiyans that   
would grow up to be loyal to you and to you only."  
  
"Maybe, but I don't trust the Saiyans entirely. Prince Vegeta is   
one of my finest fighters, especially for someone who is only a child and not   
Elite yet, but I know that he would overthrow me if he could. Saiyans are like   
that, always seeking to become stronger and better than everyone else. I can   
handle the little prince, as long as he thinks that I am stronger than him."  
  
"Sire," Reccor began again, "aren't you worried that when Tayla is   
old enough and strong enough for you to take her away, she will already have   
fixed ideas against you and your reign? Superior Gran Shalila, and her new   
husband, Superior Granden Dirkan are-"  
  
"HUSBAND? Did you just say that Dirkan is now Shalila's husband?"  
Reccor stammered, "Yes-yes, sire, that's correct. I attended their   
wedding myself."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"   
  
"I didn't think it was important, sire. It is not as if the   
Superior Gran and her husband can produce any children, so you needn't worry,   
sire. Nameks and Astorians cannot create children together."  
  
Frieza was about to shout at Reccor again, but then he calmed down   
when he realized that Reccor was right. Dirkan and Shalila were no more a   
threat to him as a married couple than they were when they weren't. He would   
still destroy them one day, and he would make Shalila Chloe pay the ultimate   
price for killing his mother, Queen Frost.   
  
Frieza never knew or met his mother, Queen Frost, for he had been   
conceived and raised in a gestation tank, along with his brother, Coola. Queen   
Frost had also been a scientist, and after her marriage to King Cold, she had   
taken some of King Cold's sperm and implanted them into her eggs inside a   
gestation tank. Seven embryos were created from this nonsexual union, but only   
two lived, for Frieza and Coola had killed their brothers and sisters before   
they had a chance to be born. Queen Frost had her voice recorded and installed   
on many tapes for the surviving embryos to listen to. She also had made tapes   
for Frieza and Coola to listen to at certain ages and stages in their lives and   
development. These tapes helped them to train and institute her ideals and   
values inside their minds and hearts. In these tapes, she strongly urged them   
to grow up to become strong, to conquer planets and the entire universe and take   
it over, and in a final tape that she had made, to avenge her death against   
Shalila Chloe.  
  
As soon as Queen Frost had realized that Frieza and Coola would live   
beyond their embryonic states, she began performing brain surgery on their fetal   
brains to program her plans and hopes into them. She programmed their minds to   
lust for conquering other peoples, fighting, and constant training and   
improvement. She successfully deprogrammed any tendencies towards   
sentimentality, kindness, or love, and she brainwashed their minds into   
believing that the only things that mattered in life were power, riches,   
bloodlust, fighting, and revenge. She programmed their minds and bodies to   
attain new and higher levels of power at different stages and ages in their   
lives, so they would constantly grow stronger and more powerful as they grew   
older. She also programmed Frieza and Coola to make themselves reach new stages   
and forms on their own. She planned for them to be able to transform into four   
or five different transformations, each stage stronger than before.  
  
Frieza secretly replayed his mother's tapes from time to time, so   
that he would remember why he and his brother were created. He often played the   
final tape that his mother had made during her dying hours about him growing up   
to destroy Shalila Chloe and all of the Astorian people one day. His mother had   
died two weeks before he and Coola were ready to be "born", in other words,   
released from the gestation tanks to be raised by their father and various   
caretakers.  
  
And now Frieza saw a real chance to finally take revenge on Shalila   
and the Astorians, by taking someone that meant much to Shalila and making her   
his own. Having Tayla Chloe work for him and for his evil empire, having her   
grow up to be his most heinous, powerful fighter, would be his greatest revenge   
of all.  
  
He just hoped that fool, Reccor, his spy, would not foul things up.   
The last thing he needed was for Shalila to suspect that he was still after   
little Princess Tayla Chloe.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla and her Nama, completely unaware of Frieza's continued   
interest in Tayla, were embracing each other, as if they would never see each   
other again. Tayla had her heart-shaped face buried in Shalila's caftan, and   
Shalila had her hand in Tayla's dark hair.   
  
Finally Toria tapped her Aunt Shalila (by her former marriage to   
Bajal) on the shoulder. "It's time to say goodbye and let her go, Aunt   
Shalila."  
  
Shalila kissed Tayla for the final time on her forehead and   
whispered, "I love you, little dandelion, and I'll be thinking about you every   
day."  
  
"I will too, Nama, I swear Seven Moons, that I'll be thinking about   
you and everyone here," Tayla whispered back fiercely. She finally let go of   
her grandmother, and Toria took her hand, as Tayla waved goodbye with the other   
hand.  
  
Everyone waved goodbye and shouted their good wishes and farewells   
to Tayla, as Toria put her niece in the front seat of the sky car that was to go   
to Kami Orchida. Tayla kept watching her home and her family, with slow tears   
running down her rosy cheeks.  
  
Toria pressed a few buttons in the sky car and patted Tayla's   
shoulder. "You will see them again," she promised the girl. "You will see   
later that this was all for the best, and you'll thank Kami Orchida for this   
later."  
  
Tayla said nothing; she just nodded slowly, not really believing   
Toria's words. She still did not entirely understand why she had to leave Nama,   
her family and friends, and the Palace. She didn't think that Kami Orchida   
could teach her anything that Nama and Dirkan couldn't. But she could not run   
away; she could not shirk her duty to help her people. She had to maintain the   
family honor, the Clan of Chloe honor, and if that honor meant having to leave   
her family to train at a strange place for two years, then that's what she would   
have to do.  
  
She was a Princess of Chloe, and she had to be brave and willing to   
do anything for her family and people, to protect them, to care for them.   
Princesses of Chloe could not run away from difficulty, hardship, or battles;   
they had to hang on until the end and be strong, to not let fear get to them.   
It was what a true Princess of Chloe would do, and Tayla, although she was only   
a child, understood the great importance of her role and embraced it and its   
ideals.  
  
She just hoped that she would be able to live up to them.  
  
She had to make her Nama proud, her people proud, and her ancestors   
proud, especially her dead parents. She had never known her parents, but she   
knew instinctively that they would want her to do all that she could to become   
stronger, even it hurt her some.  
  
She burned the faces of her family and friends into her mind forever, and then   
she closed her eyes and turned away from the window, as the sky car took off into the sky and away from the Palace towards Chloe Orchid and the beginning of her destiny.  
  
  
(Okay, so now we had a good look inside Tayla's family life. As   
this part ends, Tayla was on her way to Chloe Orchid to train under Astoria's   
goddess, Kami Orchida. We will be skipping ahead to five years later, where   
Tayla had came from Chloe Orchid two years before. In Part Three, she is now   
twelve years old, and she is traveling with her family and friends to planet   
Calmag, where her grandmother, Shalila Chloe, is hoping to form an alliance with   
the Calmagian people against Frieza and his minions.   
  
Also, we'll be getting to know Frieza's minions a little better.   
Frieza still hopes to make Tayla one of his fighters, and Prince Vegeta is   
training hard every day to become the strongest warrior of any race in the   
entire universe. He also hopes to get revenge on little Tayla for defeating   
him.  
  
(Note: At this time, the Ginyu Force only had four members, and   
Guido had not yet joined them. Frieza at this time had only had two forms; he   
had not yet advanced to developing into four forms.  
  
The story of Dodoria's ambush on Bardock's Saiyan crew had been   
modified to include the surviving Meatians'presence.)  
  
The Calmagian race is considered to be the fourth strongest race in   
the Rosetta Galaxy. The other four strong races next to Frieza and his family   
are: Saiyans and Astorians tied for the first (at this time anyway), the   
Sistrai, the Reznakians from Planet Reznak, and the Calmagians as the fourth.   
Shalila hopes to have their help in allying against Frieza.  
  
The Calmagians are humanoid like the Astorians and the Saiyans,   
except they have pointed ears like elves and bright blue finger and toenails.   
When they bleed, their blood is amber-colored and resembles honey and is just as   
thick. (When Astorians bleed, their blood comes out bright blue and watery, and   
like Calmagian women, Astorian women have no body hair except for eyebrows and   
eyelashes. Aren't they lucky that they never have to shave or wax?) The   
Calmagians are able to paralyze people just by touching them, and there only two   
ways the paralysis can be undone: one way is to let the effect wear off in two   
hours, and the other way is for a Calmagian to magically reverse the effect by   
touching the victim again. The Calmagians are all telekinetic and extremely   
powerful, although not still quite as powerful as the Astorians.  
  
Frieza has sent his Elite forces to planet Calmag to clear it   
because the Calmagians are reputed to be as tough as the Astorians. Will they   
succeed? Not if Tayla and her family have anything to say about it! What new   
skills and powers will Tayla have learned from Kami Orchida? Will these be   
enough to save her, her family and the Calmagian people?) 


	30. PART THREE: INSIDE FRIEZA'S FORCES

PART THREE: INSIDE FRIEZA'S FORCES AND THE ASTORIANS' VOYAGE TO PLANET CALMAG  
  
Chapter Thirty: Frieza's Elite Soldiers  
  
Four years later. Lord Frieza's mother ship. Lord Frieza's meeting room.  
  
Frieza was holding a meeting of his Top Elite officers. The Top   
Elite officers hated these meetings because they could sometimes drag on for   
hours, sometimes late at night when they badly needed their sleep for their   
assignments. Frieza was drumming his fingers on the mahogany conference table,   
as the Top Elite officers were desperately trying to hide their boredom and   
frustration. They could be off beating someone up or clearing a planet.   
Instead, they had to hear Frieza talk unceasingly about finances, new planets   
and various other topics that they were already well informed on. Captain Ginyu,   
who ran his own small elite force in Frieza's army, was also Frieza's first   
cousin on King Cold's side of the family. Captain Ginyu was one of Frieza's   
best men, even though all of the other Top Elite officers thought that he only   
received his position because of his relationship to Frieza and King Cold and   
not on his own merits. None of them doubted Captain Ginyu's ability as a fine   
warrior, but they thought that nepotism had played a part in the Captain's   
promotion and his being allowed to have his own force of warriors. Sitting near   
Captain Ginyu were Reccoom, Jeice, and Baata, the only men that had passed the   
"rigorous" tests needed to get into the Ginyu Force. These tests involved being   
able to have unique and stylistic fighting poses, as well as superb fighting   
abilities. A warrior had to be extraordinary strong to get into Ginyu's Force,   
but he or she also had to have style and flair in his or her poses as well. If   
a warrior's pre-battle poses were not up to Ginyu's satisfaction, Ginyu would   
automatically disqualify him or her from auditioning for his Force any further,   
no matter how excellent a fighter he or she was.  
  
Captain Ginyu had been willing to make an exception in Balair's   
case, because Balair's power level and fighting abilities were on the same par   
with his. Captain Ginyu had thought that Balair had no posing style, but   
because of Balair's unique ability as a Sistrai warrior to be able to vaporize   
and liquefy himself, he had been willing to have Balair on his force. Balair   
had refused to join the Ginyu force; he preferred to work alone, or with   
Dodoria, his closest buddy. Balair had secretly thought that the Ginyu Force   
were a bunch of pansies who wasted too much time in their stupid poses when they   
should be worrying about destroying their opponents.  
  
Eight-feet tall Balair loved fighting, alcohol, and young women of   
any compatible species-in that order. He was as proud of his ability to "drink   
anyone under the table" and his sexual prowess, as well as his superb fighting   
ability. Even when he did not liquefy or vaporize himself, he was still an   
above-average warrior, strong as the strongest Saiyan or Astorian, if not   
stronger. And the Saiyans and the Astorians could not vaporize or liquefy   
himself, like he could.   
  
Balair was a vicious and merciless fighter, more ruthless than even   
a Saiyan. He was cruel to those he conquered, and he enjoyed dragging out their   
deaths to make them as painful as possible. When he was done toying with them,   
he would then either kill them by hand or vaporize himself to enter their lungs   
and cause them to explode. He treated the female victims worse than he did the   
men, half of the time raping them or torturing them before he killed them. The   
prettier, more submissive ones he kept alive for a few days as his own   
concubines, but then he would quickly grow bored with them or angered with them   
when they resisted him. Most of his people, the Sistrai warriors   
from planet Sistra were like that. Sistra was one of Frieza's allies, and the   
King of Sistra had recommended Balair to Frieza. Balair had passed his final   
evaluation easily, and he had quickly been promoted into Top Elite after he had   
passed. That had been twenty years ago and Frieza still considered Balair a   
great asset to him. He had many plans yet for the cold-hearted Sistrai warrior.  
  
Like almost all Sistrai males, Balair was chauvinistic and   
misogynistic, believing that women were nothing more than playthings and chattel   
for men. The Sistrai men treated their own women just as badly, and the males   
maintained a rule that if a Sistrai warrior killed another male, the killer   
would receive all of his victim's goods, including any mates or concubines   
automatically. The Sistrai men usually fought over each other's women, and only   
the strongest men were able to hold onto to their mates. There were only two   
Sistrai women born for every ten Sistrai men, and only half of them lived to   
puberty, when the strongest Sistrai males would automatically take them for   
mates. Balair loved mating with young, beautiful females of various species,   
and the more scared and submissive they were, the better he liked them; he did   
not like his women to try to take control or fight him back. He liked to be   
totally in control, with his partner of the moment completely meek and obedient   
to his commands and desires.  
  
Balair also loved to drink any kind of alcohol, and alcohol made him   
stronger instead of weaker because alcohol improved a Sistrai warrior's fighting   
prowess, when he drank the right amount without becoming drunk. On the   
occasions that he managed to get drunk, his power and attitude increased five   
times as much and everyone around him stayed out of his way until his power once   
again decreased. He was a bully, and like his comrade, Dodoria, he enjoyed   
picking on anyone weaker than he was. He would have given the Top Elite women a   
hard time, but they were more than able to hold their own with him, and after a   
while, he had learned to leave them alone, especially Jaden, the strongest   
female fighter in Frieza's forces. He considered Jaden too ugly to bother with   
anyway.  
  
Jaden was certainly no beauty, but her fighting prowess more than   
made up for her looks. She was a seven-feet-seven-inches tall, navy blue   
lizard-like creature with small bright yellow eyes that glowed in the dark and   
two powerful, flexible tails that were unusually agile for their thickness. She   
could use these tails to crush and squeeze almost any opponent by using either   
one or both of those appendages. She also was large and muscular, with   
powerful, gigantic feet with seven toes apiece. Jaden also possessed the   
ability to shape-shift, like all of her people from planet Ryban; she could   
shape her body into the form of any living creature or inanimate object. She   
could also stretch her limbs and other body parts, as if they were made of   
rubber. Although she knew various ki attacks, she could kill most of the   
strongest opponents with just one punch or kick, and she possessed one   
particularly deadly move called the Glass Freeze, which she could use to freeze   
many of her weaker opponents into glass just by using eye lasers, and then she   
would shatter the glass, effectively killing the opponent. She also had an   
attack called the Sonic Scream, which could break the sound barrier-and anyone's   
bones with a high C note. Her razor-sharp claws were also useful, for they   
could easily shred the strongest metals known to any creature.  
  
Jaden's advance fifteen years ago into the Top Elite was still   
considered miraculous because she had once started out as an "involuntary   
recruit", the lowest form of life in the hierarchy of Frieza's forces. Jaden   
had been forced to join Frieza's fighters when she had only been twelve years   
old. Frieza had Jaden's family's ship captured, and he had only spared Jaden   
and her small family. Frieza had threatened to kill Jaden's cold, distant   
father and two brothers, if Jaden did not agree to fight for him and pledge   
loyalty to him. Jaden had surpassed all of Frieza's expectations and passed her   
final evaluation under Zarbon and Dodoria, but Frieza had gone back on his   
promise to spare them and killed Jaden's family anyway. Jaden had never once   
approached or confronted Frieza for backstabbing her, but she hated him for it   
anyway. Jaden hated Frieza with a passion, and Frieza knew it. Nevertheless,   
he allowed Jaden to remain in Top Elite because she had never tried to overthrow   
him, and he knew that he could keep her under control. He made a special note   
long time ago to always keep his most useful and most defiant fighters near him   
whenever possible. Frieza embraced the motto: "Keep your friends close, but   
your enemies closer."  
  
Jaden had originally been a Mid-Elite officer until Sagash, her   
cruel, heinous trainer, had tried to rape her for the third time. Sagash had   
been the only male ever to desire Jaden as a woman, but that had made no   
difference to her. Jaden had enough, and after a brutal battle, she had turned   
Sagash into glass and shattered him into pieces just as Frieza found them.  
  
Since Frieza had been planning to have Sagash eliminated anyway   
because of Sagash's latest failures, and he had liked Jaden's style of killing   
Sagash, Frieza did not punish Jaden for her actions, as Jaden had expected he   
would. Instead, he gave her Sagash's Top Elite Position, which earned Jaden the   
eternal hatred of Balair and Dodoria, Sagash's closest friends. They both had   
hazed Jaden and gave her a hard time because of that and her being a woman.   
Jaden had been able to hold her own with both of them, and after a while, they   
both learned that it was far safer not to torment her, even though they were as   
strong as she was, if not stronger.  
  
Jaden was a no-nonsense fighter who did not believe in wasting time   
in combat. She killed her opponents as quickly as she possibly could, without   
wasting precious time. She was also one of Frieza's best trainers, and she was   
a no-nonsense teacher as well, tolerating no disorderly conduct or messing   
around. She was a woman of few words, and she never minced the few words she   
spoke or beat around the bush. Although she was not a lesbian, she had no   
interest in men of any species. Jaden was basically a loner who never allowed   
herself to get involved in the politics and gossip of Frieza's Elite, and she   
had only had a couple of people that she could actually call friends: Skale, a   
Mid-Elite Technical Officer, and Chestra, one of the newest members to be   
inducted into Top Elite. She, Chestra, and Diamonique were the only current   
female Top Elite fighters. All three women were the strongest, most skilled   
warriors who each had special attacks to accompany their hand-to-hand combat   
skills.  
  
Chestra was an unknown hybrid alien from an unknown planet. She had   
a four feet-seven-inches humanoid body with a white panther-like face with   
large, lovely jade-green eyes and hair that was parted in half, one side   
ruby-red and the other side emerald-green. She was considered to be the second   
strongest female fighter of Frieza's forces, as well as the most beautiful one.   
Chestra possessed the unique ability to turn her nerve endings on and off like a   
light switch, so that she could feel nothing, not even the lightest touch. She   
also had one special attack where she used eye lasers to blast an opponent's   
brain, which would upset his or her entire nervous system, causing any further   
pain to be felt ten times greater than it should be. She also had phenomenal,   
superb telekinetic abilities that were strong enough to easily move small   
planets, moons, or asteroids. She always carried a couple of shiatars with her,   
small dagger-like knives that she could use for almost any purpose. She could   
cut someone's throat faster than they could say "Ouch." Chestra was a ruthless   
and cunning warrior, but not cruel.   
  
At times, she showed mercy when she thought that she could afford   
to, which was rare. She had a soft spot for children, her best friend, Jaden,   
and her new mate, Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon had been Chestra's trainer when Frieza had bought Chestra   
from the Triumvirate of planet Egimari. The Triumvirate had sentenced Chestra   
to death in a fighting match with a fierce dragon because Chestra had fought off   
the advances of one the Triumvirate members. Chestra had been fighting off   
men's advances ever since she had been twelve years old, and she had been a   
slave since she was a baby. Chestra had nearly killed her last molester, the   
Triumvirate member, Egron, and for this she was sentenced to a cruel death. But   
Chestra had defeated the vicious dragon, and Frieza had been so impressed with   
her performance that he had bought her from her Egimari masters.  
  
Chestra had been Zarbon's prize pupil, and they had fallen in love   
with each other, but they did not act on their feelings in front of everyone   
until after Chestra had passed her final evaluation which included having to fight Zarbon and Dodoria and lasting for more than an hour doing so. Frieza had also fallen in love with   
Chestra, but as a rare act of goodwill, he allowed Zarbon to have her for his   
mate. Frieza's father, King Cold, had also been interested in Chestra as a   
potential mate at one time. Chestra and Zarbon were extremely devoted to each   
other, and they were the happiest couple under Frieza.  
  
Chestra was one of the kindest fighters under Frieza, and like   
Jaden, she never allowed herself to get involved in the politics or gossip of   
Frieza's elite. She was cordial to everyone, even to Balair and Diamonique,   
both whom she despised. She was firm and strict with the lower-level fighters,   
but she was never cruel to them, and she knew how to motivate them without being   
brutal or cruel. And at times, she showed acts of kindness towards those   
beneath her, such as allowing them extra privileges or helping them with their   
small problems. She used a system of rewards and punishments to train those   
under her, and so far it seemed to be working.  
  
Diamonique was a beautiful young woman who was five-feet, nine   
inches tall and one year older than Chestra. She had ice-blue hair streaked   
with silver, peaches-and-ice skin with blue diamond fingernails and toenails and   
black diamond eyes. She was vain and proud of her flawless looks as well as her   
extraordinary fighting ability. She was a Gemstarian warrior from the planet   
Gemstar. Like most Gemstarians, she was able to freeze anything and anyone and   
turn them into diamond statues, using finger or eye lasers. She could also zap   
someone's vital organs and freeze them until they stopped working, causing the   
victim to die a slow, horrible death. She was able to shoot her nails out from   
her hands like darts, and these nails were tainted naturally with one of the   
deadliest poisons in the universe. When she wasn't using her nails, she could   
retract them like a cat retracting its claws. Her nails were so sharp that she   
could rip out someone's vital body organs as easily as if she were ripping a   
paper-covered package open. And she was also able to create instant blizzards   
or hail storms, which usually put most enemies at a further disadvantage.   
  
Diamonique had competed in one of Frieza's bi-annual tournaments   
that he held on his father's home planet called Ice, and she had won herself a   
position as one of Frieza's Mid-Elite officers. Later she competed in another   
of Frieza's tournaments, and she barely won herself a position in Top Elite.  
  
She was hailed to be the third strongest female fighter of Frieza's   
forces, but she wanted to become as strong as Chestra, whom she greatly despised   
more than anyone else in Frieza's Elite. Chestra was more liked and respected   
than the sultry, sulky Diamonique, and she had Zarbon, whom Diamonique had   
wanted for herself, as a mate. And Chestra had been promoted quickly from   
Mid-Elite to Top Elite while Diamonique had made it into Top Elite only by the   
skin of her teeth. Her jealousy towards Chestra was deadly.   
  
Diamonique had tried to kill Chestra twice. She had tried to kill   
Chestra with her deadly nails while Chestra had been sleeping on a planet that   
they were raiding together, but Chestra's mysterious body chemistry had been   
resistant to Diamonique's poisonous nails. (She was the only one who had ever   
survived those deadly nails, other than Jaden, who was descended from one of the   
only three races in the universe known to be naturally immune to Diamonique's   
type of poison. The Astorians and the Saiyans were the only ones other than the   
Rybanese who had a natural resistance to Diamonique's potent poison. The   
Rybanese, Astorians, and the Saiyans had body chemistries that were resistant to   
most of the universe's poisons and illnesses. )  
  
Diamonique's second attempt on Chestra's life would have been   
successful, if Jaden had not intervened that day. Diamonique had followed   
Chestra to Zarbon's room after Chestra had successfully passed her final   
evaluation, and she had watched with anger and envy through a spy camera, as   
Chestra and Zarbon made love. Two days later, a jealous Diamonique had   
frozen Chestra's heart while they were on their second assignment together   
clearing a planet.   
  
Fortunately, for Chestra, Jaden had followed them both to that planet   
and had used a Glass Freeze attack on Diamonique. She had ripped open the dying   
Chestra's chest with her claws and had reached inside to seize Chestra's heart.   
Jaden had massaged, rubbed and breathed hot air on Chestra's frozen heart until   
it had thawed and began beating again.   
  
Chestra had suffered no permanent damage, but Diamonique was almost not as   
lucky. Chestra had convinced a reluctant Jaden to reverse her Glass Freeze   
attack on Diamonique because Chestra had taken pity on Diamonique for that one   
and only time in her life (she was never merciful towards Diamonique after   
that). When Diamonique had been unfrozen, she had tried to attack Chestra   
again, but Jaden had cuffed the ice maiden and warned her that her next attempt   
on Chestra's life would be her last. Diamonique despised Jaden almost as much   
as she did Chestra, but she feared Jaden too much to defy her. (Jaden was and   
still was five times more powerful than Diamonique could ever hope to be, and   
Diamonique knew it.) Diamonique had never attempted to kill Chestra again,   
although she tried to snub and cause trouble for her whenever she could.  
  
Chestra trusted only Zarbon, Jaden and the technician, Skale; she   
was cordial to everyone else, but suspicious of them, like any good minion under   
Frieza should be. Jaden only trusted Chestra and Skale, was friendly with   
Zarbon, but distrustful of everyone else. Jaden and Chestra were best friends,   
and they trusted each other with their lives. It was rare-and dangerous-to have   
a good, strong friendship under Frieza because your best friend today could   
become your worst enemy tomorrow. Frieza liked to play favorites with his Elite   
crewmembers, and sometimes he even liked to play them against each other.   
Frieza truly did not like too many of his minions forming strong bonds because   
he feared that a strong friendship between powerful fighters would become   
dangerous to him. Firm alliances between strong warriors could lead to   
rebellions against Frieza. 


	31. Plans For Planet Calmag

Chapter Thirty-One: Plans for Planet Calmag  
  
Frieza was preparing to dismiss the Top Elite officers, much to   
everyone's relief when an emergency light flashed in the middle of the control   
panel centered in the middle of the meeting table. Frieza pressed a red button   
and purred, "Yes? Lord Frieza speaking."  
  
"Sire!" Reccor's excited voice echoed through the intercom from his   
scouter. "We have left Astoria on a ship headed towards planet Calmag.   
Princess Tayla and her grandmother are on it. They are intending to form an   
alliance against you with the Calmagian people."  
  
"Good," Frieza said happily. "Now we have a legitimate reason to   
head off to Calmag. I have wanted that planet cleared for some time. You are   
dismissed for now, Reccor. Keep me informed later on little Princess Tayla."  
  
"But sire, there's-" Reccor tried to speak, but Frieza cut the   
control panel off before Reccor could finish. Frieza was too jubilant to care.  
  
He clapped his hands gleefully, like a little boy. "Wonderful   
news!" he cried joyously. "All of you have a new assignment. The entire Top   
Elite and some selected Mid-Elite officers will now be going to Calmag to clear   
that planet and capture Princess Tayla! I have decided that she is ready to   
come work for me!" The Top Elite stared at him in stunned disbelief, since half   
of them had been promised downtime for the next week. Frieza ignored the   
anticipated groans, as he continued, "The rewards for completing this assignment   
successfully will more than make up for your lost vacation time. Whoever   
captures Princess Tayla and brings her to me first will receive-"  
  
He named an amount and a benefit package so generous and munificent   
that all of the Top Elite members were amazed. They were much happier now.  
  
"I'll have my hands on that little royal brat before you guys have a   
chance to glimpse at her!" Balair boasted.  
  
"Dream on, gas-bag!" Diamonique roared. "The brat is mine!"  
  
"So you say," Dodoria purred, "I'll capture her before any of you   
get near her! And I'll eliminate her granny as well!"  
  
Jaden snorted derisively. "Well, let's hope you have better luck   
getting rid of Shalila Chloe than you did twenty-two years ago when we attacked   
Chloe that one time! If some low-level runts hadn't intervened, you wouldn't be   
alive today because Shalila Chloe nearly killed you! Face it, Dodoria, your   
power level is nowhere near as strong as the Astorians, especially Shalila's."  
  
Dodoria shot Jaden a fatal glare, but Jaden only smirked. She   
didn't fear anyone in Frieza's forces, except for Frieza himself.  
  
Dodoria managed to retort back nastily, "Well, at least I managed to   
kill some Astorians off before that happened. You were lucky that you killed   
those three you had!"  
  
Chestra and Diamonique did not comment, because they had only been   
small children at the time Chloe was invaded. Chestra was still a slave on her   
first planet, and Diamonique had been growing up as nobility on Gemstar. They   
were the two youngest fighters of Frieza's Top Elite.   
  
Balair, who had not been with a woman in three weeks, asked   
salaciously, "Is she pretty? Is she old enough for mating yet?"  
  
Frieza glowered at Balair. "I want her brought back as one of my   
fighters, you lust-crazed fool! She is not to become your personal whore! You   
can use the Ginyu Girls for that business. She is to brought to me alive and   
unharmed." He narrowed his eyes, looking directly at Balair. "And she is to be   
brought to me unmolested and untouched. No one uses her as his or her   
plaything; just keep her alive and well until she is brought to me. If I hear   
that anything else happened, the officer or officers involved will be   
eliminated." Again, he looked at Balair, who had a reputation for raping and   
torturing female victims and prisoners.  
  
Jaden and Chestra glared at Balair with disgust. Neither one of   
them cared for the Astorians, but they did not feel that rape was right under   
any circumstances or on any species. Chestra used to have to dodge the unwanted   
advances of men until she became Zarbon's mate, and Jaden had wanted no man to   
touch her after what Sagash had tried on her. Balair ignored both women's   
glares.  
  
At that moment, Prince Vegeta strolled into Frieza's meeting room,   
followed by the ever-faithful, ever-loyal Nappa, his right-hand man and partner.   
Vegeta was sixteen years old now and already as tall as he was going to get at   
five feet, two-inches tall. He walked tall and proud for his short height, and   
it was only the Top Elite officers that dared to tease him about his height;   
anyone else who had taunted him about his shortness never lived to tell the   
tale-literally. Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz and Journa were now all Mid-Elite   
officers, and Vegeta was being considered for promotion into Top Elite.   
  
"Any new assignments available, sire?" he purred. Vegeta still   
despised Frieza for taking him and Journa away from their father, but Vegeta   
never showed it. He was still determined to overthrow Frieza one day, but until   
he knew that he was strong enough, he willingly followed Frieza's commands and   
insisted that his sister and Nappa and Raditz do the same.  
  
Frieza grinned appreciatively at his favorite Mid-Elite officer.   
"As a matter of fact, yes," he boasted. "Vegeta, I want you and your fellow   
Saiyans to accompany my Top Elite officers to planet Calmag to help clear it-and   
to capture Princess Tayla." He named the large reward for capturing Tayla and   
bringing her to him alive.  
  
"Gladly," Vegeta told him with a smirk. "I've been wanting to get   
revenge on that brat for some time now. She will pay for humiliating me back on   
that piece of rock, Chloe!" he hissed in fury.  
  
"Temper, temper, Vegeta," Frieza told him easily. "I don't want her   
harmed, only captured. Make sure Nappa and Raditz understand that. I insist   
that she be brought to me alive, unharmed, and unmolested, so don't take your   
Saiyan lust out on her. I know the Saiyan appetite for Astorian females, but   
Princess Tayla is off limits."  
  
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Frieza. He was one of the few people   
who dared to do so. "I have no interest in touching the girl. I do not wish to   
plant my Saiyan seed in an Astorian garden. I'll save my seed and plow for   
choicer soil, thank you." He smirked. "I can't speak for Raditz or Nappa,   
however."  
  
"Save your seed and plow for choicer soil, eh?" Balair sneered.   
"You mean choicer soil-like Diamonique?" Diamonique shot him a vicious look,   
and started to aim one of her poisonous nails at him until Frieza stopped her   
with a look. He didn't want his Top Elite officers trying to kill each other   
off-not at this time anyway.  
  
The entire Elite, Top, Mid, and Lower levels, were all snickering   
about Vegeta and Diamonique. Neither Vegeta nor Diamonique would confirm   
whether or not they were having an affair, but they secretly were. Neither one   
loved the other; they were only using each other for physical pleasure. There   
was only sex between them. Diamonique had initiated Vegeta into manhood a year   
ago, and the promiscuous Gemstarian noblewoman had taught Vegeta many things in   
bed. Vegeta could care less whether Diamonique lived or died, but she gave him   
pleasure whenever he demanded it. Diamonique had no feelings towards Vegeta   
except for lust and desire. If one of them died, the other one would be blasé   
about it; there was no bond between them. Diamonique liked having a young lover   
eight years her junior, and Vegeta liked having someone he could go to whenever   
he felt a physical need.   
  
Raditz and Journa had been sleeping together without anyone's   
knowledge, including Vegeta's, for two years now, and they were happy whenever   
they were together. They were faithful to each other, truly bonded mates.   
Nappa had never had a steady mate, although he had used many low-level women for   
his physical pleasures, both Saiyan and non-Saiyan.   
  
Nappa especially loved being with the Ginyu Girls, the group of   
cheerleaders and groupies from all different species and races that regularly   
hung around Captain Ginyu and his men. They were talented young girls and women   
who could dance, sing and chant exceptionally well. Ginyu taught the girls many   
poses and dances, which they used to cheer on the Ginyu Force and promote them   
among Frieza's forces. Most of the Ginyu Girls also gave their bodies willingly   
to any Elite male who would satisfy them or reward them with money, clothing, or   
nice trinkets. Many of the Ginyu Girls were courtesans, but that was of their   
own choice; no one forced them, and the Ginyu Girls could refuse anyone that   
they deemed unworthy of their attentions. Captain Ginyu selected the Ginyu   
Girls himself, choosing them based on class, breeding, looks, agility, talent   
and gracefulness. He wanted young ladies who could represent his Force well.   
Frieza thought at times that the Ginyu Girls were an unnecessary expense, but he   
liked them as well as any Elite male, so he allowed them to remain among his   
Forces and paid their expenses.  
  
Eclipse, a young humanoid woman who was half-Calmagian and   
half-Gemstarian, was the Squad Leader of the Ginyu Girls. Eclipse was   
Diamonique's first cousin who was five-feet, six inches tall and had long, soft   
turquoise hair and eyes and the same peaches-and-ice skin as her cousin. She   
had the Calmagian pointed elfin ears and the deadly blue diamond nails of the   
Gemstarians, although she never had used them on anyone. She and Diamonique   
were friendly, but not close. Eclipse was no fighter, but she was an excellent   
dancer and singer, and unlike the girls under her command, she was selective   
about whom she slept with. Eclipse was no saint, but she was not entirely evil;   
she looked out for and protected her girls from those who would try to abuse   
them. She was a sort of madam, one could say. Eclipse was twenty-five years   
old, a year older than Diamonique, and she was Frieza's favorite Ginyu Girl,   
even though he was not mating-compatible with her. They had never slept   
together, but Eclipse kept Frieza entertained in other ways, massaging him,   
kissing him, singing, dancing or reciting poetry to him; she was a good   
lyricist. Eclipse occasionally entertained Captain Ginyu even though she was   
not mating-compatible with him either, but she held a small affection for Nappa   
that seemed to be growing every day. Nappa seemed to like her too, and he had   
started spending more time with her and less time with the other Ginyu Girls.  
  
Eclipse was also a good friend of Chestra and Jaden's, although she   
was not as close to them as they were to each other. Eclipse often served as a   
double spy for the two female fighters, alerting them to some of Frieza's plans   
and even warning them when then was an occasional plan to assassinate them.   
Chestra and Jaden liked her tremendously, but they never confided their secrets   
to her the same way they did with each other because Eclipse was too close to   
Frieza and Captain Ginyu to be safely trusted that intimately.  
  
Eclipse had followed Nappa and Vegeta to the meeting room, hoping to   
spend some extra time with Nappa. Vegeta paid her no attention, although she   
was considered to be one of the beauties among Frieza's forces. Nappa noticed   
her finally, and he crept away from Vegeta in order to talk to her. He and   
Eclipse snuck into a dark corner.  
  
Nappa grinned widely at her. "Whatcha been up to, gorgeous?"  
  
Eclipse smiled broadly, running her slender blue diamond nail   
fingers along his broad, muscular chest. "Not much. Believe it or not, I've   
been sort of bored lately whenever you're not around," she purred.  
  
Nappa grinned wider. "If Frieza and Captain Ginyu lets you come,   
would you like to go with us to planet Calmag? We're set to clear it and   
capture little Princess Tayla, if we can." He wrapped his large, well-developed   
arms around Eclipse's tiny waist and embraced her tightly, tickling her and   
making her giggle. He lifted her off of the floor, past his six feet, ten   
inches frame until her face was on the same level as his. Eclipse nipped him   
playfully on his nose, the way Saiyan men liked it.  
  
"What do you mean, you fool, if we can?" Vegeta had found Nappa and   
Eclipse getting cozy. "We will capture Princess Tayla and clear that pathetic   
planet! No, correct that, I will capture Princess Tayla, and I will make her   
pay for defeating me! I will one day prove to her, the Astorians, and everyone   
here my true worth as a warrior! No Astorian is more powerful than a Saiyan,   
especially me the strongest Saiyan warrior in the universe! I am the Prince of   
all Saiyans, destined to become the first Legendary Super-Saiyan in a long time!   
And when I achieve that goal, the universe and everyone in it, will be mine,   
subject to the great Prince Vegeta!" And with that, he stalked off proudly,   
with his tail, which was normally wrapped around his waist, swishing   
triumphantly in the air.  
  
Eclipse giggled in a whisper, "He's so full of himself, isn't he?   
The only one whose ego is bigger than his is Frieza himself!"  
  
Nappa chuckled after making sure that neither Vegeta nor Frieza were   
within earshot. He nibbled on Eclipse's ear and whispered, his voice becoming   
deep and serious, "Don't underestimate the Prince though, Eclipse. He's the   
strongest Saiyan fighter I have seen in years; not even his father could compare   
to him. He may wind up ruling this universe after all, so be sure to stay on   
his good side."  
  
Eclipse nodded. "I'll be sure to do that," she told him truthfully,   
for she and Nappa knew that Vegeta was the strongest warrior in Frieza's Mid and   
Lower Elite forces, possibly even the Top Elite itself. Prince Vegeta's powers   
and fighting abilities were phenomenal, even for a Saiyan warrior; he had become   
five times stronger than he had been five years ago. Other than the battles   
with Princess Tayla and her family, he had never lost a fight yet. Frieza had   
finally forgiven him and his fellow Saiyans that one loss, and Frieza was   
considering giving Vegeta another chance to clear Astoria.  
  
Nappa forgot about Vegeta for the moment, as Eclipse started   
nuzzling his wide neck. "So," he purred. "Are you game?'  
  
"I'm game; I'm sure Captain Ginyu will expect me to come anyway and   
bring the entire troop. You men will need something to keep you warm during   
those cold Calmagian nights," she cooed, nipping his chin lightly. Nappa   
chuckled again.  
  
"Have you ever been to planet Calmag?" he asked her, while nibbling   
on her ear again.  
  
Eclipse sighed wistfully, "No, I haven't. My people, the   
Gemstarians captured a Calmagian ship that was headed towards Astoria. This   
band of Calmagians was descended from the weakest tribe of Calmagians, at least   
that is what my mother has told me, so they had no real chance against the   
Gemstarians. Only my Calmagian mother and her sisters were spared, and my   
Gemstarian father took my Calmagian mother as his concubine. They fell in love   
with each other and married, and then I came along. I have never seen Calmag;   
what I know about it is from what my mother has told me." Eclipse became   
saddened then, for both her parents and Diamonique's parents had died five years   
ago from a terrible plague that had wiped out much of the Gemstarian nobility.   
Diamonique, in a rare act of generosity, had helped Eclipse get a job as a Ginyu   
Girl, and Eclipse had eventually taken over the troop.  
  
Nappa patted Eclipse's bottom playfully. "Don't worry," he told her   
with his characteristic grin. "You'll get your chance soon enough. Just don't   
go leaving me for some Calmagian stud!" They both laughed then.  
  
  
  
  
  
Balair, Dodoria, Zarbon, Jaden, Chestra and Diamonique left Frieza's   
meeting room after Frieza gave them more information about Princess Tayla and   
planet Calmag, and they went downstairs to the Elite Lounge and Bar for drinks,   
and all six members settled themselves comfortably into a booth. Chestra and   
Zarbon were nestled together contentedly, Zarbon's arm around her slender waist   
and Chestra's head on his shoulder. Balair was already working on his second   
vodka, and Dodoria on his first beer. Jaden had put herself in a trance and was   
meditating like she often did, and Diamonique was filing her deadly nails.  
  
A pretty waitress who resembled a white cat with a pink parakeet's   
crest and tail feathers strolled by and offered them more drinks. Balair   
accepted immediately and pulled the frightened waitress onto his lap,   
immediately fondling her and licking her neck with his extra-long tongue. The   
waitress struggled vainly to get away from Balair while Balair and Dodoria began   
to laugh and mock her.  
  
"You can wait on me tonight, sweet thing," Balair purred into the   
frightened girl's ear.  
  
Dodoria, who was bisexual like many of his people, laughed wickedly and asked   
Balair to save him a piece of her.  
  
"Let me go! Please!" the waitress cried. She looked pleadingly at   
the other patrons, hoping for help. Finally Chestra spoke up firmly:  
  
"C'mon, Balair, that's enough. You've had your fun with her, now   
let her go back to work."  
  
Balair laughed raucously. "I haven't had all of my fun yet; the   
night's still young! And so is she! I haven't had a woman in three weeks!"  
  
Chestra nudged Zarbon in his ribs, and Zarbon finally intervened.   
"Release her, Balair. You'll have plenty of women in the Ginyu Girls to keep   
you entertained on our way to Calmag."  
  
Dodoria chuckled. "This little waitress here ought to join the   
Ginyu Girls herself; she'd certainly qualify!"  
  
Balair refused to release the waitress at first until Zarbon   
deliberately stepped on his toe. "Release her, Balair!"  
  
Balair growled. "Fine." He shoved the girl off of his lap onto the   
floor, where she fell and bumped her head. The girl scuttled to her feet and   
ran away, sobbing.  
  
Balair ignored Chestra's fatal glare of disgust, as he gulped down   
the third vodka that the waitress had left for him. He had wanted Chestra for   
himself a long time ago, but the one time that he had tried to make a pass at   
her had landed him in the rejuvenation tanks for a week, and even he had never   
bothered her again. And Zarbon, her mate, was still stronger than he was.   
Zarbon allowed no one to touch Chestra.  
  
Jaden finally woke from her meditating trance. "What in the   
universe was that about?"  
  
Chestra snorted with disgust. "Balair not keeping his hands to himself, as   
usual."  
  
Zarbon sighed. "Balair, one of these days you're going to make   
advances on the wrong woman, and it may cost you your life."  
  
Balair snorted derisively. "That'll happen alright-when the   
universe freezes over, and Frieza joins the Ginyu Girls! He'll also marry   
Shalila Chloe!" He and Dodoria both laughed over that remark. Jaden shook her   
head in disgust; she and Balair had never been friends, and the Rybanese and the   
Sistrai races had been archenemies, and for the most part, still were.   
  
Diamonique, in a rare act of discretion, wisely changed the subject.   
"Speaking of our Lord Frieza, does he even have a love life? I've never seen   
him with anyone but my cousin, Eclipse, and I know they can't mate."  
  
Zarbon smiled indulgently. "Lord Frieza has a few playmates that he   
visits throughout the universe from time to time. He keeps his love life very   
discreet and quiet. I don't think he even mates with any of the Ginyu Girls,   
although he has sent for them from time to time."  
  
Jaden grinned, temporarily forgetting about Balair and his debauchery. "He's   
nothing like his father, King Cold, that's for sure!" They all laughed then,   
even Balair, for they all knew that King Cold had three wives and a harem of   
pretties with the same qualities as the Ginyu Girls. They also knew, although   
none of them dared to mention it, that Frieza often had his father's playmates   
and wives killed off from time to time when Frieza thought that the women   
involved might give his father an heir stronger than he was. Frieza also   
frequently had his half-siblings murdered that were produced from his father's   
frequent liaisons.   
  
"Do you think Lord Frieza would ever marry?" Diamonique asked.  
  
Zarbon became thoughtful then. "Maybe, but I doubt it. I don't   
think Lord Frieza would willingly marry and produce an heir unless he was ready   
to die soon. There is always the danger of him producing an heir more powerful   
than he is, and Lord Frieza is not ready to go anytime soon. An heir could rise   
up against him."  
  
"I'm looking forward to the mission to Calmag," Dodoria spoke up.   
"We haven't had any real excitement in a long time. I'll roast every living   
thing there!"  
  
"That's fine, Dodoria, but don't forget that we have to spare   
Princess Tayla and bring her to Lord Frieza alive, unharmed, and-"-Zarbon looked   
meaningfully at Balair-"unmolested."  
  
"Should we each separately try to capture Princess Tayla ourselves?"   
Diamonique asked, drumming her perfect, fatal diamond nails on the worn   
tabletop. "Or should we spilt up into teams and try to capture her that way?"  
  
"It shouldn't be that hard to capture a twelve-year-old girl,   
Diamonique, even if she is an elite-class Astorian royal," Dodoria told her.   
"She is just a child."  
  
"But a powerful child," Chestra reminded him, "Remember that she was   
able to defeat Prince Vegeta, and how many people do you know can do that   
besides us?"  
  
"And her powerful granny, Shalila Chloe, will be with her, and we   
all know that she and Tayla's other family members won't let Tayla go without a   
fight-a nasty fight too. The Astorians mean business when they try to protect   
their own. They don't show mercy to anyone harming their own people," Jaden   
added. "So we have the others to contend with too. And Shalila Chloe has   
married that Namek warrior, Dirkan, so we will have to watch out for him too."   
  
Zarbon added, "And don't forget that Frieza has allowed Prince   
Vegeta and the other Saiyans to accompany us to planet Calmag. They will be   
trying to clear Calmag before we will, and the Saiyans will definitely want   
revenge on Princess Tayla. We have to ensure that Prince Vegeta does not try to   
kill Princess Tayla for her defeating him five years ago. Princess Tayla is   
only valuable to us alive and unharmed and-"-everyone looked at   
Balair-"unmolested." Balair glared darkly at everyone, but said nothing.  
  
Dodoria asked, "Will the Ginyu Girls be coming with us?"  
  
Zarbon nodded. "Possibly, for it will be a long voyage."  
  
Balair grinned. "Good, for I'll finally have something to keep me   
warm at night."  
  
Jaden said snappily, "Have you ever heard of a blanket?" Everyone at   
the table, except for Balair laughed.  
  
Balair retorted, "At least I can get a warm body at night. You,   
Jaden, couldn't pay a man to even look at you!"  
  
Jaden was unfazed, and she put pressure on Chestra's arm to prevent   
her from speaking up for her; she didn't want any additional trouble. "I have   
better and more important things to do than to worry about ridiculous things   
such as mating. Things like that are a distraction-one I can easily do   
without."  
  
Dodoria sneered nastily, for he disliked Jaden as much as Balair   
did, "You'll definitely do without that distraction alright, for you killed the   
one man who did actually want to jump your bones! How was it with Sagash,   
Jaden, before you killed him?" He and Balair broke out into malicious laughter.  
  
A look of extreme pain and hurt flashed across Jaden's face,   
something that rarely happened to her characteristic unfeeling mask. Then the   
pained look hardened into a look of pure anger and rage. She shoved her drink   
aside and rose up angrily. Everyone was stunned, for Jaden usually knew how to   
hold her temper and remain calm. She seized Dodoria by his collar and held him   
up in the air, as she leapt on top of the table with his collar in her meaty   
hand. Everyone stopped eating and stared in shock at Dodoria and Jaden. The   
room was now so quiet that a feather dropping to the floor could be heard.  
  
"You bastard!" she hissed in fury. "If you ever mention that   
bastard's name or that time to me again, I will pound all of your spikes into   
your skull! Got it?"  
  
Dodoria normally didn't fear Jaden, but he did now. He knew that   
Jaden could be as dangerous as any of them when her temper was ignited. "Fine,"   
he scoffed, "I don't care one way or the other."   
  
Jaden threw him back into the booth, and Dodoria dusted himself off   
with as much as dignity as he could. Jaden excused herself and pushed past   
Zarbon and Chestra, storming out of the Elite Lounge and Bar. Chestra followed   
behind her quickly after excusing her from Zarbon; she was the only one besides   
Frieza who dared to come near Jaden whenever Jaden was angry like this.  
  
Jaden went off to train in the gravity room that was reserved   
exclusively for the Elites, but before she entered the room, Chestra stopped her   
by gently grabbing her arm.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked softly, touching Jaden's shoulder.  
  
Jaden suppressed her temper; she did not like to be bothered after   
losing her temper, but Chestra was her closest friend, so Jaden did not throw   
her into a wall like she would have done anyone else.  
  
"I'm fine," she grunted, but a small quiver in her voice betrayed   
the truth. Realizing that she was too upset to train, she sat down on the floor   
in the corridor to calm down. Chestra sat down next to her and put her arm   
around the older fighter's shoulder. Jaden permitted it, although she normally   
didn't allow anyone to touch her.  
  
"Pay Balair and Dodoria no mind, those leather apes aren't worth   
it," Chestra told her firmly.   
  
Jaden only nodded and closed her eyes, carefully hiding potential   
tears.  
  
Chestra then used her rare, wry sense of humor to try to cheer her   
friend up. "The only reason they get anywhere into the Ginyu Girl's pants is   
because Frieza pays the girls himself! The only way Balair and Dodoria can get   
it up is if they puts their little peters on ice!"  
  
A small chuckle emerged from Jaden then. "Does Dodoria even have a   
peter?"  
  
Chestra shuddered. "Ugh! I'm not sure that I want to find out!"   
She and Jaden both gagged like a couple of schoolgirls, and then like   
schoolgirls, they fell against each other and roared with laughter. Jaden, who   
was normally so serious, was more relaxed and humorous whenever Chestra was   
around. Jaden admired Chestra for not letting her past life as a slave bring   
her down.  
  
"We could always ask Eclipse, or any of the other Ginyu Girls,"   
Jaden quipped.  
  
Chestra gagged again. "Do we really need to know that much about   
what's under Dodoria's armor? I don't know about the other Ginyu Girls, but I   
would hope that Eclipse would have better taste than Dodoria."  
  
Jaden laughed. She felt much better now. Chestra was twelve years   
younger than she was, and yet Jaden felt that she could trust her with anything,   
including her own life. Finding someone that you could trust was difficult   
under Frieza.  
  
"Hey, what do you say you and me and Zarbon team up and find this   
Princess Tayla and see if she's as tough as they claim she is?" Chestra told her   
merrily.  
  
Jaden smirked. "Sure, why not? I'd like to beat those leather apes   
to her." She patted Chestra's shoulder, and that was all that was needed to reveal   
how strong a bond she and Chestra had.  
  
"And don't forget the real apes-those kids that you trained! We're   
competing against them too!"  
  
Jaden smiled. She had respect for the Saiyans, but she was still   
determined to show her former students that she was still superior. She could   
still show her prize pupil, Prince Vegeta, a thing or two about fighting and   
taking captives.  
  
"Time to train," she told Chestra gruffly. "We've got work to do."   
She and Chestra went into the gravity room, set it at one hundred times normal   
gravity, and they began to spar. 


	32. On The Way To Calmag

Chapter Thirty-Two: On The Way To Calmag  
  
The Astorian mother ship that belonged to the Clan of Chloe family   
was named the Roccon after Shalila's father. Shalila had taken her closest   
family members and friends on a combined vacation and mission to planet Calmag.   
Shalila was hoping to form an alliance with the Calmagians against Lord Frieza.   
Shalila and Dirkan had been planning for years to avenge themselves and the   
entire galaxy against the evil warlord, and they had been perfecting their plans   
to destroy Frieza and free the universe from his iron grasp for a long time.   
They had not forgotten what Frieza and the Saiyans did to the Korin and all of   
its occupants.  
  
The mother ship was circular-shaped and gigantic with many windows;   
it was actually a traveling space station, equipped with enough food and   
equipment to supply the occupants for three years, should they not be able to   
return home right away. The space station was entirely self-sufficient, and the   
engines were perpetual-motion machines. The ship was gold and red, with fifteen   
floors, seventeen ports, five cargo bins, twenty escape pods and numerous   
corridors and bridges. The ship was like a small planet, with its own supply   
rooms, lounges, recreation rooms, hospital wings, training rooms, gravity rooms,   
and even one floor reserved as an artificial park and forest, with real trees   
and flora.  
  
The occupants besides Shalila and Dirkan included Gorna and her   
family, Raakon's family, Cletos' family, Gracina's family, and Bajal and Alora,   
who were now married with a little girl named Rina. Shalila had decided to take   
both Gorna's family and Bajal's family, something she rarely did because she   
preferred to leave one or two close heirs to the throne behind in case something   
should happen to her and the others. Aijal, her second oldest son, had been   
left to rule Astoria in her stead until she returned.  
  
Tayla, of course had come, along with her brothers, Arlon and Lukan.   
The three Meatians had also joined them, along with Reccor, Bendros and his   
brothers, Mykia, Dalantra, Homina, Toria, Marya, and various servants who were   
to wait on the royal family. Each family member had been allowed to take one   
personal servant with him or her, and one personal servant only. The other   
servants and Laborers were to take care of all the ship's needs. Gohan and   
Hazel, also married now, were taking a vacation, and they were also with their   
family; they had a little girl named Aurora and a little boy that Gohan had   
insisted on naming after his deceased brother, Mantros. Little Mantros and   
Aurora were already powerful little children, destined to become warriors like   
their father. Mantros was four and Aurora was two.  
  
Tayla was twelve years old now, Riccan was nine, and Arlina and Jaca   
were thirteen. Veal, Lelina, Petalia, and Fayra were fourteen years old, and   
Rojal was seventeen. Kekron was sixteen years old, Nikon was seven years old,   
and Tila and Tayka were now five years old. Arlon was twenty years old, and   
Lukan was now nineteen. Neither of them had a mate, nor did they plan to take   
any anytime soon. They were both enjoying bachelorhood, and even more so   
because there was no pressure on them to produce heirs, as there was with Gorna   
and Bajal. It was important for the firstborn and the second born of any Clan   
leader to produce children, and they were forbidden to become Priests and   
Priestesses because they were too close to inheriting the title of Gran or   
Granden. Priests and Priestesses could not rule Astoria or a Clan because they   
had take vows against mating or fighting.  
  
It had been two weeks since the Roccon had left Astoria for Calmag,   
and the children were now enjoying some free time after finishing their training   
and studies for the day. The Astorian children in the Clan of Chloe did not   
have a formal school; instead they met with various Clan members and other   
teachers for certain times of the day who would train them intensively in what   
each child needed to know. Classes were small, and there was plenty of   
individual attention given to the students, ensuring a quality education ten   
times greater and more comprehensive that the education taught on Earth.   
Astorian children had to study harder than Earth children did, but they learned   
and retained knowledge at a rate ten times faster than the children of Earth   
did. All Astorians have photographic memories and many of them had high I.Q.   
levels of four hundred or more.  
  
They were in the ship's Youth Lounge, where Astorian children and   
their friends could go to play video and other games, train in private gravity   
rooms, read and entertain each other. Sometimes the children went to nap   
briefly in private napping rooms, or they ate at the juice and tea bar in the   
Youth Lounge.  
  
Hazel had taken her small children into the Youth Lounge, and she   
released them into the large indoor playground that included swings, slides and   
ball bins. She left them there, knowing that their nursemaids would keep an eye   
on them for a little while. She sat down a velvet-covered chair, watching her   
two children, a mixture of Human and Astorian, playing happily together with   
Nikon, Tila and Tayka. Tayka was the bossiest child on the playground, and she   
ordered everyone in her age group about, even her older brother, Nikon.  
  
The other children considered themselves too old for the playground,   
so they sparred with each other, played games, or stood around and talked.   
Tayla and Riccan had invented a new game a week ago called "Escape the Saiyans"   
or "Escape from Frieza", depending on the mood of the children. It was an   
advanced, combined game of tag and hide-and-seek, with some children playing the   
Saiyans or Frieza and the other children playing regular Astorians. Even Rojal   
and Dedron, who usually considered themselves too old for many games, played it   
because they thought that it was a good training exercise.  
  
Riccan was playing the role of Prince Vegeta, and Kekron and Kiran,   
Bendros' brother who had joined the older children just now, were playing Nappa   
and Raditz. Tayla pretended that she was Shalila, and Lelina played Tayla, and   
the other girls were other Clan of Chloe fighters. Petalia played Gorna, a   
perfect role for her because she was as peevish as her aunt. Rojal played   
Frieza, and Dedron played King Vegeta.  
  
Tayla had wheedled Arlon, Lukan and Ham into playing also, and Arlon   
and Lukan played Saiyans while Ham remained a Meatian. The smaller children   
started to join them, and they demanded to be allowed to play, so they were   
assigned the roles of various Saiyans or Astorians.  
  
But Tayla decided that the game was not complete yet. "We need a   
Dirkan. Who's going to play Dirkan, my husband?"  
The other children discussed this amongst themselves, but those who   
could play a good Dirkan did not want to give up their current roles, and the   
other children were too young to be able to play Dirkan well. Fortunately,   
Bendros strolled into the Youth Lounge at that moment. Tayla smiled widely   
then.  
  
"There's our Dirkan!" she declared happily.  
  
Bendros was stunned and confused by Tayla's declaration, and before   
he knew it, Tayla had convinced him to play her husband, Dirkan.  
  
"But what do I do in this game, Tayla?" Bendros asked her because he   
had just learned about the game from his brother, Kiran. "How do I play?"  
  
"All we do is fight Frieza and the Saiyans. All you do is fight   
them and stay by my side because I am Shalila Chloe and you are my husband, the   
Namek Commander Dirkan," Tayla commanded. Bendros shook his head in amusement,   
but he agreed to indulge the girl. He knew of her obvious crush on him, but he   
didn't take it too seriously, not yet anyway.   
  
Tayla and her peers dressed in costumes that they had either made   
themselves or had their servants or parents make for them, and Tayla gave   
Bendros a red cape similar to the red cape that Dirkan often liked to wear.  
  
The entire space station was divided into three parts, one-third   
"outer space", the second third "Planet Vegeta" and the third part "Astoria".   
The three parts were then divided into various areas and planets and Astorian   
moons.   
  
This was how the game actually worked: those playing Frieza, his   
minions, or the Saiyans were supposed to chase after those playing the Astorians   
and capture them or kill them. No ki attacks were allowed because it would be   
dangerous to the ship and its occupants, so the children had to settle for   
sparring or shooting each other with plastic guns filled with various types of   
plastic plunger-like darts that were substitutes for ki attacks. These darts   
would leave washable ink spots on the children's costumes, and if a child   
received five ink spots in one game, he or she was considered "dead". For a   
while, they had been using water balloons to substitute as ki attacks, but the   
water balloons caused messes all over the ship, and that part of that game had   
stopped completely when Riccan had accidentally hit the real Dirkan with a water   
balloon that had been meant for Kekron while Dirkan had been meditating. A   
soaked Dirkan had been furious, and after that water balloons were forbidden on   
the ship, especially after Shalila and some of the other adults had nearly   
slipped on the various puddles of water left throughout the ship.  
  
There were "safe areas" and "neutral ground areas" throughout the   
ship that the players from both sides could go to and rest without the fear of   
being "captured" or "killed", where they could stay for only ten minutes at a   
time before having to leave again. If you were hit with five "ki attacks" you   
were considered "dead", and if someone managed to grab both of your ankles or   
both of your wrists, you were considered "captured". If someone was "captured",   
they were taken to one of the two "Prisons" which were the two largest ship   
utility rooms and the "prisoners" had their wrists tied up lightly with cloth   
strips. Sometimes rescues were attempted, or the "prisoners" tried to escape   
themselves.  
  
The game began with "Prince Vegeta" (Riccan) ordering "Nappa"   
(Kekron) and "Raditz" (Kiran) to capture "Princess Tayla" (Lelina) and "Superior   
Gran Shalila" (Tayla). "Tayla" and "Shalila" gathered fake cardboard swords and   
prepared their dart guns to fight the "Saiyans". Rojal, as "Frieza", warned the   
"Saiyans" that if they messed up this time, he would blast them into the next   
dimension. Dedron, as "King Vegeta" laughed and told "Prince Vegeta" that he   
would not be allowed to rule Planet Vegeta and that he would cut off his supply   
of chocolate sugarplums forever, if he failed.  
  
"No! Not my chocolate sugarplums!" "Prince Vegeta" wailed in   
horror. "I'll see that Tayla and Shalila are captured, I promise!"  
  
The "Saiyans" started fighting the "Astorians", and each side either   
took prisoners or "killed" them. After a few hours, the "Astorians" were   
losing, and only "Dirkan" (Bendros), "Shalila" (Tayla), "Lektron" (Nikon), and   
"Gorna" (Petalia) were still free. "Dirkan" had taken three hits, "Shalila" two   
hits, and "Lektron" and "Gorna" four hits apiece. The four fighters were hiding   
behind some boxes in the first cargo bin, concealing their ki levels.   
Suddenly, "Prince Vegeta" and "Frieza" jumped out from behind some barrels in   
the cargo bin and began to attack with their darts. "Lektron" and "Gorna" were   
hit for the final time, and now they were both "dead". The "dead" had to walk   
to the "Morgue" which was actually the second cargo bin. The "dead" had to stay   
there until the game was over. The game would come to the end when all of one   
side had either been captured or killed, but prisoners often escaped, so the   
game could continue on for several more hours.  
  
Only "Dirkan" and "Shalila" were left in the game on the "Astorian"   
side. Three "Astorians" were still alive, but they were now prisoners, and the   
"Astorians" had no prisoners themselves. "Dirkan" and "Shalila" had decided to   
try to rescue them from "Nappa" and "Raditz".  
  
"Shalila" had managed to capture "Nappa" by seizing him by both of   
his ankles unexpectedly, and "Dirkan" battled "Raditz" who shot him with two   
more darts. If "Dirkan" was hit one more time, he would be "dead" and "Shalila"   
would be alone to fight the villains herself.  
  
"Shalila" tried to march "Nappa" to the "Astorian Prison", but   
"Nappa" somehow managed to free himself from the cloth strips and run away.   
"Nappa" then shot "Shalila" with a dart, so now she had three ink spots on her.   
"Dirkan" had managed to shoot "Raditz", but "Raditz" managed to shoot "Dirkan"   
back, and now "Dirkan" was dead. The three prisoners, "Tayla", Ham, playing   
himself, and Arlon, playing himself, tried to escape, but "Raditz" captured   
"Tayla" and shot Arlon twice. Ham tried to help "Tayla", but "Raditz" killed   
Ham, who had already been shot four times before one last fatal time. Ham was   
now "dead". Arlon managed to deliver a fatal dart to "Raditz", and "Raditz" was   
now dead. Arlon was one ink spot away from death, and he went to find   
"Shalila."  
  
"Shalila" had managed to "kill" "Nappa" and "Frieza", but she was   
now facing "Prince Vegeta." Both of them were one ink spot away from death   
apiece, and "Vegeta" managed to kill a "dying" Arlon with a final dart. It was   
down between "Shalila" and "Prince Vegeta", the last villain alive.  
  
And then "Shalila" delivered the fatal blow to "Prince Vegeta", and   
he was now "dead". "Shalila" crowed happily because her side had   
won, even though only she and "Tayla" were still alive. She went to free   
"Tayla" and the game was over.  
  
Kekron, a true technical wizard, was making improvements on the new   
gravity room that Shalila hoped would help the children train better. Tayla and   
the other fighting children couldn't wait to use it, although Shalila had told   
them it would be some time before the gravity room was perfected, and that they   
had to be careful using it. No children under nine years old would be allowed   
to use it.  
  
The trip to Calmag would take two more months, but there was plenty   
to keep the children occupied until then. Tayla and Riccan were sparring, and   
they were both disappointed that no ki attacks were allowed, but they understood   
that it would be too dangerous. Dirkan had assured them and the other warrior   
children that soon the training rooms would be set up to where ki attacks would   
be allowed, as long as they weren't too intense. Until then, Tayla, Riccan,   
Rojal, Nikon, Jaca, also a warrior, Dedron, Arlon and Lukan would have to be   
content with the frequent sparring matches that happened all over the ship.  
  
Finally, after dinner, the children and adults settled themselves in   
the Recreation Room before bedtime. Shalila and Dirkan were not there, for they   
had gone off to their private suite for some time alone together. Dalantra, an   
excellent seamstress, was embroidering a handkerchief, and Mykia was braiding   
Tayla's hair. Tayla was studying an anatomy book, and Lelina was studying   
chemistry. Dedron and Rojal were arm-wrestling, and Riccan and Nikon were   
asleep on the futons. Tila and Tayka were asleep in their mother's lap, and   
Gracina was eating a chocolate sugarplum. Petalia was admiring herself in her   
ivory hand mirror and trying to flirt with Rojal. Fayra was watching Dedron,   
admiring him, and hoping to get his attention, but both Rojal and Dedron were   
oblivious to Petalia and Fayra.  
  
Finally Petalia decided that it was time for her and Fayra to take   
action.  
  
"I have an idea," Petalia whispered to Fayra, as she smoothed her   
sky blue caftan with a white sash, "why don't we make Rojal and my brother   
jealous?"  
  
"How?" Fayra asked, who was not very bright, but a good painter,   
like the Artisan she was.  
  
"Simple," Petalia told her contemptuously. "We flirt with the   
handsomest men on the ship who are not our relatives."  
  
"Who?"  
  
Petalia smirked. "Why, Aunt Alora's nephews, of course." She was   
talking about Bendros, and his brothers Herkon and Kiran, who were twenty-two,   
nineteen, and fifteen.  
  
"But they're not Clan of Chloe," Fayra, who was dressed in a lacy   
pine-green caftan with a gold caftan, protested, "although they are all very   
handsome."  
  
"Exactly, and I intend to flirt with Bendros," Petalia declared.  
  
"Doesn't Tayla like him?" Fayra asked.  
  
"She does," Petalia admitted, "and if Bendros was the heir to the   
throne, I would try to make him my husband instead of Rojal. But I could have   
Bendros if I wanted to. You know, maybe I should go after him after all, just   
to make Rojal jealous, even though I intend to become Superior Gran someday."  
  
"But Bendros is not really interested in you," Fayra pointed out   
tactlessly. "And the only girl in our age group he seems to notice is Tayla."  
  
"And do you know why, Fayra?" Petalia asked. Fayra didn't, so   
Petalia continued. "Tayla is bold, Fayra, very bold. She puts herself directly   
in Bendros' path, forcing him to notice her. Tayla is no fool, Fayra. She   
knows what she is doing. When she gets old enough to take a husband, she'll   
have Bendros eating out of her little hands."  
  
"If Tayla and Bendros were to get married, Tayla would become the   
Gran of Sahara someday," Fayra said thoughtfully. "Tayla would be in a powerful   
position, as a Gran."  
  
Petalia became quiet then. The gears in her crafty mind started   
spinning. Finally, she spoke, "I could care less whether Tayla lives or dies,   
but she is much stronger than she was when she fought against those horrid   
Saiyans five years ago. She could become a powerful ally to me, if I were to   
marry Rojal and become Superior Gran. She wants Bendros, we both know that, and   
I want Rojal. So, maybe Tayla and I could help each other; I could help her get   
Bendros, and she could help me get Rojal."  
  
"I don't think that Tayla will agree to that, Petalia," Fayra   
objected. "For one thing, Tayla and Rojal do not get along as it is, and you   
and Tayla are not exactly the best of friends either, although she is cordial to   
both of you. How do you intend to pull this off?"  
  
Petalia ignored the question, for she had not thought out all of the   
details yet. "Just summon Tayla to me at once, Fayra," she ordered Fayra, as if   
Petalia were already the Superior Gran. Fayra reluctantly did so, although she   
didn't think that Petalia's plan was going to work.  
  
A minute later, Tayla, with her hair now braided for bedtime, so   
that her hair would not be snarled in the morning, came back with Fayra to the   
small white table where Fayra and Petalia were sitting.  
  
"Sit down, Tayla," Petalia told her warmly, and Tayla did so   
reluctantly, for Petalia was as snobbish towards her at times as Rojal was.   
Tayla, however, tried to be extra nice to her because Petalia's mother, Farla,   
had abandoned her and Dedron five years ago. Petalia and Dedron had not heard   
from their mother since she had fled Astoria with their Uncle Jaypros. As far   
as the siblings were concerned, their mother was dead to them. Their father,   
Cletos had not been the same cheery man he had been after his wife left. Cletos   
barely paid attention to his children any more, and his siblings and grandmother   
were handling more and more of his parenting duties.  
  
"What do you want, Petalia?" Tayla asked her slowly.  
  
"Well," Petalia began cordially, "You like Bendros, right? As a   
potential husband, perhaps?"  
  
Tayla blushed; her face was redder than her scarlet caftan with a   
gold sash. Shyly, she nodded.  
  
"Well," Petalia began again, "I like Rojal." Tayla gagged at this,   
and Fayra laughed out loud before she could censor herself.  
  
"Fayra!" Petalia snapped. "Enough!" Fayra quieted down   
immediately.  
  
"Why do you like Rojal?" Tayla asked Petalia directly. "He's not   
very nice to anyone except for his mother and Dedron."  
  
Petalia debated on whether she wanted to tell Tayla the full truth   
about why she truly wanted Rojal. She cared about Rojal to a certain extent,   
but she cared about his title even more. Finally, she decided to let Tayla know   
the entire story. "Because he's the heir to Astoria's throne, and I want to be   
his wife and the Superior Gran," she told Tayla bluntly.  
  
"But do you love him?" Tayla asked. "Nama says that you shouldn't   
marry someone that you don't love. She says it's not fair to either party   
involved."  
  
"Great-Nama herself didn't love Granpappa Bajal when she married   
him," Petalia pointed out to her. "They just got married 'cause their marriage   
was arranged by their parents when Great-Nama was born. She really wanted to   
marry Dirkan the first time, but Dirkan insisted that she marry Granpappa Bajal   
because our people expected it, and Dirkan couldn't give her any children. So I   
am 'arranging' my marriage to Rojal, so to speak. Love is a ridiculous thing   
anyway; look what it did to our family. My whore mother ran off with Uncle   
Jaypros because of 'love'. And now my father sits and stares at walls all of   
the time because he still loves our mother, even though she is a slut and an   
adulteress. I'll never forgive Farla Chloe for that, never!" Petalia's voice   
betrayed tears.  
  
Tayla already knew the full story, but she knew that Nama had grown   
to love Granpappa Bajal, and they had been happy together. And Nama had been   
able to marry Dirkan in the end, after all. Tayla wished that she could have   
gotten to know her grandfather; Nama, Dirkan and her siblings were always   
talking about how brave and strong he had been. She offered Petalia her lace   
handkerchief, which Petalia reluctantly took. Tayla pitied her.  
  
"Love's a wonderful thing," Tayla tried to console her. "Just   
because your mother ran off with Jaypros, doesn't mean that love is bad. You   
can still marry someone that you love. I don't think that it's a good idea to   
marry someone just to become a ruler-"  
  
"But aren't you trying to get Bendros to like you, so that you can   
become Gran of Sahara someday?" Petalia asked brusquely.  
  
"No, I'm not," Tayla said sincerely. "I just want Bendros to like   
me because he's nice and brave and strong and very handsome, too. It doesn't   
matter to me that he's going to become Granden of Sahara one day. I just like   
him because he's-well, you know, him."  
  
Petalia contemplated this for a moment. She knew that Tayla was   
right, but she still didn't believe that love was really worth it. The pain of   
her mother running away with Uncle Jaypros was still too fresh, even five years   
later. Petalia spoke again, calling her mother by her first name, "Maybe, but   
Farla broke Pappa's heart when she ran away with Uncle Jaypros, and she loved   
him at one time. Pappa still loves Farla, even though she doesn't deserve it.   
Farla is nothing but a whore, even if she was my mother! Love makes people hurt   
others, like Farla hurt my father!" Petalia lost control of her emotions then,   
and the tears began to flow. Fayra and Tayla were awestruck.  
  
Tayla wished she knew the right words to say to Petalia to help her,   
but she had never been through what Petalia and Dedron had been through. She   
just stood up and went to her niece and awkwardly put her arms around her   
shoulders, carefully avoiding Petalia's coiffed hair. She knew that Petalia   
would likely rebuff her, but Tayla had to do something, since she could not find   
the right words to ease Petalia's pain.  
  
Surprisingly enough, Petalia didn't tell Tayla to leave her alone,   
or shove her away. Instead she just sat there, the tears flowing down her   
cheeks. "I hate her! I hate her for leaving us! Pappa doesn't love us anymore   
because of her. He talks to Dedron sometimes, but he doesn't even look at me   
anymore because I look like Farla too much. He hates me!"  
  
"That's not true," Tayla finally said, "He just doesn't know how to   
deal with this anymore than you do. Parents don't stop loving their children,   
you know."  
  
"But how would you know that, Tayla?" Petalia asked curtly, "No   
offense personally, but you never had parents. Your parents died when you were   
a baby, so how do you know anything about parents?"  
  
"Well," Tayla began slowly, "I do have parents now, in a way. Nama   
and Dirkan are the mother and father that I never had. I'm glad that they got   
married. I consider them my parents even though I don't call them Mamma and   
Pappa. Gracina is also like a mother to me. Sometimes parents don't   
necessarily have to be your real ones. I wish that I could have met my parents,   
and at least you have had yours. I wish I could make your mother come home,   
Petalia, but I can't. To this day, we don't even know where they are."  
  
Petalia found herself confiding in Tayla, as she never had before.   
She had greatly envied and disliked Tayla because she was jealous of her   
potential beauty and popularity. She had snubbed and put down Tayla in hopes of   
getting Rojal to notice her and like her. Rojal and her brother, Dedron were   
often mean to and about Tayla, and Petalia had went along with them, so that she   
could get their liking and approval. But there had been times when Petalia had   
wished that she and Tayla could get along better. Tayla stood up for herself,   
and she had a fierce temper, but she also had a kind and forgiving heart. Even   
the smallest kindness towards her was enough for Tayla to be friendly with   
someone, even someone like Petalia.  
  
"I'm wondering if it's my fault that Farla left us," Petalia   
murmured sadly. "Maybe I or Dedron did something to make her leave us for Uncle   
Jaypros. Maybe if I had known, I could have talked her out of leaving us."  
  
"It's not your fault," Tayla told her. "Farla is a grown-up, and   
grown-ups are supposed to know better than children do. Farla knew it was wrong   
to leave her family, but she did it anyway. You and Dedron and Cletos did   
nothing to deserve this. Farla and Jaypros are to blame, not you or anyone   
else."  
  
Petalia nodded through her tears. "I'm afraid that I'm going to be   
like her one day, and I don't want to be, not anymore."  
  
"Farla had some good things about her," Tayla told her positively.   
"Just live up to the good in her and forget the bad."  
  
"I don't know what good there is in Farla now," Petalia spat   
bitterly, as Shalila approached the table where the three girls were sitting at.   
Shalila started to speak, but Tayla shook her head pleadingly at her, and   
Shalila nodded. Tayla had grown much wiser and stronger since her two-year stay   
at Kami Orchida's. Tayla had matured greatly under Kami Orchida and Toria's   
training, and she had been greatly affected by them and their occasional   
visitors, who were also filled with wisdom and advice. Tayla had been sad to   
leave Kami Orchida and Toria, but she was glad to be with her family once more,   
for she had still missed them all so much. And Toria had come with them.  
  
"There has to be good in almost anyone," Tayla told her, seeing that   
Nama was going to allow her to handle this. "You loved your mother at one time,   
so there must have been something that you liked or loved in her."  
  
"Well, she always did sing so pretty, and she taught me how to dress   
well and look nice," Petalia admitted.   
  
"And that's something to go on," Tayla told her. "Keep your good   
memories of her. I wish I could say that she's coming back, but I can't. But   
you still have the Clan of Chloe, and you know that we won't abandon our own."   
Tayla patted her shoulder, and Petalia laid her white-gold head on the white   
table and closed her eyes, much calmer now.  
  
"Thanks," she murmured gruffly, and then she fell asleep   
immediately, her head on her arms on the table. Fayra stared at Tayla in shock,   
for Tayla had said almost the exact things that Great-Nama or any other   
knowledgeable adult in the Clan of Chloe would have. Was Tayla really only   
twelve?  
  
Shalila approached the sleeping Petalia and kissed the girl's   
forehead, smoothing the white-gold coif. She then easily lifted Petalia into   
her arms, as if Petalia were no heavier than a large pillow, and laid the girl   
over her shoulder. "She will be alright now," Shalila told Fayra and Tayla, as   
she carried Petalia to her bedchamber.   
  
  
  
  
  
Later that night at 11pm (according to Astorian Galactic Time, which   
the Astorians always went by whenever they traveled in space or stayed at home),   
Tayla quietly knocked on Nama and Dirkan's bedroom door. The door was unlocked,   
and Shalila and Dirkan were still awake. The royal couple was lying in an ebony   
bed with red and gold paisley bedcovers made out of silk and Astorian hair.  
  
"Come in," Dirkan called, sensing Tayla's ki signature. The   
automatic door rose up after Dirkan had pressed a button on his nightstand.  
  
Tayla walked into the room slowly, and Shalila moved closer to   
Dirkan on the bed, so that her granddaughter could fit onto the bed with them.   
Tayla snuggled closer to Shalila and rested her dark head on her chest. Shalila   
embraced her; Dirkan laid his arm across Shalila's waist and turned towards her   
and Tayla. He squeezed Tayla's hand.  
  
"What's on your mind, kid?" Dirkan asked her gruffly, but with a   
twinkle in his black eye. "Shouldn't you have been in bed by now?"  
  
"I'm not tired," Tayla murmured, her drowsy voice betraying her as   
she spoke. "Just wanted to know if Petalia was going to be okay."  
  
"I think that she will be," Shalila told her positively. "She   
seemed calmer than she has been in a long time, and she is sleeping now like she   
hadn't slept in years."  
  
"I don't think that she really has, poor girl," Dirkan said   
sympathetically. "Neither has her brother or her father."  
  
"Do you think that Farla and Jaypros will ever come back?" Tayla   
asked suddenly.  
  
"I doubt it," Dirkan told her. "We have scouted around, and there   
are no signs of them to be found anywhere."  
  
"Do you think that they're still alive?" Tayla asked.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan grew quiet then, although Tayla had not been the   
first to ask them that. "We don't know that for sure anymore, dandelion,"   
Shalila told her finally.  
  
"Nama, do you think I was right about Cletos still loving Dedron and   
Petalia?" Tayla asked worriedly.  
  
Shalila hesitantly nodded, although she had been deeply worried   
about the way Cletos had been neglecting his children for the past five years.   
Cletos barely acknowledged his children these days, and when he did, it was only   
Dedron he paid attention to. Petalia looked too much like Farla, and Cletos   
seemed to try to avoid his own daughter, much to Petalia's secret despair, which   
was not so secret because Shalila had noticed. Shalila decided that she was   
going to have a long talk with Cletos the next day; it was time for Cletos to   
stop moping and mourning his loss, so that he could move on with his life, for   
his children's sakes. She had offered to grant Cletos a divorce from Farla, but   
oddly enough, Cletos had refused. Cletos had to start being a father again, and   
Shalila was determined to see that it would happen.  
  
She kissed Tayla's brow and told the girl, still her favorite, how   
proud she was for helping Petalia. "Now it's time for bed, dandelion," Shalila   
told Tayla firmly.  
  
"Not tired," Tayla yawned, and Shalila laughed.  
  
"Your body's saying otherwise. Now off to bed," Shalila insisted,   
trying to suppress any more laughter.  
  
"Yes, Nama. Goodnight!"  
  
Tayla yawned again, and she kissed and hugged Shalila and Dirkan   
goodnight, just before dragging herself out of their bed. She crept out of   
their room and stepped outside of their door after it had risen. 


	33. The Astorian Captives

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Astorian Captives  
  
Frieza's mother ship, 1AM, (Frieza Stellar Time), 3AM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
  
Vegeta had been training in the Elite gravity room for twelve hours   
straight. He would have continued, but his growling stomach bothered him too   
much for him to keep going. Finally, he decided to stop for an hour and get an   
early morning breakfast He turned off the gravity, bringing it back to normal   
gravity for the room. He went into the shower room, which was adjacent to the   
gravity room, and quickly showered. After drying himself off and dressing into   
his armor and bodysuit once more, he left for the Elite Lounge and Bar to get   
something to eat.   
  
Vegeta would just eat and have some water; he never imbibed in   
alcohol because he believed that it would inhibit his training, power and   
judgment. His father had taught him that only foolish warriors allowed   
themselves to become prey to alcohol, and Vegeta believed this to be true. He   
had seen how idiotic Dodoria and Balair acted when they were drunk, and he   
limited how much alcohol Journa, Raditz and Nappa were allowed to consume.   
  
Vegeta chuckled to himself over a memory of a drunken Balair making   
a pass at Zarbon when he had, in a drunken haze, mistaken Zarbon for one of the   
Ginyu Girls. Zarbon had nearly killed Balair that night, and he had actually   
transformed into that hideous creature resembling a green Oozaru with earrings   
and no fur. Vegeta chuckled more, thinking that Zarbon was indeed a pretty   
boy-when he wasn't transformed. He couldn't entirely blame Balair for thinking   
that Zarbon was female. He didn't care for either Zarbon or Balair, but he   
brought that memory up whenever he needed a laugh, or whenever Zarbon or Balair   
acted as if they were better than he was.  
  
He decided to check on his sister before going for breakfast.   
Vegeta did not care much for anyone, but he held a small affection and respect for   
his sister. He didn't often treat her any better than he did anyone else, but   
he knew that Journa never held it against him. Oh sure, she was defiant and   
stubborn and didn't hesitate to tell him off when she thought that he needed it;   
she was the only person who could get away with talking back to Vegeta and live.   
She infuriated Vegeta often, but Vegeta admired her for facing him with no   
fear. It was not often that she was scared of him. He also knew that Journa   
would never betray him or turn against him, no matter what.  
  
He was in a rare good mood, so he decided to see if Journa wanted to   
join him for breakfast. He went to the Mid-Elite rooms to find his sister. The   
Top Elite officers had their own private rooms, the Mid-Elite and Lower-Elite   
officers shared their rooms with a partner, and the low-levels and recruits   
slept in barracks, shared by as many as twenty people at a time. Vegeta himself   
reluctantly shared a room with his bodyguard and partner, Nappa; he would have   
preferred his own room, but rules were rules.  
  
He found Journa's roommate, Crystalis, casually filing her five-inch   
green nails, as she stood outside in the corridors. Crystalis was six-feet   
tall, and she resembled a brown giraffe with human hands and feet and an   
extraordinarily long neck. She had dark green spots and neon green eyes, and   
Vegeta thought that she was more ugly than his former trainer, Jaden. He didn't   
understand how Journa could stand to look at her everyday, but Journa and   
Crystalis were friendly with each other.  
  
Crystalis shrank back when she saw Prince Vegeta approach her; even   
though Vegeta was shorter and smaller than she was, he still intimidated her.   
Vegeta ignored her backing away from him.  
  
"Is my sister awake?" he asked her curtly.  
  
Crystalis trembled then; she didn't want to answer, for if Prince   
Vegeta found out what his sister was up to at that moment-  
  
"Well?" Vegeta prompted. "Are you going to answer me, woman, or am   
I going to have to wring it out of you?"  
  
"She-she can't be disturbed right now," Crystalis stammered. She   
was a Lower-Elite officer, but she was in awe of all of the Saiyan fighters.   
She didn't want to get on Vegeta's bad side, no matter what.  
  
"And why not?" Vegeta asked her sharply, hating her cowardice. He   
wondered how Crystalis was ever able to make it into the Elite. "I am her   
brother, Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans. I may disturb whomever I wish. Now go   
see what she is up to, or I will!"  
  
Crystalis hesitantly walked to her bedroom door and knocked softly.   
Vegeta watched her suspiciously, for why would someone knock on her own bedroom   
door?  
He heard a lusty chuckle emit from the room.  
  
Raditz.  
  
Vegeta gnashed his teeth in fury. He now had the answer to his own   
question.  
  
His sister was no better than a low-level tramp, no better than one   
of the Ginyu Girls!  
  
He pushed past Crystalis, and blasted the door open with a small ki   
blast.  
  
Raditz and Journa were in bed together, both nude under the   
bedcovers. Journa cowered when she saw her angry brother. Even the normally   
bold Raditz paled when he realized that the Prince had now caught him in bed   
with his sister.  
  
Raditz wondered how long he had to live.  
  
Journa wondered if she and Raditz would live at all.  
  
Vegeta shoved Crystalis into the walls of the corridors, and he flew   
onto the bed where Journa and Raditz were. Before Raditz could intervene,   
Vegeta had seized his naked sister and flung her small body against the wall of   
her and Crystalis room. Journa cried out when her head hit a shelf on the wall.  
  
He then grabbed Raditz's tail and squeezed it hard, making Raditz   
scream in horrendous pain. Raditz cowered and cried, as Vegeta cruelly twisted   
and squeezed his tail. Vegeta, standing on the bed, used his other hand to   
seize Raditz's throat. He pulled Raditz's head to his face. Raditz continued   
to scream in terror, as Vegeta twisted his tail further.  
  
"Give me one good reason why you shouldn't die, Raditz!" Vegeta   
roared.  
  
"Vegeta, don't hurt him, please!" Journa cried.  
  
"Quiet, tramp!" Vegeta hissed at his frightened sister. "Who do you   
think you are, bedding a low-class Saiyan warrior?"  
  
"He's not low-class!" Journa screamed. "Don't you remember that our   
father gave him Elite-class status for trying to save me from Frieza and Zarbon?   
Nappa witnessed it! Let him go!  
  
"It doesn't matter!" Vegeta roared. "What if this bastard   
impregnated you? How am I supposed to explain that to Frieza, who's paranoid   
enough about us producing brats?" He squeezed Raditz's tail harder.  
  
Raditz was desperate; there was only one thing he could do, and he   
did it, deciding to worry about the consequences later. He used what little   
strength he had left and seized Vegeta's tail. Vegeta didn't cry out in pain at   
all; instead he grinned evilly at Raditz.  
  
Raditz's face paled further when he realized that Vegeta was feeling no pain.   
Journa was stunned; why wasn't her brother crying out?   
  
Vegeta laughed maliciously. "Nice try, Raditz, but I have managed   
to overcome that small deficiency in my tail. Squeezing my tail might have   
harmed me years ago, but I have now overcome that problem. So has Nappa, as you   
will soon learn when I turn you over to him for a further beating." He shoved   
his fist hard into Raditz's stomach and shoved the longhaired Saiyan off the bed   
and onto the floor. Vegeta then leapt onto the floor and kicked Raditz in   
between his legs, causing Raditz to scream out in further pain. "And that was   
for committing treason against me when you squeezed my tail! You ought to die   
for that alone. You are not good enough to be my sister's mate. You are too   
weak and cowardly to be an elite-class Saiyan Princess's mate."   
  
He then spat on Raditz and left him on the floor, where he was still   
writhing in pain. Vegeta flew over to Journa and picked her up by her hair. He   
thrust his face into hers.  
  
"And as for you, you little royal tramp, if I ever hear of you   
mating with him again without my permission, I will rip out your tail to where   
it can never grow back again. And he will die!" He pushed Journa into the wall   
and threw her back onto the bed. "You, as an elite-class Saiyan Princess, ought   
to have better taste than that Saiyan weakling! You should be thankful that I   
let you off easier than I did your lover!"   
  
He turned to Raditz and shouted, "Get out of this room now, and do   
not ever touch my sister again!" Raditz scrambled to his feet and tried to   
gather his clothes together. He hated himself for being such a coward with the   
Prince. Vegeta was right; maybe he didn't deserve Journa, if he couldn't even   
stand up to her brother.  
  
Journa sobbed into her bedcovers, as Vegeta looked on at her with no   
pity, but plenty of disgust. He stormed out of the room, past a cowering   
Crystalis, who was crouched down near the wall. Vegeta decided to go back to   
train some more, for he had just lost his appetite. He left, and when he did,   
Crystalis scurried back into her and Journa's room and lay next to Journa on   
Journa's bed. Crystalis patted her back and tried to calm her, but Journa was   
inconsolable.   
  
  
  
  
  
Chestra's Bedroom, 5AM (Frieza Stellar Time), 7AM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
  
Chestra was meditating, her perfectly shaped legs crossed in a lotus   
position on a purple velvet cushion. Chestra's room was decorated in purple and   
gold, and being a Top Elite officer, she had it to herself-except on the nights   
Zarbon came to visit her. The room was luxurious, well suited to the status of   
one of Frieza's Top Elite officers. There was a large, queen-sized bed, two   
nightstands, three dressers and a private bathroom, also decorated in purple and   
gold. The carpet was four inches of lavender velvet.  
  
Chestra thought that it was the most luxurious quarters that she   
ever had in her life. She had been a slave all of her life until Frieza had   
bought her from the Triumvirate of Planet Egimari. Frieza had never formally   
freed her, but he nor did anyone else treat her as a slave. The only time that   
she had life this good was when she had become the adopted child of King Muro   
and Queen Taba of planet Ghetti. The king and queen had adopted her as one of   
their own children after they had bought her from her second masters, the   
Mybooians. They had given her a small estate and her own servants, and all she   
had to do was take care of their children, whom she loved. The Ghettians had   
been purple cat-creatures with pink rabbit ears and sunny yellow eyes. Queen   
Taba had arranged for Chestra, who had been eleven at the time, to marry her   
nephew, Haven, and King Muro had trained her, greatly enhancing her warrior   
abilities. On Chestra's twelfth birthday, her happy years ended when an enemy   
race invaded the castle and killed the entire royal Ghettian family, including   
Haven. After that, Chestra had been sold to various masters who either tried to   
rape her or made her fight for them until Frieza had bought her from the   
Egimarians. Chestra, who had been eighteen at the time, was twenty-four years   
old now. She had been a Top Elite officer for four years.  
  
Chestra knew how evil Frieza was, and yet she would always be   
grateful to him for saving her life from the Triumvirate of Egimari, who had   
sentenced her to death for resisting the advances of one of the Triumvirate   
members. For if it had not been for Frieza, she would not   
d her beloved mate, Zarbon. She didn't like the way Frieza had treated her   
friend, Jaden, when Frieza had killed Jaden's family, but Jaden told her not to   
worry about it and to just stay on Frieza's good side.  
  
Chestra thought about all of this during her meditation, and then   
someone knocked on her bedroom door. Chestra awoke from her self-induced trance   
and turned on her scouter.  
  
"Who is it?" she called.  
  
"Diamonique."  
  
Chestra put up her guard and became wary. She had learned to do   
that, having to live and work with Diamonique. Diamonique could be sweet one   
minute and then nasty the next. She and Diamonique had once been roommates when   
they had been both recruits, and Diamonique had tried to kill her twice.  
  
She opened the door telekinetically, with her mind, and the door   
rose automatically. Diamonique entered, already dressed in Elite armor and   
garb.   
  
"Frieza wants all the fighters going to Calmag to meet him for   
breakfast this morning in his private dining room. He has something to show   
us." Diamonique's black gem eyes swept Chestra's room, as she spoke. She   
envied Chestra's quarters, where Zarbon had paid for half of the furnishings.   
She strolled around the room casually, as if it belonged to her, and then she   
gracefully sat down on Chestra's bed.  
  
"And what would that be?" Chestra asked cautiously.  
  
Diamonique grinned, showing perfect crystal blue teeth, typical of   
her race. She laughed merrily, and the sound of her harsh laughter grated on   
Chestra's nerves. "We have managed to capture four Astorians. From the Clan of   
Chloe, too, Shalila's grandchildren."  
  
"And they have been allowed to live?" Chestra asked, carefully   
hiding her amazement.  
  
"For now," Diamonique purred, settling herself comfortably on   
Chestra's bed, reveling in the velvety bedspread. Chestra glared at her; who   
did Diamonique think she was, acting as if this room was her own? She bit her   
tongue however; early morning was no time to be starting petty arguments. She   
arose from her cushion and went to her teak wardrobe to pull out her uniform and   
armor, but she did not change her clothes just yet. She did not wish to undress   
in front of Diamonique.  
  
"It seems that the Astorian captives are a family, a mother, a   
father and two children. Balair seems to have taken a liking to the mother. He   
even went as far as to lick her neck." Diamonique giggled, and Chestra shook her   
red and green head in disgust. Diamonique happily continued, "The father tried   
to attack him, but Dodoria punched him in the stomach, making him spit blood.   
The Astorian male claims to be a warrior, but he sure was a poor one. No wonder   
they left their planet; who would want them around?"  
  
"Are there any children?" Chestra asked, stepping into her private   
bathroom. She locked the door and telekinetically changed her clothing. It was   
nice to be able to do things hands-free.  
  
"Two brats, a boy and a girl, but it is not likely Frieza would let   
them live. He doesn't care much for children," Diamonique declared, stretching   
her lithe, curvy body on Chestra's bed.   
  
"Those poor children," Chestra murmured, as she brushed her red and   
green hair.  
  
"What did you say?" Diamonique asked.  
  
"Never mind," Chestra said abruptly. "Let's just go. I'm ready."  
  
  
  
  
  
Frieza's Dining Room, 9AM (Frieza Stellar Time), 11AM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
  
Frieza's dining room was decorated luxuriously in navy blue and   
silver, all for a male's taste. All of the Top Elite officers and the Saiyans   
had finally arrived, and Frieza called to Zarbon, "Bring out the prisoners."  
  
Zarbon ordered three low-level minions to escort the Astorian   
captives into the dining room. Balair followed behind them, openly caressing   
the woman's bottom until Zarbon ordered him to stop.  
  
"Frieza said that they weren't to be touched, Balair," Zarbon   
reminded him. "Not yet, anyway."  
  
"Sit down, all of you," Frieza told the prisoners courteously. The   
minions forced the Astorian family into chairs at the same table as the Top   
Elites and the Saiyans. Vegeta looked contemptuously at the Astorians, and   
Nappa recognized the Astorian male warrior. He leaned down towards Vegeta and   
whispered, "Isn't that one of Tayla's relatives? He fought against us five   
years ago."  
  
Vegeta glanced at the strange Astorian warrior, who was still   
dressed in his red and white costume and under armor. The costume was typical   
of Clan of Chloe warriors. The woman, who had white-blond hair and turquoise   
eyes, was dressed nicely in a slightly torn white silk caftan that hugged her   
curves.  
  
"Pretty thing," Nappa whispered to Vegeta, "Wouldn't mind getting to   
know her better."  
  
Vegeta scowled. "Why would you want to plant your seed in an   
Astorian garden, Nappa? She's lovely, but not worth it. You'll have to fight   
Balair for her, anyhow."  
  
"That doesn't bother me a bit," Nappa declared arrogantly, for he   
disliked Balair as much as Vegeta did.  
  
Raditz had just come out of the rejuvenation tanks. He avoided   
Vegeta's eyes. Vegeta had not yet forgiven him for bedding Vegeta's sister.   
Nappa and Vegeta both ignored him.   
  
Frieza's eyes swept over the Astorian captives. The woman was   
cradling her little boy, who resembled her. The little girl, who also looked   
like their mother, cowered near her. Neither of the children had their father's   
features.  
  
"Give me your and your family's names," he ordered the man sharply.  
  
The Astorian warrior stammered. "J-Jaypros. P-Prince Jaypros   
Mantros Bajal Mantros Arbon Chloe, and this is my w-wife, Princess Farla, and   
these are our children, Princess Kaydra and-and Prince Darcos."  
  
"Ages?" Frieza prompted.  
  
"I am thirty-two, my wife is thirty-four, and Kaydra and Darcos are   
five and three."  
  
Balair looked lustfully upon Farla, who cowered beneath his intense   
stare. Balair wanted her and he wanted her to know it. He was seriously   
thinking about asking Frieza to give him Farla in lieu of his bonus pay. He was   
reptilian and a Sistrai and she was humanoid and an Astorian, but he was sure   
that they were mating-compatible. He stared at her lustily, wondering what that   
white caftan of hers was concealing. He licked his lips lasciviously. She had   
tasted sweet when he had licked her neck earlier, much to her husband's anger.  
  
Farla looked at Balair fearfully, recognizing his look of desire.   
She cowered closer to Jaypros, who put his arm around her protectively.  
  
"F-Frieza," Jaypros began nervously.  
  
"That's Lord Frieza to you," Dodoria snapped.  
  
"L-Lord Frieza," Jaypros began again, watching the evil warlord   
stare at him intensely. "If you will return us to our grandmother, I'm sure   
that she would reward you if you gave us back to her and treated us well."  
  
"Hold you for ransom, you mean?" Frieza purred silkily. "Sounds   
like an interesting idea, but there is nothing that I want from your   
grandmother. Shalila Chloe is her name, isn't it?"  
  
"Y-yes, Lord Frieza." Jaypros was sweating intensively, his golden   
blond head bobbing up and down like a cork.  
  
Frieza smiled then, contemplating his next words. "Actually, there   
is one thing I would like to have from your grandmother."  
  
"And what would that be?" Jaypros asked, shaking in his chair.  
  
"A relative of yours, Princess Tayla Chloe."  
  
Jaypros and Farla paled. "Not her, Lord Frieza, please. She is my   
sister-"  
  
Frieza grinned then. "Oh, really? So you're Princess Tayla's   
brother, eh? Hmm, this should make things interesting."  
  
Farla spoke up quickly. "Lord Frieza, my cousin Tayla is but a   
child; what would you want with her?"  
  
Frieza laughed then. "I want her to become one of my warriors. She   
is a strong girl, a girl who was strong enough to defeat Prince Vegeta and put   
him in his place." Frieza laughed louder, and everyone laughed along with him   
because they knew that it was expected of them. Vegeta didn't laugh, however;   
he glared darkly at Frieza, but dared not do anything else. Frieza ignored   
Vegeta's evil look.  
  
Vegeta spoke up then, carefully controlling his temper. "Sire, why   
would Shalila Chloe want to trade her darling granddaughter, who is very strong,   
for a bunch of pathetic weaklings who weren't smart enough to stay at home?   
That man there is no true warrior."  
  
Jaypros blanched and Farla anxiously looked away from Vegeta,   
watching her pale husband hang her head down in shame. Jaypros was deeply   
embarrassed to have a Saiyan, one of his mortal enemies, witness his defeat and   
humiliation. He had never been one of the strongest Clan of Chloe warriors, why   
even his own little sister, Tayla, had surpassed him, and he was ashamed that he   
could not even protect his family. He was just thankful that they didn't know   
yet that he and Farla weren't married to each other; in fact, they didn't even   
know if Cletos had finally divorced Farla.  
  
"Holding them for ransom might not be such a bad idea, sire,"   
Dodoria piped up. "Why you may even get more from the Astorians than little   
Tayla Chloe."  
  
"But they're absolutely worthless," Zarbon pointed out. "Tayla   
Chloe must be a great asset to Shalila Chloe and her people, or why else would   
they have fought Prince Vegeta and the others to get her back? These Astorians   
here hardly put up a fight, and the children themselves are too young to be of   
use to anyone. Tayla Chloe has to be worth more to Shalila Chloe than these   
weaklings."  
  
"I'd say execute them then," Balair said. He took a quick look at   
Farla, and then he added, "Except for the woman though. I'll be more than happy   
to take her off of everyone's hands." He licked his lips lustily. Zarbon   
glared at Balair.  
  
"Balair, do you ever think of anything else besides satisfying your   
lusts?" Zarbon snapped. "Besides, it's unlikely you are mating-compatible with   
her anyhow."  
  
"Oh, we are. I actually had the Medical people check that out for   
me," Balair slurred, and Zarbon shook his head in disgust. He admired Balair as   
a fine warrior, but Zarbon thought that Balair could spend less time worrying   
about whose skirts he could get under.  
  
"What do you intend to do with us?" Jaypros asked nervously to   
Frieza.  
  
Frieza became thoughtful. Everyone grew quiet then.  
  
Farla spoke up, "L-Lord Frieza, may I please take my daughter to any   
restrooms that you may have? She needs to relieve herself." Kaydra squirmed on   
Farla's lap, trying to control her bursting bladder.  
  
Frieza's eyes swept over her, making Farla shiver. He turned his   
eyes towards Chestra. "Chestra, take the little girl to the restroom."  
  
Chestra nodded. "Yes, sire." She walked over to where Farla and   
the squirming, anxious Kaydra were sitting. "Give me your daughter," she   
ordered Farla. Farla looked at her hesitantly, unsure as what to do. "Do you   
want your child to wet herself on you?" Chestra asked her impatiently, noticing   
Kaydra's discomfort. Farla shook her white-gold head and softly told her   
daughter to go with Chestra.  
  
The little girl loudly protested, having never seen a creature like   
Chestra before. "No!" she wailed, "I'd rather stay here with you, Mamma!"  
  
Chestra spoke kindly to Kaydra, for she had a soft spot for children   
of any species, "I am not going to hurt you, my dear. You need to pee, right?"   
Kaydra tearfully nodded. "Then you will need to come with me, and I will bring   
you right back to your Mamma, okay?"  
  
Kaydra stepped off of her mother's lap and went willingly with   
Chestra out of the dining room. Farla watched her go with an anxious, worried   
look on her face. Jaden noticed and said to her curtly, "Stop fretting, woman.   
Chestra likes children; she won't eat your daughter. She'll return her to you."   
  
Darcos cowered closer to his mother, as Farla leaned closer to   
Jaypros, who whispered, "Are you sure that you should have let Kaydra go off   
with that strange girl?"  
Farla trembled helplessly near her husband and began to cry.  
  
"Stand up!" Frieza ordered all three Astorians. He told Balair and   
Dodoria, "Take them to the prison wards until I decide what to do with them!"  
  
"Yes, sire!" both officers chorused. Dodoria grabbed both of   
Jaypros' wrists roughly and dragged him to his feet. "Fight me, and your family   
dies," he hissed in Jaypros' ear.  
  
Frieza told Dodoria, "Do you have the cuffing gun?"  
  
Dodoria nodded his pink, spiky head, "Yes, sire." He pulled a   
silver gun out from a small sack that he had been carrying, and he shot two   
golden lasers, one onto each of Jaypros' wrists. The lasers hardened into   
strong metal restraining cuffs. Jaypros felt himself begin to weaken, all of   
his ki reduced to nothing, so that he was no stronger than a Human.  
  
Frieza told Jaypros, "Those are special cuffs, cuffs that will   
restrain your ki, preventing you from being of any harm to me. Dodoria, put   
those cuffs on the woman as well."  
  
"It's not necessary for her!" Jaypros insisted. "She is not a warrior!"  
  
"But she is an Astorian," Dodoria said, with an evil grin. "And all   
Astorians are dangerous, no matter who or what they are." Balair had a   
terrified Farla held by both of her wrists, and Dodoria triumphantly shot the   
cuffs onto Farla's small wrists. Farla herself began to weaken now.  
  
"No!" she moaned weakly.  
  
Balair chose that moment to lick Farla's ear and caress her thigh,   
angering Jaypros. Farla screamed at Balair to leave her alone, but Balair only   
laughed. Jaypros, without thinking, bit Dodoria hard on his hand, and Dodoria   
was so surprised that he unintentionally released Jaypros, who flung himself at   
Balair. Dodoria was furious when he saw that Jaypros had caused him to bleed   
red blood.  
  
Balair shoved the tip of his powerful tail into Jaypros' stomach,   
with the impact of a powerful fist. Jaypros fell to the ground, clutching his   
stomach, as he spat out blue blood. Farla screamed, struggling to free herself   
from Balair's tight grip.  
  
Dodoria slammed his fist hard into the back of Jaypros' head, knocking Jaypros   
unconscious. Farla screamed, as Dodoria used his massive booted foot to step on   
Jaypros' back, effectively crushing his spine. Dodoria grinned maliciously   
then, and then he crushed Jaypros' neck under his foot, killing the Astorian   
warrior.  
  
Farla screamed loudly, her cries reverberating throughout the entire   
room. Dodoria slapped her face and told her to shut up, or she'd suffer the   
same fate. Farla stopped screaming, but she broke into sobs and began to mourn   
her lost mate.  
  
"Dodoria," Frieza spoke up, trying to control his temper, "Was that   
really necessary?"  
  
"Of course it was, sire," Dodoria insisted boldly. "What if he had   
tried to attack you? Plus, he's worthless anyway, like Zarbon said."  
  
"We could have used him to gain valuable information about his   
sister or her grandmother. Now what am I supposed to do, Dodoria?" Frieza   
asked, annoyed.  
  
"We've got the woman," Balair said, "She can give you all the   
information you need. I can get it out of her." He grinned evilly at the   
sobbing Farla, as he licked his lips.  
  
Frieza narrowed his eyes at Balair. "I understand exactly how you   
intend to do that, Balair."  
  
"Sire," Zarbon said, looking dispassionately at the dead Jaypros,   
"What can the woman know about Tayla or their grandmother? She has told us   
before she was brought here that she and her family have been away from Astoria   
for five years. It seems that Shalila Chloe had not approved of their being   
together, so they eloped. Any information that she would have would be already   
outdated."   
  
"They were living on planet Dijon when Balair, Dodoria and I   
conquered and cleared it. There are no Dijonese alive, sire, for there were   
none worth sparing for your forces; they were a weak race. If you need a   
hostage, sire, you can always keep the children for hostages."  
  
"But why bother, Zarbon?" Balair asked. "Those brats are worthless   
compared to Tayla Chloe. If I had a valuable brat like her, I wouldn't trade   
her for a couple of weakling kids. If those children were close to inheriting   
Astoria's throne, I could see keeping them alive for hostages, but King Cold has   
a better chance of turning gay than these brats do of ruling Astoria. Shalila   
Chloe isn't going to risk her and her people's lives to fight you for a few   
weaklings."  
  
Frieza smiled thoughtfully, "I see your point, Balair. Very well,   
you and Dodoria eliminate all of the Astoria family."  
  
Jaden hid her pity of the Astorian family; even though they were   
Frieza's enemies, they still did not deserve such a horrible fate.   
Unfortunately, she had no good reason (in Frieza's eyes, anyway) to speak up for   
the family's lives. They probably were better off, especially if she and her   
comrades managed to destroy all the Calmagians and the visiting Astorians with   
them. If Shalila Chloe were dead, there would have been no protection for them   
anyhow.  
  
However, she was about to say, "Lord Frieza, have you thought about   
sparing the brats and raising them yourself? They are Astorian, and they could   
grow up to be useful to you. They are still young enough to forget about their   
Astorian origins and become loyal to you."  
  
But before she could speak, Dodoria stepped over Jaypros' body to   
come after a terrified Darcos, who started to run away.  
  
"Leave my son alone, please!" Farla screamed in terror.  
  
But it was too late, for at that moment, Dodoria heartlessly opened   
his mouth and released a fiery mouth blast, roasting poor little Darcos into a   
tiny, charred skeleton.  
  
Jaden was horrified, although she hid it well. The other Elite   
officers looked on indifferently at the horrifying death of Darcos. If they   
felt sorry for the little boy, they didn't show it. Jaden turned away from the   
scene, trying to repress the bile surging up in her throat.  
  
How could she have allowed that to happen? That brat didn't deserve   
to die the way he did, but there was nothing more that she could do. So, she   
swallowed the bile, and she once again put on her unfeeling mask.  
  
Farla let out one horrible scream and then she fainted in Balair's   
arms. Balair spoke then, completely ignoring the skeleton of Darcos on the   
polished dining room floor. "Sire, since you were going to have all the   
Astorians here die anyway, could I keep this one alive for myself? She's   
worthless to you, anyway." He looked at the unconscious Farla with pure lust   
burning in his black, fathomless eyes.  
  
Frieza looked at Balair and sighed, "Oh, I do not care! You may do   
as you wish with her; just see that she does not cause me any trouble. Keep her   
out of my sight!"  
  
Balair nodded and said respectfully, "Yes, sire. And thank you very   
much."  
  
Frieza allowed himself to grin then. "You don't have to thank me,   
Balair. I certainly have to reward you for your endeavors for me sooner or   
later. You too, Dodoria; I will see that you also receive something. Enjoy   
her, Balair, but don't hurt her too much, hmm?"  
  
Balair grinned then. "Whatever you say, sire." He flung Farla over   
his shoulders and carried her out of the dining room. Frieza said nothing to   
stop him, and he let Balair go. Jaden shook her head in strong disapproval. 


	34. Kaydra's Fate

Chapter Thirty-Four: Kaydra's Fate  
  
Despite being on opposite sides, Chestra and little Princess Kaydra   
became fast friends. After Chestra had taken her to use the toilet, she had   
stopped at a snack cart and had given Kaydra a chocolate bar, which Kaydra ate   
gratefully. Chestra had asked Kaydra numerous questions about her past life and   
family, and the little princess answered eagerly, having not yet learned not to   
talk to strangers.  
  
Chestra turned on her scouter and used it to examine the girl's   
power level. The scouter indicated a reading of seven hundred. Chestra was   
amazed then, for it was rare for a child of most species to have a power level   
reading that high. But then Kaydra was an Astorian.  
  
"Are you training to be a warrior, child?" Chestra asked her softly.  
  
Kaydra nodded. "Yes, Miss Chestra, I am. My father is teaching me   
to fight with a sword, and I can electrocute people too."  
  
Chestra nodded. "I see. I bet you are quite strong for your age."  
  
Kaydra agreed. "My Pappa says that no child has had a power level   
as high as mine since my Aunt Tayla had her power level read. It was only a   
little bit higher than mine when she was my age."  
  
"You've never been to your home planet of Astoria, have you?"  
  
Kaydra and Chestra were almost near the dining room now. Kaydra   
spoke, "No, Miss Chestra, for my Pappa and my Mamma ran away from there a long   
time ago. Pappa says that my great-grandmother didn't approve of Pappa and   
Mamma being together, so they had to leave Astoria behind forever. I still hope   
to see it someday."  
  
Chestra smiled sadly. "You probably won't, my dear, but we are   
looking for your Aunt Tayla on planet Calmag. We will bring her here for you to   
meet her, and maybe you will have a new friend to play with and train with."  
  
"So we can't go back home to planet Dijon?"  
  
"No, little one, I'm sorry. There is nothing there for you to go   
back to."  
  
"What about my friends?" Kaydra asked worriedly, running her small   
fingers along the shiny steel walls of the corridor of Frieza's mother ship.   
The metal was smooth and cold.  
  
"They won't be there, my dear. They have gone away from there,   
never to return."  
  
Kaydra hung her head down, and Chestra patted her back, as she and   
the child reentered Frieza's private dining room. Dodoria grinned when he saw   
Chestra and Kaydra enter.  
  
"Glad you're back, finally," he told Chestra. "Guess what? Frieza   
wants all of the Astorian prisoners eliminated, except for that slut that Balair   
plans to keep for his concubine. Kill the brat now."  
  
Chestra was horrified, and she turned her red and green head towards   
Frieza. Frieza nodded. "Chestra, kill the little girl now."  
  
For the first time since Chestra had started to work for Frieza, she   
refused to obey him. "I will not kill her," Chestra told him calmly.  
  
The room grew silent then. Even Jaden stared at Chestra in shock,   
along with the others. Jaden understood why Chestra was refusing, but she   
feared for her friend's life. Chestra had to surely see that the child was not   
worth dying over.  
  
Frieza tried to remain calm, for Chestra had never defied him   
before. "What did you say?" he prompted her.  
  
"I will not kill her, Lord Frieza," Chestra repeated again quietly.   
"She is a child, a powerful child with a high power level of seven hundred. She   
is an innocent little girl who does not deserve to die." She then looked at the   
burned skeleton of Darcos on the dining room floor and nearly vomited. "Why did   
the boy have to die, sire?"  
  
"I have ordered all of the Astorians here to be killed, Chestra,   
except for that woman that Balair insists on making his whore," Frieza told her   
edgily. "Now why won't you kill the child?"  
  
Chestra tried to remain calm. She had to come up with a reason that   
would appeal to Lord Frieza, so that Kaydra could live. "Sire, she has a power   
level of seven hundred, impressive for a child of any species, even an   
Astorian's. She is only five years old, and she is young enough that she may be   
trained to grow up and serve you with complete loyalty. You have admitted   
before that the Astorians are a powerful race, and here is a pureblooded one   
with much potential. Why do you think slave masters would rather choose to   
breed slaves then buy them? Because a child can learn anything and learn to   
become anything that those raising her want her to become. Young children are   
much more easily trained and taught than older children or adults. Allow me,   
sire, please, to keep her and raise her myself. I am even willing to forego my   
bonus pay, if will allow the girl to live and become my ward."  
  
Frieza looked at Chestra skeptically. "Chestra, you are a fine   
warrior, but you are still young. Are you certain that you are ready to train   
and raise someone to work for me? Are you up to the task of raising a child?"  
  
Chestra nodded astutely. "Yes sire, I am. I love children, as you   
may have heard. You insist that us Top Elite officers train the lower-level   
soldiers to become better fighters for you, and Kaydra Chloe will be excellent   
practice for me. Training her will keep me occupied between assignments. I am   
asking you to please allow her to live and allow me to raise her as my own. I   
do not ask much from you, Lord Frieza, as you well know."   
  
Frieza closed his eyes in thought and meditated for a few minutes.   
The air was pregnant with suspense, and Jaden and Zarbon looked at Chestra with   
"do you have any idea what you're doing?" looks on their faces.  
  
Finally, after what seemed to be an hour, Frieza opened his eyes and   
grinned. Chestra hoped that it was a good sign.  
  
Frieza spoke again, "It is true that you don't ask much of me, my   
dear. I still think that the Astorian brat is more trouble than she's worth,   
but I will allow you to keep her, providing that of course she does grow up to   
be loyal to me. She is yours to do with as you wish, and I will even allow you   
to keep your bonus pay. You will need to buy supplies for the girl, will you   
not?"   
  
Chestra looked at Frieza gratefully. "Thank you, sire, I greatly   
appreciate this."  
  
Frieza chuckled. "You're in for some trouble with any descendant of   
Shalila Chloe's, my dear, but I am sure that you can handle it, although I don't   
know what Zarbon will say about this. Do you plan to become a father,   
Zarbon?"  
  
Zarbon's face was unreadable. What in the universe had his mate   
gotten herself into? An Astorian child could grow up to become useful, but   
equally dangerous, as well. He saw Chestra looking at him, with a pleading   
expression in her emerald eyes that matched the green half of her hair.  
  
He sighed resignedly. "She will need help with that one, sire, so I   
will be involved."  
  
Frieza chuckled again. "I never thought that you two would become   
parents this soon, but who can predict the future? Take care of the girl and   
raise her well. Everyone is dismissed."  
  
The Elite officers were relieved to be excused, as they all left the   
dining room. Frieza pressed a button on the dining room table and ordered some   
low-level officers to come take away the corpses of Jaypros and Darcos.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Zarbon shook his head when he and Chestra were alone in the   
corridors with a worried Kaydra, who kept asking where her mamma was, and why   
her father would not get up off of the floor. Chestra and Zarbon tried to   
answer the girl's questions the best they could without giving away too much   
information.  
  
"So, my Pappa has died?" Kaydra asked tearfully. "Why did he die?"  
  
"He just died suddenly," Zarbon said indifferently. "And your   
brother has turned into a skeleton, and he can't turn into a person again. But   
Chestra and I will be looking after you and taking care of you."  
  
"Where is Mamma?"  
  
"She's not here now," Chestra spoke quickly, deciding not to tell   
the girl that her mother was now Balair's concubine. Chestra had thought about   
saving the woman, but Zarbon advised her against it, saying that Frieza or   
Balair would probably have the lady killed soon anyway. Chestra felt awful   
about this, but she knew that Zarbon was right; the Astorian mother had no   
chance of survival. She herself was not strong enough to fight Balair on her   
own without help. She and Zarbon just hoped that Kaydra would not accidentally   
run into her mother anytime soon, assuming that Balair allowed the woman to   
live.  
  
The three went into Chestra's bedroom, where Chestra tucked the worried, sad   
little girl into her bed for a nap. She sang lullabies to soothe the crying   
girl, and she held Kaydra for a long time. Zarbon just looked on, not used to   
children.  
  
Finally Kaydra faded off into an uneasy sleep. Chestra looked at   
her with already sprouting mother-love. She stroked the girl's whitish-gold   
hair, wondering at how soft and silky it was. She tucked the covers further   
around the tiny princess and sat on her bed, watching over her.  
  
"Are you sure that this is a good idea, allowing her to live?"   
Zarbon asked his mate quietly, after he was sure that Kaydra was sound asleep.   
He sat down next to Chestra and put his arm around the woman that he had come to   
love so much. Chestra rested her head on his caped shoulder.  
  
"I have always wanted a child, Zarbon, but we have had trouble   
conceiving in the past, remember? This may be the only chance that I'll get to   
be a mother."  
  
"If Lord Frieza is pleased with the girl's progress, that is,"   
Zarbon reminded her. "I don't wish to rain meteors on your planet, Chestra, but   
I would not get too attached to the child, if I were you. You know how Frieza's   
moods can change from one moment to the next." He had to admire Chestra's   
cleverness, however, in getting the girl's life spared.  
  
Chestra looked at Zarbon determinedly. "She will live to grow up.   
I will not allow anyone or anything to harm her. She will grow up to become a   
powerful warrior, and she will live a happy and productive life. And I will   
insure that that will happen, no matter what."  
"Even if it means possibly going against Lord Frieza's wishes one day?"  
  
"Yes!" Chestra declared vociferously and fiercely. "Not even Lord   
Frieza will be allowed to harm her." Zarbon just sighed and shook his head; he   
just hoped that Chestra knew what she was getting herself-and him-into.  
  
  
  
  
  
7PM (Frieza Stellar Time), 9PM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
  
Frieza was in his private sitting room, decorated with purple velvet   
chairs and mahogany furniture and paneled walls. He was watching a super nova   
explode thirty million light-years away, and he watched it appreciatively.   
Dodoria was standing near him.  
  
"Sire, are you sure that it was a good idea to spare that brat's   
life?"  
  
Frieza smirked. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but it won't hurt   
Chestra to have something to keep her occupied between her assignments besides   
sleeping with Zarbon. Even if the child doesn't meet expectations, what harm   
could that girl really do, if she became loyal to me? What harm can it really   
do?"  
  
"If she finds out the truth about her family, she could rebel   
against you. Remember that I also said that about allowing Prince Vegeta and   
Princess Journa to live? If the whole truth about everything came out, that   
would be three powerful kids against you, sire."  
  
"I can assure that they will not rebel against me, Dodoria. You are   
worrying too much. Don't you have some training to do for Calmag?"  
  
"Yes, sire, but-"  
  
"Then get on it, Dodoria! I wish to be alone now. Now go away, and   
see that no one else disturbs me."   
  
"Yes, sire," Dodoria reluctantly said and left.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, 9AM (Frieza Stellar Time), 11AM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
  
Balair grinned evilly at the naked, battered, violated woman lying   
beside him, unconscious. He stroked the whitish blond hair and smooth back of   
his latest victim. What was her name again: Fara, Fayra, or Furla?  
  
No, it was Farla. Even though she had resisted him and begged him   
not to harm her, she had given him great pleasure. He licked her back   
sensuously with his long, rough tongue. They had fit together perfectly, and   
she had been smooth and soft, exactly as he hoped she would be. Of course, her   
screaming had irritated him to the point where he had to bruise her a few times,   
but other than that, she had pleased him. He had forced himself on her several   
times before he was finally satisfied, each time bringing him more pleasure than   
the last. He liked biting her as well, biting her so hard that he had left deep   
gashes on her body, not deadly ones, but definitely bloody, painful and brutal.   
  
And everyone said that he wasn't mating-compatible with an Astorian!   
He could understand now the legendary Saiyan lust for Astorian females; maybe   
he himself ought to pay a visit to planet Astoria someday before Frieza   
eventually had it cleared of its inhabitants. He decided that he'd mate with   
humanoid women more often. As for Farla, he definitely keep her alive for his   
own pleasure; he could keep her on Frieza Planet Number Seventy-Four, where he   
was stationed at in his own small mansion reserved exclusively for himself.  
  
Farla awoke then, and she screamed when she saw Balair still lying   
beside her. His burning eyes and hot breath reminded her that she was not   
dreaming, nor had she been dreaming last night when he had raped her repeatedly.   
She tried to back away from him, but he quickly seized her, and before she knew   
it, Balair was lying on top of her, crushing her with his massive weight. She   
could barely breathe, and the tears were sliding down her cheeks.  
  
Balair kissed her roughly and laughed. "I guess we've both had   
enough for one session, sweetness! You sure know how to please a man! We'll be   
doing this again soon, I can promise you that!"  
  
Farla's eyes rolled back, and mercifully, she fainted beneath   
Balair's sweaty body. 


	35. Place Your Bets!

Chapter Thirty-Five: Place Your Bets  
  
10AM (Frieza Stellar Time), 12PM (Astorian Galactic Time)  
Elite Lounge and Bar  
  
"Chestra, dear, that's your tenth cup of coffee."  
  
"Just one more, Zarbon, darling, please."  
  
Zarbon sighed, as he passed her the umpteenth cup of coffee.   
Chestra's eyes were bloodshot with big, purple crescents resting under them.   
Jaden was gulping down her fifth orange juice, as Diamonique daintily nibbled on   
a cream tart. Balair was starting off his breakfast with a vodka and orange   
juice combination, and Dodoria had already eaten three plates of eggs and bacon.   
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Jaden asked, who did not often   
restrain her rough, foul language. "That little Astorian tot couldn't have kept   
you up all night that much, could she?"  
  
Chestra sighed wearily, gulping down the black coffee. Finally, she   
said, "She had a pretty horrible nightmare about her mother being hurt by a   
giant red monster who kept making her cry. She was too scared to go back to   
sleep, poor thing. It took me hours to calm her down enough to get her back to   
sleep." Her voice began to slur at the end, and her eyelids grew heavy. Balair   
said nothing, his expression stony and blank.  
  
Zarbon patted Chestra's back. "Chestra, why don't you get something   
to eat?"  
  
"Not hungry," Chestra mumbled.  
  
"It's not good to be drinking that much coffee without eating. At   
least eat some bacon or ham or eggs."  
  
Chestra nodded slowly, as she began to rise from the table, but   
before she could get up, her head fell down into Zarbon's shoulder. Jaden   
became alarmed, but Zarbon assured the Rybanese warrior that Chestra had only   
fallen asleep.  
  
"I-I better take her back to bed," Zarbon told the others, as he   
picked up his mate and lifted her up from the table.  
  
"She's supposed to report to Lord Frieza in an hour," Dodoria   
pointed out, his mouth full. "What excuse are you going to give him   
about Chestra's absence?"  
  
"The truth, Dodoria," Zarbon answered quietly. "I will simply   
remind our lord that children are often frightened the first night they stay   
with new parents, but that this will past. Chestra has never given Lord Frieza   
any displeasure with her work, so one absence will hardly make a difference."   
And with that, he carried Chestra, cradled in his arms like a baby, out of the   
Elite Lounge and Bar.  
  
After they left, Balair allowed a big, satisfied grin to spread   
across his ugly, red face. "Shall I tell you all about the incredible night   
that I had last night with my new concubine?"  
  
Dodoria grinned and said, "Sure." Diamonique merely shrugged, and   
Jaden shot Balair a fatal look of disgust. Jaden cared nothing for Farla,   
except for pitying her. Astorian or not, that woman did not deserve a horrible   
fate as Balair's new whore. It would have been far better-and merciful-for   
Balair to have killed the woman right away. But Balair would not know mercy, if   
it slapped him in his face. Jaden forced the bile in her throat to go down   
before she spoke to the Sistrai warrior.  
  
"I'm not interested in another one of your tales of your so-called   
prowess in bed. But tell me this, Balair; have you ever convinced a woman to   
lay with you of her free will, without being forced or bribed? What do you plan   
to do with this Astorian woman? Keep her alive for days, weeks, even months,   
before you finally tire of her and kill her? That you didn't kill her right   
away only testifies of your vast cruelty. I don't even want to imagine the   
things you have done to that wretched woman."  
  
Balair only grinned. He had no regrets about violating Farla; in   
his eyes, Farla was no more than a new plaything for his personal pleasure.   
With a smirk, he answered Jaden triumphantly, "You sound jealous, Jaden! I bet   
you're secretly wishing that you were in that woman's shoes; she's got more   
loving in one night than you have in your entire lifetime! But I wouldn't touch   
you with a hundred-foot pole; I prefer more attractive partners."  
  
Jaden snorted, ignoring Balair's hurtful remarks, "It's too bad that   
you have to force those attractive partners; you couldn't get a woman to sleep   
with you willingly without some sort of bribe or threat. I bet you couldn't get   
a woman to go to bed with you of her own free will, without coercion or reward."  
  
Balair smirked. "Sounds like you want to make a friendly wager, eh?"  
  
Jaden shook her head. "I'm gone. I'll eat something later." She   
shoved herself out of the booth, not wanting to be around Balair for another   
minute. Balair looked at Dodoria and Diamonique. "Anyone wants in on this   
wager?"  
  
Dodoria spoke, "Sure, why not?"  
  
Diamonique, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, asked disdainfully,   
"Who would this woman be that you could get to get into bed with you willingly?"   
She herself had never known Balair to have a completely willingly woman in his   
bed. She knew that Balair was attracted to her, but Balair had never made a   
pass at her because Diamonique's uncle, who had been Diamonique's guardian, was   
an important friend of Frieza's. Frieza had warned Balair not to touch   
Diamonique, since her home planet was one of Frieza's main allies. Both planets   
Sistra and Gemstar were among Frieza's partners in his Planet Trade, and Frieza   
did not need nor want any of his allies to be feuding amongst themselves. Both   
planets were protected under Frieza.  
  
Balair grinned widely, "How about your and Eclipse's cousin,   
Mahogany?" Mahogany, with rich brown hair and eyes that suited her name, was   
half-Gemstarian, half-Astorian, and also a Ginyu Girl. She was   
second-in-command to Eclipse.  
  
Diamonique gave an unladylike snort, similar to Jaden's. "She   
wouldn't touch you with a one-thousand-foot pole. Both of my cousins, Eclipse   
and Mahogany have better taste than that. Any woman with Gemstarian blood in   
them, no matter what else it's mixed with, has discriminating taste in men. And   
neither Eclipse nor Mahogany would stoop to wipe their boots on you."   
  
Balair gave a low growl, for he knew that Diamonique's words were   
true. Most of the Ginyu Girls avoided him, as much as they could, once word had   
started spreading about the way he treated women. Eclipse and Mahogany   
especially held him in contempt.   
  
He narrowed his eyes at the smug, coldly beautiful Gemstarian   
warrior; he decided to prove her wrong. "I'll wager that within one week,   
Mahogany will be gracing my bed with her presence."  
  
Diamonique rolled her black diamond eyes. "And I'll wager that by   
the end of that week, she'll go directly to Captain Ginyu to have the entire   
Ginyu Force roast you for bothering her." Captain Ginyu was protective of his   
Ginyu Girls and allowed no one to molest them.  
  
Diamonique looked past Balair's massive, red shoulder to where an   
attractive couple was strolling in. Mahogany was one-half of the couple,   
accompanied by Bhodie Lett, a Human who had once been an involuntary recruit.   
He was the same Bhodie Lett that had been with Hazel and her crew when their   
ship had been invaded. Bhodie was now a Mid-Elite officer, thanks to Balair's   
rough, brutal training. Balair had enjoyed training with him because Bhodie had   
never complained about his methods, and he was as cold and merciless as his   
trainer.  
  
Bhodie, a tall man in his early thirties, was handsome and muscular   
with light brown hair, beard and mustache. Most of the single women around his   
age, of varied species, had tried to win him over, ever since he had been forced   
to join Frieza's forces. He had not wanted to work for Frieza at first, but   
deep down, he was ruthless, cunning and ambitious, and after awhile, he became   
one of Frieza's most willing recruits. He enjoyed fighting and killing, and had   
a sexual prowess and drinking habit similar to Balair's. He was one of the few   
people that Balair genuinely liked, but unlike Balair, he was able to get women   
to come to his bed willingly. Balair grinned widely at his former pupil; he   
felt no jealousy that it was Bhodie who was with Mahogany at the moment, for   
Balair knew that it was highly unlikely that Bhodie was seriously interested in   
her. Bhodie never stayed with any woman for too long.  
  
Bhodie escorted a reluctant Mahogany over to Balair's table.   
Mahogany did not like being around Balair. And she knew that although   
Diamonique was friendly to her, Diamonique looked down on her because Mahogany   
was not a pureblooded Gemstarian. Half of her heritage came from the Astorian   
race, which was one of Frieza's enemies, and therefore Gemstar's, as well.   
Mahogany was extremely intelligent and self-confident most of the time, her   
intelligence coming from her Astorian blood. (Most of the Astorian race had   
extremely high intelligence levels.) She and Diamonique were cordial, and they   
moved in the same circles, but they were not close.  
  
Mahogany was as tall as Bhodie, with small, pointed, perfect breasts and a   
slender, thoroughbred figure with lovely, well-shaped legs and the flawless   
peaches-and-ices-skin of all Gemstarians. Her ever growing, waist-length   
mahogany hair was of the silky-soft tresses of Astorian women, and she could   
also electrocute people, although she had never done so. She also had the   
crystal blue teeth and diamond nails of the Gemstarians, but her diamond eyes   
were not black, but coffee-colored. Her nose was small and pointed, like her   
breasts. This morning, she was dressed in a stunning red, low-cut dress that   
was soft and flowing and yet managing to hug her curves.  
  
"Good-morning," she told Balair, Dodoria and Diamonique politely.  
  
Dodoria managed to keep himself from drooling when he saw her, but   
Balair had no such restraint. He openly leered at her, but dared not do   
anything else for Captain Ginyu and his men were four booths away from him.   
Mahogany deliberately ignored Balair's lustful look.  
  
"Morning, Mahogany," Diamonique said smoothly and pleasantly.  
  
"Morning, Mahog, Bhodie," Balair chortled, unable to keep his eyes   
off of Mahogany. Mahogany gave a low moan of disapproval, for she hated to be   
called, "Mahog", and Balair almost always addressed her by that horrid nickname.  
  
"Join us for breakfast?" Balair asked them, being unusually pleasant   
this time of morning.  
  
Bhodie accepted immediately, but Mahogany came up with a quick   
excuse about having to go talk to Captain Ginyu, so she left. Balair ordered   
Dodoria to scoot over and let Bhodie in, and Dodoria scooted around the circular   
booth, nearly crushing an annoyed Diamonique.  
  
"So, Bhodie," Balair began smoothly, "I've been hearing that Frieza   
might let you go to Calmag with us." Frieza had decided to allow a few more Mid   
and Lower Elite officers accompany the Top Elite officers to Calmag.   
  
"He already told me I could," Bhodie said happily. "Mind if I join   
your combat team, Balair?"  
  
Balair laughed. "I was just about to ask Frieza about letting you,   
but I have to warn you, Bhodie, that the Astorians and Calmagians are tough   
people. Think you could handle them?"  
  
Bhodie grinned knowingly. "I know that I could handle them. Don't   
worry about me; you trained me well."  
  
Balair laughed louder. "Glad that I didn't kill you, aren't you?"  
  
Bhodie nodded affirmatively.  
  
The Top Elite officers had chosen their teams for Calmag: the Ginyu   
Force would be Combat Team A, and Balair, Dodoria, Diamonique and Bhodie would   
be on Combat Team B. The Saiyans would be Combat Team C, and Zarbon, Jaden,   
Chestra, along with two Lower-Elite officers, Crystalis and the Meatian boy   
named Pork, would be Combat Team D.  
  
They would reach Calmag within a matter of two months. All of the   
officers involved were looking forward to the mission, and the low-level   
fighters were already placing bets on who would clear Calmag and capture   
Princess Tayla first. Amazingly, the greatest odds were put on the Ginyu Force   
and the Saiyan fighters. Frieza normally frowned on gambling, but he knew that   
the low-levels would need something to occupy themselves, and it was interesting   
to him that the Elite force's trip to Calmag stirred the low-levels so.  
  
Frieza strolled through the low-level section of his mother ship and   
grinned wider when all of the low-levels hastily bowed before him. Some of the   
gamblers gazed at him in fear because they knew that Lord Frieza did not approve   
of gambling, but Frieza only smiled at them benevolently.  
  
"So," Frieza told a frog-like creature smoothly. "Who do you think   
will capture Princess Tayla first?"  
  
The frog-creature stammered, "Why I-I believe that Prince Vegeta   
will capture her first, sire. The Saiyans are your best fighters."  
  
A female pink snake woman with four arms added, "Prince Vegeta and   
his men clearly want revenge on her. You know Saiyans, sire, they don't know   
the meaning of defeat."  
  
Frieza chuckled lightly, and his chuckling was joined with the   
laughter of Vegeta, who just showed up. Vegeta, like most Elite officers,   
normally did not bother with the low-levels, but he had heard of the excessive   
betting on the Elite's chances of clearing Calmag and capturing Princess Tayla,   
and he wanted to know what the low-levels were thinking of his odds.  
  
"Two wise low-levels," Vegeta said, with a smirk. "Tell me,   
frogman, are the other low-levels as wise as you and your companion?"  
  
"Actually, Prince," the frog-creature spoke shakily, "the bets are   
evenly spilt between you and the Ginyu Force, followed by Balair's team and   
Zarbon's team. But Dita here-"--he pointed to the pink snake woman-"and I know   
that you can do it."  
  
Vegeta grinned. "You seem like a smart man, and what is your name:   
Agor?"  
  
"Egor, Prince," the frogman corrected him, "but you may call me   
whatever you like."  
  
Dita spoke up, thankful that Prince Vegeta was in good mood today.   
"What will you do when you capture Princess Tayla, Prince?"  
  
Vegeta only smiled evilly. "That is for me to know and for you to find out."  
  
  
  
  
  
The Top Elite officers had their own bets going. They each had put   
half of their bonus pay up as a wager into a treasure chest. Whichever team   
successfully both conquered Calmag and captured Princess Tayla would receive the   
entire bounty. If a team only accomplished one of these tasks, that team would   
receive half of the pot for the task achieved.  
  
Each of the teams stood boldly against each other, knowing that the   
others would cheat and fight and kill, if they had to, in order to clear Calmag   
and capture the princess. Everyone was cautious, as well as excited, about   
Calmag.  
  
And they had good reason to be. 


	36. The Astorians' Arrival On Calmag

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Astorians' Arrival on Calmag  
Magan, Capital of Planet Calmag, One Month Later  
  
King Kitchator, the handsome warrior king of Calmag, stood next to   
his lovely wife, Queen Kildara, an Astorian princess from the Clan of Chloe.   
King Kitchator was seven feet and two inches tall, with reddish-brown hair,   
beard and mustache. He was in his fifties, but still muscular and strong, one   
of the strongest Calmagian men on the planet.  
  
Queen Kildara, formerly Princess Kildara Chloe of Chloe, Astoria,   
had been Princess Tika Chloe's sister. Golden blond, blue-eyed, slender Kildara   
had favored her little sister, Tika, who later married Prince Mantros Chloe, the   
heir to Astoria's throne. Kildara had not seen her sister and family for twenty   
years, and the last time she had seen them was when she, her husband, and their   
children had made a special trip to Astoria to visit several years after the   
infamous Battle of Chloe. The Astorians had just been recovering from the   
aftermath of that horrible war, and Tika and Mantros had only seventeen children   
at the time, with Arlon having been just a baby. Tika had been pregnant with   
Lukan, and neither Nieca nor Tayla had been born at the time. Kildara had been   
particularly fond of Gracina, who had eight years old at the time, because   
Gracina resembled her so strongly in appearance. Gracina would be twenty-eight   
now, and her mother, Tika, would be sixty-one. Kildara herself was in her   
eighties, but her hair color was not gray, for Astorian hair never turned gray.  
  
Kildara and Kitchator had seven children between them of Calmagian   
and Astorian blood. Kitchator had his eldest son, Amitar, from his first   
marriage to Queen Saladora, a natural Calmagian, who had died in childbirth.   
Amitar, a pureblooded Calmagian, had a firstborn son named Ridikar, who was   
sixteen and heir to the Calmagian throne after his father. Ridikar, a handsome   
lad with dark brown skin, hair and eyes, was as brash and arrogant as his father   
and grandfather. Kitchator and Kildara favored Ridikar above all of Kitchator's   
descendants. In their eyes, Ridikar could do no wrong.  
  
The King and Queen of Calmag knew that the Astorians were coming,   
for Superior Gran Shalila, Kildara's aunt-by-marriage, had sent a message   
through radio from their ship that they were coming to Calmag. The Calmagian   
royalty had prepared a warm, extravagant welcome for the Astorians, for the   
Astorians were Queen Kildara's people, and therefore automatically welcome.  
They knew that the Superior Gran wanted to create a formal alliance with them,   
and to buy and learn of their superior warring technology, which was slightly   
better than the Astorians' technology. The Calmagians were one of the most   
technologically advanced planets in the Rosetta Galaxy, with the Astorians   
following close behind. But however technologically advanced as the Calmagians   
were, their medical resources and knowledge were far inferior to the Astorians',   
so the rulers of Calmag had already agreed to exchange their warfare technology   
for the Astorians' medical knowledge and wisdom.  
  
The Calmagian capital, Magan, was a highly evolved, technical   
society with shiny metal pod buildings, sky cars, and androids to do almost all   
of the menial work, along with other space-age advancements. Almost all of the   
Calmagian cities were like that, but the downfall of this was that the   
Calmagians were building so fast that they were quickly depleting their natural   
resources. Only ten percent of Calmag had any wilderness or forest left, and   
weeks could go by with many Calmagians not seeing any greenery, shrubs, or   
trees. The Calmagians were not as appreciative of their flora and fauna as they   
should have been, and they were worst than the Humans of Planet Earth in   
foolishly wasting their planets' resources. The Calmagians were just as   
careless about their air quality, causing their planet to become one of the most   
polluted planets in the universe. In fact, in many places of Calmag, including   
Magan, the pollution had become so bad that smog was an everyday thing. Magan,   
along with many Calmagian cities, had been forced to put up domes that blocked   
the pollution and kept the city air purified, with filters and pipe steering   
most of the pollution into the air outside of the city domes.  
  
Calmagians were strongly encouraged to conserve their water sources,   
and it was only recently that they had begun to take steps towards keeping what   
remaining clean water that they had pure. Sixty percent of the planet's water   
sources were unsafe to drink without filtration and purification. The   
Calmagians were also hoping that the Astorians would have ideas on how to clean   
up their planet before things became worst, for Astorians were known to be   
strict environmentalists and conservationists.  
  
King Kitchator and Queen Kildara heard a cracking noise on their   
private throne room radio.  
  
"King Kitchator?" One of the King's royal guardsmen was speaking   
through the radio.  
  
"Yes, Philpot?"  
  
"The Astorians have landed at our spaceport, sire. They are   
awaiting further instructions from you."  
  
"Philpot, send my best ship to the spaceport and have the Astorians   
brought to our palace at once."  
  
"Yes, sire, right away."  
  
  
  
  
The exhausted Astorians were relieved to be on solid ground   
again-almost.  
  
King Kitchator had sent his silver and blue ship to the Royal   
Spaceport of Calmag, and it was warm and cozy inside with enough room for all of   
the Astorian travelers. Tayla and Riccan were in the front of the ship, which   
was like a flying bus, arm-wrestling when they noticed the thick gray, smoggy   
air outside of the Magan city dome.  
  
"The air looks so dirty outside of this city," Tayla observed. "I   
wonder why." Riccan was puzzled as well, for he and Tayla had never seen real   
air pollution of any kind before.  
  
"It looks yucky outside," Riccan said, nearly gagging at the sight.   
He called to Shalila, who was two seats behind them, "Great-Nama, why does the   
air outside of the city look so dirty and gray?"  
  
Shalila sighed, "Because the air is polluted and smoggy." The air   
quality of Calmag reminded Shalila unpleasantly of Earth's more polluted cities.   
She was concerned now for the children, as she was uncertain how the air   
quality would affect their health. She and Dirkan both mutually agreed that   
none of their people would go outside of the city dome during their entire time   
on Calmag.  
  
"Why is it like that, Nama?" Tayla asked. "We've never seen   
anything like this back home."  
  
Shalila grew quiet for a few moments. Finally she told Tayla the   
truth, "Someone is not taking care of things here like they should." She looked   
sadly at the smoking factories of Calmag, sending their smoke out through pipes   
into Calmag's already filthy air.  
  
Kekron was frowning, as he noticed the litter-strewn streets of   
Magan, with its trashcans overflowing. "Can't all of this pollution affect our   
health, Great-Nama?"  
  
"Yes, Kekron, it can," Shalila told him honestly, "And that is why I   
do not want anyone leaving the Calmagian palace without permission from me or   
Dirkan. I want to know first exactly what is in that air."  
  
"Whatever it is," Dirkan spoke, "it can't be good."  
  
Cletos, quiet and morose, stared into space at the gray, smoky air   
outside of the Magan city dome. Petalia, sitting besides him, was desperately   
trying to get her father's attention, but he was only half-listening to her.   
Dedron had given up on his father several years ago, and he had not been   
listening or obeying his father for some time now. Dedron was starting to   
become more wild and troublesome than ever, but Cletos had made no effort to   
discipline him. Dedron barely spoke or noticed his father unless he wanted   
something from him.   
  
Cletos had tried for about a week or two to follow his grandmother's   
suggestions about spending more time with his children, but his depression   
swiftly returned, and he began to neglect the children once more. He knew that   
Dedron had been in major trouble several times, with Shalila having to   
discipline him by herself, since his father wouldn't do so. Shalila had come   
down on Cletos a few times in the past for not correcting his son or spending   
time with him, but Cletos had only tried off and on to appease his grandmother.  
  
Petalia was deeply hurt by her father's indifference, and she blamed   
herself for it still, despite both Shalila and Tayla's assurances that she had   
done nothing wrong. Petalia was no closer to her father, but she no longer felt   
that she was alone, for she and Tayla had finally become true friends. Petalia   
no longer snubbed Tayla, and she herself had stood up to Dedron and Rojal and   
chastised them for being hard on her youngest aunt. Dedron and Rojal were still   
chilly to Tayla, but they no longer outwardly sought to destroy her or belittle   
her-at least not to anyone's knowledge.  
  
Petalia knew that Tayla could do nothing to make Cletos be a father   
to her, but Tayla did what she could by being there for her. Petalia was now   
closer to Tayla than she was to Fayra, for Fayra had not the emotional maturity,   
wisdom or strength that Tayla had.  
  
Tayla and Riccan watched Petalia try to gain her father's attention,   
and they both noticed that Cletos was still paying her no mind. Finally Petalia   
gave up, and she left her father's side to join the other children. She took an   
empty seat across from Tayla and Riccan.  
  
"Are you okay?" Tayla asked her in a whisper.  
  
Petalia, her Clan of Chloe pride fully intact, nodded, but Tayla and   
Riccan noticed a tear glistening in the corner of her left blue eye. Petalia   
turned away from both of them, so that they could not see her cry. She then   
swiftly ran to the ship's lavatory, slammed the door and locked it.  
  
Tayla knocked on the lavatory door. "Are you okay? Do you want to   
talk?"  
  
Petalia snapped, "No, go away! Don't let anyone bother me! And I   
mean it, Tayla! No one disturbs me, and that includes you!"  
  
Tayla sighed, but she decided to leave Petalia alone awhile to let   
her calm down. She pitied her niece more than ever. Reluctantly, she walked   
back to her and Riccan's seat and sat down.  
  
Tayla whispered to Riccan, "This has gone far enough. Cletos is   
hurting Petalia-and Dedron-by the way he ignores them so much. I'm going to   
talk to him, as soon as we reach the Calmagian palace."  
  
Kekron, sitting behind them, heard Tayla's words. He jumped in the   
conversation and whispered to Tayla, "It's not going to work, Tayla. Nama, Aunt   
Gracina, Uncle Lektron, and my parents have already tried talking to him. He   
won't listen. Even Dirkan and Aunt Gorna have tried."  
  
"You should have heard Aunt Gorna yesterday yelling at him," Riccan   
whispered, with a bit of glee in his voice. "She told Uncle Cletos that he had   
mourned Aunt Farla long enough, and that it was time for him to move on, get a   
divorce, and look after his children. She told Uncle Cletos that he was   
disgracing the Clan of Chloe name by not raising his children properly. Cletos   
yelled back at her and told her to shut up and mind her own business, that his   
children were his own concern. Aunt Gorna told him that he had shown as much   
concern in them, as he did in a broken toenail. She also told him that she   
wasn't going to have any of her siblings bring shame to the Clan of Chloe name   
by raising his children improperly. She even threatened to take the custody of   
Dedron and Petalia from him, if he didn't start doing right by them. You should   
have been there, Tayla, seeing Aunt Gorna and Uncle Cletos yell at each other   
like that. She wants to take Dedron and Petalia away from Uncle Cletos, if he   
doesn't start taking care of them."  
  
"Can she do that?" Tayla wondered in a whisper.  
  
Kekron answered, still whispering, "She can, and so can Great-Nama.   
They have that authority to put Clan of Chloe children under their own care, as   
their own wards, if the children are orphaned or being treated improperly.   
Great-Nama made you, Arlon and Lukan her wards after your parents died, and she   
could make Petalia and Dedron her wards, as well."  
  
Tayla excused herself from Riccan and Kekron and went to sit next to   
her Aunt Toria, the High Priestess of Astoria. "Aunt Toria, can I ask you   
something?"  
  
Toria smoothed her white and gold sash and caftan and leaned down   
towards her niece. "Yes, my child?"  
  
"Do you think there's a way to find Farla and Jaypros? Maybe, if we   
could find them, it might help Cletos, Dedron and Petalia."  
  
Toria shook her head. "It would only make things worse, my dear."   
She debated on whether to tell Tayla of a nightmare that she had a month ago   
about Jaypros, Farla and their family. Toria knew deep in her heart that   
Jaypros was gone for ever; the ancestors and good spirits would not tell her the   
full story yet of what happened to Jaypros and Farla, but they had told her that   
Jaypros and Jaypros' son by Farla had passed on to the next dimension. Toria   
tried to get a vision of Farla and her surviving child, but all that the spirits   
and ancestors would reveal was that Farla and her child, a daughter, resembling   
her mother, were still alive. Toria had told Shalila of her visions, and   
Shalila had contacted Intergalacticpol, who was currently trying to track mother   
and child down to bring them home. Toria believed in her heart that Farla had   
not much longer to live, that Farla was without hope.   
  
Shalila and Dirkan had discussed sending a rescue party to find   
Farla and her surviving child, but Prince Gohan, the chief of Intergalacticpol,   
advised them against it. He was sending his best officers to find them now, and   
he told his mother that she'd only be sending any rescuers to their graves by   
sending them out into the unknown. If they needed any of the Astorian fighters   
to join the Intergalacticpol officers, Gohan would let his mother know. Gohan   
was certain that Farla and her daughter were in Frieza's hands, but until he was   
certain, there was no point in his mother risking her people's lives just yet.  
  
Toria stroked Tayla's hair and told her to leave such things in the   
hands of the good spirits, but Tayla told Toria of her plan to speak to Cletos.  
  
"No, Tayla," Toria told her firmly. "That is not your place to   
intervene. Cletos must see what he is doing for himself."  
  
"But Aunt Toria, most of the adults have tried talking to him, but   
he won't listen to them, so maybe he'll-"  
  
"Listen to you?" Toria finished, thinking that Tayla was like her   
mother, Tika, in some ways. Toria could see the Tika coming out in Tayla, the   
Tika part wanting to make things right between those that she loved. Toria   
remembered her youngest sibling, Tika, always playing peacemaker, and sometimes   
Tika's efforts worked, and sometimes they didn't. Toria was about to tell Tayla   
that Cletos would not take her seriously because she was still a child, but then   
a strange peace came over her, a message from the spirits, telling her to let   
Tayla do as she planned.  
  
But don't let her talk to her brother now, the spirits said to her,   
for he will not listen to her at this time. When the proper time comes, Tayla   
may speak to him, and he will take what his youngest sibling says seriously,   
even though he will rebuke her like the others. After she talks to him, an   
event will happen to open Cletos' eyes to the neglect of his children.  
  
Toria nodded to the thin air, to the unseen spirits. She turned to   
Tayla, "He will listen to no one now, child. Leave him in the hands of the good   
spirits; they will know how to handle this."  
  
"When are they going to handle it then?" Tayla asked, a bit   
impatiently.  
  
"In their own time," Toria told her bold niece firmly. "Do not say   
a word about what you were going to say to Cletos, and I mean it."  
  
"Yes, Aunt Toria," Tayla answered her solemnly and respectfully, as   
she would Shalila.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The Astorians were immediately escorted to the palace dining room   
upon the arrival at the Calmagian palace. The Calmagian royalty had rolled out   
the red carpet for them, treating them as important foreign dignitaries. The   
dining hall was space age, with dozens of fine mahogany tables covered with   
damask tablecloths, and many succulent dishes of Calmagian foods were set upon   
the tables. King Kitchator and Queen Kildara were in front of their Astorian   
guests, showing them to their tables.  
  
"We are pleased to have you here," King Kitchator told his guests   
graciously. "I hope that you enjoy your stay on Calmag. My wife's family is   
welcome any time. Would anyone care for wine?"  
  
Everyone graciously declined, even Hazel, who would have loved some.   
  
Ridikar joined his grandfather by then and stood at his side. "My   
guests," the King announced, "I would like all of you to meet my grandson,   
Prince Ridikar, the future heir to the Calmagian throne."  
  
Prince Ridikar politely introduced himself to the guests, but his   
eyes fell upon Tayla and stayed there. Tayla was the last person out of the   
group that he introduced himself to.  
  
Ridikar flashed Tayla with a devilish smile. "Well, greetings,   
little lady. May I inquire as to who you are?"  
  
Tayla blushed slightly and whispered shyly, for Ridikar was very   
suave and handsome, "I am Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe, of   
Chloe, Astoria, but you may just call me Tayla."  
  
"Well, welcome, Tayla," Ridikar laughed, grinning. "Such a long   
name you have; my name is nowhere near as long, but it seems to suit you. Would   
you care to sit besides me?"  
  
Tayla nodded shyly. "Um…sure. Why not?"  
  
Riccan scowled at Ridikar; he thought that Ridikar was too slick,   
and there was something that the boy did not like about Calmag's heir. He   
whispered to Kekron, who was standing besides him, "I don't like him one bit."  
  
Kekron said nothing, but Bendros heard Riccan's whisper, and he   
secretly agreed with Tayla's rambunctious nephew. There was just something not   
right about Ridikar, or about the way Ridikar seemed so fascinated with Tayla.   
Bendros tried to push the niggling feelings aside, but he couldn't. He frowned   
at Ridikar and swore to keep one eye on him whenever the Calmagian prince was   
around little Tayla.  
  
  
  
  
Dinner was delicious, the Calmagian ways of cooking agreeing with   
the Astorians well, if their air quality didn't. Ridikar occupied most of   
Tayla's attention for the entire evening, and Tayla was as charming and   
delightful as always. Ridikar was stunned to learn that Tayla was a warrior   
like himself, but he remembered then that the Astorians, unlike the Calmagians,   
allowed their women to fight.  
  
"With me around," Ridikar had declared arrogantly to Tayla, who was   
still sitting besides him at his father's table, "you wouldn't need to worry   
about protecting yourself from Saiyans. I'd bat those Saiyans away from you   
with just a wave of my hand."  
  
"Have you ever fought against a Saiyan?" Tayla asked dubiously,   
although she was awestruck by the way that Ridikar had taken to her so quickly.  
  
Ridikar had never encountered a real pureblooded Saiyan, but he   
laughed, as if Tayla's question was ridiculous. "How do you think that I became   
so strong? Why I could fight Saiyans with both hands tied behind my back! How   
many Astorian males can claim that?"  
  
"Quite a few, actually," Tayla told him boldly, looking him in his   
eyes, something that no proper Calmagian female would ever do. "My brothers and   
father fought many Saiyans in their lifetimes. And Dirkan, my guardian and   
grandfather-by-marriage killed a whole bunch of them in his lifetime. He's one   
of the greatest warriors in the universe, stronger than most Astorians even.   
And then Bendros, who worked on Intergalacticpol for a while, fought the-"  
  
"That's interesting, Tayla," Ridikar told her quickly, wanting her   
attention focused on him, and not those other males that she found so   
ridiculously fascinating. "Did I tell you that I once defended my planet   
against the Hycanese men from planet Hycan almost single-handedly, when I was   
just your age?"  
  
"You didn't," Tayla told him, suddenly fascinated. Her story could   
wait. She was too enthralled now with Ridikar's story. Ridikar embellished his   
following tale, adding Saiyans into the story where there was none to begin   
with.  
  
"…And with only myself and a few good men, those few Saiyans and   
Hycanese were wiped out almost instantly, Tayla! I killed hundreds and hundreds   
of Hycanese and Saiyans alone! Incredible, huh? I was only twelve years old at   
the time, and yet I saved my planet, with almost no help!"  
  
Ridikar stopped his extravagant tale of heroics, and he placed his   
large hand on Tayla's tiny one. "How would you like to join a true warrior for   
a private dinner two nights from now, just you and me."  
  
Tayla flushed uncomfortably. "I-I will have to ask Nama and Dirkan   
first. I am a very young girl, Ridikar, and I am not allowed to be alone with   
any males that are not servants or of my own family without their permission. I   
must have a chaperone; I know that Nama will insist on it."  
  
"Your grandmother sure keeps you under lock and key," Ridikar told   
her intimately, in a private whisper. "Does she even let you sneeze without her   
permission? You are a beautiful young lady, Tayla, and you should not have to   
seek your grandmother's permission for everything, you know. You are growing   
up, and you need to get yourself cut from your grandmother's sash once in a   
while."  
  
Tayla blushed. "You really think that I am beautiful?"  
  
Ridikar chuckled, "Of course, I do, my sweet Tayla. Join me at   
dinner then?"  
  
"I'll still have to ask first," Tayla told him firmly.  
  
Ridikar sighed, "Ah, very well."  
  
  
  
  
Dirkan, with his excellent Namek hearing, overheard the conversation   
from two tables away, and he scowled. Like Riccan and Bendros, he already did   
not like Ridikar.  
  
He glared darkly at the arrogant, suave Prince Ridikar and said in a fierce   
whisper, "If you lay one improper hand on Tayla, boy, both of your hands will   
come off at your wrists, whether you are the heir to Calmag's throne or not."  
  
Shalila heard Dirkan and commented, "So you don't like him, either?"  
  
"I'll kill him, if he tries anything on your granddaughter," Dirkan   
vowed angrily.  
  
Shalila's scowl mirrored Dirkan's. She already a bad feeling about   
the boy herself, but she had nothing concrete to back up her suspicions. She   
decided then it was time to have a talk with her granddaughter about handling   
young men like Ridikar tonight.   
  
Dirkan told her about Ridikar's invitation, and Shalila already   
vowed not to allow Tayla to go without a chaperone. She didn't want Tayla alone   
with Ridikar, at least not until Shalila knew him better.  
  
"I'll chaperone her myself," Dirkan swore, "and if that boy so much   
as looks at her the wrong way, I'll-"  
  
"Dirkan, please," Shalila told him softly, "We only suspect that   
Ridikar may be no good, and until we are certain, we cannot prejudge him. Keep   
a close eye on the Calmagian heir, but don't do anything to embarrass Tayla in   
front of him, please. She's at a very sensitive age; twelve is a difficult time   
for young ladies."  
  
"I will keep one eye on him," Dirkan said firmly, "and one hand on   
my blade, but I promise that I will not do anything to cause trouble until we   
are certain of Ridikar's intentions."  
  
  
  
  
Three hours later. The Calmagian Palace Library  
  
  
"Father and Grandfather," Ridikar told King Kitchator and Prince   
Amitar excitedly. "I believe that I have chosen my bride." He told them of his   
instant interest in Tayla.  
  
Prince Amitar nodded approvingly, not alarmed at all by his son's swift   
decision. "Good for you, my son. Princess Tayla is from a good family and a   
good race. She will make a perfect bride for you, and she is just the right   
age." Tayla's young age was considered marriageable for the Calmagians, for   
Calmagian females could marry at age eleven and up.  
  
"I am sure," King Kitchator said boldly, "that my wife's Aunt   
Shalila will agree to such a wondrous union. Her granddaughter will become   
Queen of Calmag someday; no ruler in his or her right mind would turn such a   
marriage for his or her ward down.  
  
"I don't know, Kitchator," Kildara told him worriedly, "Tayla is   
only twelve, and Astorian women do not have their marriages arranged for them   
anymore. Astorian women can choose their own mates now. I doubt that Aunt   
Shalila will agree to let Tayla marry so young, assuming that Tayla would even   
want to marry Ridikar."  
  
"Of course the girl would want to," Kitchator declared arrogantly,   
"Princess Tayla is no fool; she should know what such a marriage would mean,   
Kildara. Really, dear, you can be so ridiculous at times, even though you knew   
what you were getting when you married me. Now because you are my wife, you are   
Queen of Calmag, and your niece, if she and her grandmother are as wise I   
suspect, will follow in your footsteps. Her young age is nothing; why we just   
married off Ridikar's eleven-year-old sister, Caline, just last month."  
  
"I suppose you are right," Kildara said finally, "I just want things   
to go smoothly; that is all."  
  
"Princess Tayla would be marrying my grandson; how could things not   
go smoothly?" Kitchator demanded to know. 


	37. A Talk With Nama And Dirkan

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Talk With Nama And Dirkan  
  
Shalila and Dirkan's bedchamber, one night later  
  
"So, may I join Ridikar for dinner, Nama, Dirkan? Please?" Tayla   
asked her grandmother and her guardian eagerly, as she lay between them on their   
large hunter-green and gold bed in the luxurious bedchamber decorated in green   
and gold and ebony furniture.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan were silent for a few moments. Dirkan scowled at   
the ceiling and thought near-murderous thoughts of Tayla's potential suitor.  
  
"Please?"  
  
Shalila sighed. She did not truly want Tayla to go, but she could   
not at the moment think of a good reason for saying no. "You must have a   
chaperone, child."  
  
"Yes, Nama." Tayla had expected as much. "Who's going to chaperone   
me?"  
  
"I will," Dirkan told her quietly, still scowling at the ceiling.  
  
"Tayla, before I agree to this, there is something that we need to   
talk to you about," Shalila began. "It is about handling boys like Ridikar."  
  
"Ridikar isn't a boy," Tayla said astutely. "He's almost a man."  
  
Dirkan continued to stare angrily at the gray ceiling. "We know,   
and that's exactly what worries your grandmother and I," he told the young   
princess grimly.  
  
Tayla finally noticed Dirkan frowning so harshly upwards. "Why do   
you look so angry, Dirkan? Was it something that I did?"  
  
Dirkan sighed, and Shalila cleared her throat. "He's not angry at   
you, dandelion; he's just concerned about Ridikar." She toyed with a strand of   
Tayla's dark hair and closed her eyes to think for a few seconds.  
  
"Don't you like Ridikar, Dirkan?" Tayla asked, resting her black   
head on Dirkan's green chest, which she did often.  
  
"As much as I like Frieza," Dirkan said before he could censor   
himself.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila exclaimed, shocked, although she secretly agreed   
with him.  
  
Tayla shot up and looked down at Dirkan, surprised. "Why don't you   
like him? He seems nice and charming-and very handsome, I might add."  
  
Dirkan was trying to save himself. "I-I suppose you're right,   
Tayla, but he just seems so-so old for you, that's all." And too experienced   
and slick, he added silently in his head.  
  
"Four years is nothing," Tayla told him positively, trying to   
reassure him, as she hugged him, like the little girl that she sometimes was.   
"You're over thirty years older than Nama, and Lektron is twelve years older   
than Gracina, and my father was ten years older than my mother. What does his   
age matter?"  
  
Shalila cleared her throat. "It's not really so much his age,   
Tayla. It's well-well, Tayla, most young men you know are fairly decent   
people." She tried to remember the words of the same lectures that she used to   
give her daughters about handling experienced males who wanted too much from a   
young girl too fast. Ah, she remembered when her daughter, Jesynthia, had a   
flock of suitors when she had been around sixteen, and most of those suitors   
Shalila and Bajal hadn't liked. Jesynthia's parents were tremendously relieved   
when their daughter had married a warrior a few years later and settled down.  
  
Finally she said, "Most young men in your life have been decent,   
honorable lads, dandelion, but there will be men in your life who may try to   
take advantage of you."  
  
"What do you mean?" Tayla asked, puzzled.  
  
"Well, remember when we had our talk about how babies were made?"   
Shalila chewed on the corner of her right lip, something she often did when she   
was trying to find the right words to say.  
  
"Yes, Nama."  
  
"I'm sure that you remember my telling you about saving your   
virginity for marriage. Well, dandelion, there are some young men-and older   
men, as well-who would try to get you to do things with them that you are not   
ready for."  
  
Tayla looked directly in her grandmother's eyes. "Nama, I am not   
going to lie with a man before marriage; I intend to save myself."  
  
"We know that you wouldn't, Tayla," Shalila replied, "but there are   
some men who would try to pressure you to sleep with them before marriage, men   
who do not care about your welfare or your honor. There are men of all ages,   
Tayla, that mate with a woman without loving her or caring about her. Some   
consider a game to bed as many young ladies as they can, without considering the   
consequences or the ladies' feelings. Women normally equate sex with love, but   
many men don't feel the same way. There are men and boys who try to prove their   
manliness by coupling with as many women as they can. Most of those men you can   
say no to without them trying to go any further without causing trouble."  
  
"What about the others?" Tayla asked.  
  
"Those are exactly the kind that you especially have to worry   
about," Dirkan added. Shalila nodded in acknowledgment, allowing Dirkan to jump   
in. Dirkan continued, "There are men, Tayla, that won't take no for an answer.   
These kind of men will try to touch you without your permission-"  
  
"Like touching my hair without asking, if I don't know them?"  
  
"Exactly," Dirkan replied. "Some men may try to touch you in places   
where you don't want to be touched. Those kind may try to kiss you against your   
will."  
  
"No one's touching me or kissing me unless I say it's okay," Tayla   
stated firmly. But then an anxious look crossed her delicate features. "What   
do I do about those that try to touch or kiss me, if I don't want them to?"  
  
"Call me, Gracina, or one of your brothers, and one of us will break   
his neck," Dirkan told her fiercely.  
  
"Dirkan," Shalila said reproachfully, looking right into his onyx   
eyes. Then, finally allowing herself a small smile, she turned to Tayla and   
said, "Actually, Tayla, that is one of your options, but one that probably   
should be used as a last-minute resort. First you tell him, as firmly as   
possible, that his attentions are not welcome, and you are not ready for what he   
is trying to do with you."  
  
"And if he still persists?" Tayla pressed.  
  
"Then you try to get away. If that doesn't succeed, then do as   
Dirkan suggests, if you can't fight him off yourself. It is always okay to say   
no, Tayla, no matter what the circumstances. Even if you are married to him,   
you still have a right to say no and set limits as to what you will allow to   
happen. No man, no matter how old he is, how powerful he is, or who he is, has   
the right to touch you, kiss you, or force himself upon you."  
  
"Force himself upon me?" Tayla asked. "Do you mean rape, Nama?" she   
continued, a bit shakily, uncomfortable at saying an awful word.  
  
Shalila nodded solemnly. "Yes, Tayla. Just remember though, that   
not all men are like that, for many of them would be good to you and treat you   
like the princess you are."  
  
"How do I tell the difference, Nama?" Tayla was starting to worry a   
little now.  
  
Shalila meditated for a few moments before answering. "That's the   
bad thing, dandelion; sometimes you can't. You just have to go with your   
instincts, my dear; if he makes you uncomfortable or scared, then it's probably   
a sign that he's not safe to be around. If he treats you with respect and   
accepts no from you as an answer, it's a good sign. If he is not respectful or   
considerate towards you, then he is not someone that you would want for a suitor   
or a husband. Appearances can be deceiving, so take your time slowly to get to   
know a male."  
  
"Have you ever been in such a situation, Nama?" Tayla asked softly,   
her head now resting on her grandmother's bosom.  
  
Shalila looked over Tayla's head to Dirkan. Dirkan placed his large   
green hand on Shalila's red head and stroked her hair with it. They were both   
very quiet. Tayla could sense the unspoken communication between them, even if   
she could not understand it. Dirkan and Shalila nodded at each other, and   
Shalila quietly spoke:  
  
"Yes, Tayla, I have."  
  
"When did it happen? How did you handle it?" Tayla asked, her voice   
barely above a whisper. "How did you escape?"  
  
Shalila gathered her strength together to begin, for the tale that   
she was about to tell was still painful to this day, even if it had been over   
sixty years ago. If it had not been for Dirkan, things could have been so much   
worse.  
  
She debated on just how much to tell Tayla, and she did not answer   
her granddaughter for a good twenty minutes. Tayla lay there in her   
grandmother's arms, patiently waiting for her Nama to answer.  
  
Shalila meditated for that time, thinking how if it had not been for   
her current husband, things would have been worse…  
  
  
  
  
Seventy-four years ago...  
  
…Shalila had just turned twenty-years-old two days before. She had   
spent her twentieth birthday in the prison of the Saiyan king of Astoria, King   
Dayrus; the prison had been a dark, mold-ridden chamber that had not been   
cleaned for many years. King Dayrus's strongest Saiyans had managed to seize   
her by her wrists and tie her wrists together, so that she had been unable to   
fight them back. A powerful Saiyan ki blast had destroyed the protective cuffs   
that had covered her wrists before her capture.  
  
Now those some horrid Saiyans were taking Shalila to the evil Saiyan   
king, who was the younger brother of King Vegeta (the current Prince Vegeta's   
grandfather). King Dayrus, who was considerably weaker than his brother, but   
still the strongest Saiyan on Astoria, had decided to make the impetuous,   
spirited young girl become his new concubine. He thought that it would be a   
thrill to humble and defile the so-called true heiress to Astoria's throne.   
Superior Granden Roccon and Superior Gran Tayla's only daughter would belong to   
him.  
  
Shalila had new restraining cuffs placed on her wrists that reduced   
her ki to next to nothing. Nevertheless, she still had fought against the men   
and women who were dressing her to look nice for King Dayrus. Shalila was now   
dressed in a sea-foam green, transparent dress, with a hole cut out for her flat   
stomach and a keyhole collar for her small bosom's cleavage. She was wearing   
makeup, and her hair was coiffed in the slave girl style that King Dayrus   
insisted that all of his female slaves wear.  
  
Two strong Saiyans were having difficulty carrying an angry,   
frightened Shalila into King Dayrus' bedchamber. She was calling them every   
vile name that a woman can call a man.  
  
"You bastards! Whoremongers! You're as vile and disgusting as your   
king! I would sooner be killed than lie with him!" Shalila had shouted to her   
captors. "When Dirkan and Bajal get here, they will free me, and this whole   
palace will fall apart onto your heads! Let me go!"  
  
King Dayrus, who strongly resembled his brother, King Vegeta (almost   
all Vegetas looked alike, from grandfather to father to son), grinned wickedly   
when the soldiers flung Shalila onto his bed besides him. King Dayrus tried to   
stroke Shalila's fiery hair, but Shalila punched him in his face, as hard as she   
could.  
  
"Feisty little woman, aren't you?" King Dayrus had laughed at her   
when he caught her flying fist. He drew her to him and began to fondle the   
struggling, angry woman. Shalila hissed at him and spat in his face.  
  
"You're as disgusting as your men! Do all of you Saiyan men treat   
women this way?" she screamed after King Dayrus slapped her hard in her face.   
Shalila tentatively licked the corner of her lip, tasting her blue blood. King   
Dayrus lapped at the spot of blue blood on the corner of her lip with his rough   
tongue, after recovering from his anger.  
  
"Mmm, delicious, just like I know that you will be," King Dayrus   
cooed into her ear. "I like the ones that fight me, Princess Shalila, best of   
all. I know now just how I'll bring your rebelling people to their knees." He   
began kissing her throat and restraining her, as Shalila still struggled to get   
away.  
  
"Leave me alone! Don't touch me, monkey king!" Shalila cried out   
angrily.  
  
King Dayrus seized her throat with his large fist. "Do not ever call me monkey   
again, woman, or I will hurt you!" His fury increased; how dare she treat him   
the way she did?   
  
He hissed in her ear, "I will humble you and your people; all I have   
to do is impregnate you with my child. He or she will be another Sastorian   
brat, but it will be enough to diminish you in your people's eyes. And then I   
will make you my mate, bringing further defeat to those wretched Astorians who   
dare to defy me! You will become mine, and I will crush your people under my   
steel boots, if they even try to stop me anymore! And when I'm done with you,   
sweet princess, I will destroy Prince Bajal, your supposed betrothed, and that   
green thing you call Dirkan!" His scowl turned into a grin, then into a leer.   
His hot breath was suffocating her. He tore the top of Shalila's thin,   
see-through dress and caressed her soft, silky bosom. "Enjoying this, princess?"  
  
He then crushed his lips to her mouth and shoved his tongue into her   
mouth. Shalila struggled vainly, and she felt tears come to her eyes. The evil   
king was holding her too tightly, pinning her down with his enormous weight.   
Finally, King Dayrus ripped away the rest of her clothes and moved further on   
top of her body, placing himself firmly between her slender legs.  
  
He continued kissing her, his lips crushing her and his foul breath   
suffocating her. Shalila nearly retched; she could not get his tongue out of   
his throat, so finally she bit into it.  
  
King Dayrus yanked his bleeding tongue from Shalila's mouth and spat   
out blood. He was angrier than ever now. "So you like it rough, you royal   
slut? Well, I'll give it to you that way then, some of my women seem to like it   
that way!"  
  
"Get off of me!" Shalila screamed at him before the Saiyan king   
yanked her head up by her head. He then hit her hard in the back of her head,   
knocking her almost unconscious. Shalila was close to passing out.  
  
No, she thought. I cannot give in to him. NO!  
  
King Dayrus then took a small, saturated cloth to her nose. He   
pressed the chloroform-smelling cloth, causing her to slip further into a void.   
"I didn't want to have to do this; I wanted you awake for our fun, but I'll have   
to restrain you one way or the other."  
  
Shalila, now heavily drugged from the fumes, was barely able to   
move. The tears were now cascading freely down her smooth cheeks, as King   
Dayrus began once again to kiss and fondle her. He started shifting his full   
weight upon her, and then she felt him move in-between her legs. He was   
preparing to force himself upon her, and she was helpless to stop him.  
He was going to rape her. This Saiyan beast, her father's murderer, was   
actually going to rape her, and she couldn't prevent it. Shalila cursed   
herself, hating herself for being so helpless. She had been able to fight   
Darbura, avenging her mother's demise; she had almost single-handedly killed   
Queen Frost, but she could not even fend a man off, to stop him from raping her!   
What kind of a warrior was she?  
  
She hated herself at that moment for being a woman. If she had been   
born a man, she would have never been in this position now.  
  
But then, if she had been born a man, she could not have loved   
Dirkan.  
  
Think of Dirkan. Just close your eyes and think of Dirkan, Shalila   
thought to herself. She tried to remove herself from her horrible situation by   
thinking of the Namek she loved. She wanted Dirkan to be with her, not this   
sweating Saiyan ape king!  
  
Shalila cried harder than ever, unable to forget about her present   
dilemma. King Dayrus' wicked laughter brought her back to reality too soon.   
She was going to be raped, and she knew it.  
  
She struggled for one last time, fighting him feebly with weakly   
pounding fists, but she was tiring. The fumes in that cloth were still about   
her, weakening her further. Shalila let out one horrible sob, as King Dayrus   
finally began to enter her.  
  
But King Dayrus never got to finish, for at that moment Dirkan burst   
into the King's bedchambers after killing twenty Saiyans to reach the   
bedchambers. Dirkan yelled out an angry battle cry and swiftly yanked the   
raping king off of Shalila. Dirkan and King Dayrus began to fight each other,   
punching and kicking each other, breaking furniture and windows and anything   
else that got in their way. Dirkan finally managed to throw the Saiyan king out   
of his bedchamber window into the moat below. (Of course that didn't kill King   
Dayrus that easily, for Dirkan and Shalila had to fight him again later.)  
  
Dirkan then gently used his eye lasers to break the cuffs on   
Shalila's wrists, and then he picked the crying girl up and carried her out of   
the castle to a hidden cave in the Chloe wilderness.  
  
Later, when Shalila was fully awake, Dirkan held in her in his arms   
for a long time, comforting her and reassuring her that she was safe for now.   
Shalila would forever remember Dirkan declaring for the first time that he loved   
her, that he would always be there for her and protect her. She had felt the   
strong safety of his large pink and green arms, and the comfort of his mighty   
voice, telling her that he was here now…  
  
  
  
  
Present Time  
  
…Shalila finally told Tayla an edited version of that frightening   
tale. She had left out the horrible details of exactly what King Dayrus did to   
her, but she stressed to Tayla that even the strongest women can be made   
helpless, especially in a situation like that.  
  
"I am so sorry, Nama," Tayla whispered sympathetically.  
  
"Thank you," Shalila told her solemnly, "but now you understand that   
what happened to me can happen to anyone, including you. If Dirkan had not came   
in time, oh, it could have been so much worse! I was very fortunate, for I   
could have been raped, and worse, impregnated with that beast's child."  
  
"But," Tayla's grandmother continued, "most men are not like that.   
There are many kind, decent men like Dirkan and your brothers, most of your   
cousins and uncles. Don't let my tale scare you away from all men, but use it   
to be cautious around those that you don't know very well. And I am insisting   
on a chaperone when you go to dinner with Ridikar because we don't know him too   
well yet. He may be the heir to Calmag's throne, but he is still someone that   
we have to determine that we can trust."  
  
"He is so charming though, Nama," Tayla said wistfully.  
  
"Do you care for him the same way that you do Bendros?" Shalila   
asked her gently.  
  
"I-I don't know yet, Nama," Tayla admitted, "It's too soon to tell,   
but I think that I could."  
  
Dirkan repressed the alarm surging through him, and Shalila had to   
do the same. They did not, at this time, want any of the single Astorian   
females to become too interested in the Calmagian men.  
  
"Don't give away your heart too soon, dandelion," Shalila told her   
quietly. "You are only twelve; you have plenty of time to get acquainted with   
young men and have suitors. Dirkan and I are just trying to keep you from   
having your heart broken or your trust betrayed."  
  
Tayla closed her eyes and rested her dark head again on her Nama's   
bosom. "I know, Nama," she said softly, "Thank you."   
  
In a few minutes she was asleep. Dirkan let her rest between them   
for a few more minutes, and then he picked her up off of the bed and carried her   
out of his and Shalila's room. He brought her to the bedroom that she was   
sharing with Lelina, Veal, and Petalia, and then he tucked her into her small   
bed and kissed her on her forehead.  
  
"Sweet dreams," he whispered to her before he left the room. 


	38. How Calmagian Women Are Treated

Chapter Thirty-Eight: How Calmagian Women Are Treated  
  
A balcony over looking the Shi River of Magan, later that night  
  
Most of the young men were still awake. Arlon, Lukan, Bendros,   
Rojal, Dedron, Kekron, and even Riccan (who had snuck out of bed without his   
parents' knowledge), were talking quietly on a balcony overlooking the   
magnificent Shi River, the main river flowing through the Calmagian royal city   
of Magan. Riccan was always trying to be with the older boys when he wasn't   
with Tayla.   
  
Dedron sneered at his young cousin, "Shouldn't you be in bed, runt?   
Isn't your mamma wondering where you are? We don't want babies around here."  
  
Riccan put up his fists at his sixteen-year-old cousin. "I am not a baby! I am   
a man!"  
  
Dedron laughed harshly. "You're no man! You're just a stupid,   
whiny little baby boy! Go wake up Tayla if you want someone to play with!"  
  
"Leave him alone, Dedron," Bendros said firmly. "There is no harm   
in him joining us. And he is your cousin."  
  
Dedron glared nastily at Bendros. He was in a particularly bad mood   
tonight because he was angry with his father, Cletos. He was tired of his   
father ignoring him and barely noticing him. Dedron often acted out and caused   
trouble to get his father's attention, but it never seemed to work. The only   
attention he received for his bad behavior was discipline from his   
great-grandmother, Shalila. Raakon and Dirkan had tried to talk to Dedron in   
the past about his actions and coping with his father's indifference, but Dedron   
had turned deaf ears to all those that tried to counsel him.  
  
His glare at Bendros was almost fatal. Bendros wasn't even Clan of   
Chloe, and he dared to order him, Prince Dedron Chloe, of Chloe, Astoria? Who   
did he think he was?  
  
"I rank above you, Bendros," Dedron pointed out to Bendros angrily,   
"so you are in no position to be telling me what to do!"  
  
"He is older than you, Dedron," Kekron pointed out, "and wiser than   
you, so you should listen to him anyway. Don't forget that he is also the   
future Granden of Sahara." Kekron was unusually mature for his age.  
  
Dedron snorted contemptuously at this. Dedron looked down his nose   
at anyone with Saiyan blood, whether there was Astorian blood mixed in it or   
not, and that included Bendros and their Aunt Alora Sahara-Chloe.  
  
Bendros kept his temper in check. He was normally mild-mannered,   
but the antics of Dedron--and sometimes Rojal--grated on his nerves, especially   
when they picked on the younger children, like Tayla and Riccan. Tayla and   
Riccan seemed to be Rojal and Dedron's favorite targets. Rojal could have kept   
Dedron in check, for Rojal was one of the few people that Dedron actually   
listened to, but most of the time Rojal seemed to encourage Dedron's atrocious   
behavior.   
  
Dedron, who had never been well-behaved to begin with, had become   
five times as worse after his mother had deserted him, his sister, and his   
father. He would play nasty pranks on the servants of the Palace, and three of   
his personal servants had gone straight to Shalila and demanded that they be   
released from their oaths to him. Dedron enjoyed bullying the younger children,   
often beating them up mercilessly during sparring and training matches. He was   
especially mean to Riccan, Nikon and the little girl cousins, tripping them up,   
pulling their hair or throwing them off of cliffs before they could fly well.   
  
Three years ago, he had tossed a frightened Tayka off the top of a   
bathhouse roof, teasing her because she couldn't fly very well at the time.   
Tayka had crashed into a tree and wound up with a broken arm. Lektron, losing   
his temper, had beaten Dedron to a pulp for harming his daughter. It had taken   
Dirkan, Raakon and Bajal to pull them apart, and finally Dirkan had to knock   
Lektron unconscious, so that he wouldn't kill Dedron. Shalila had confined   
Dedron to his room for an entire month, not allowing contact with his peers, and   
forbidding him access to the training grounds or the gravity rooms. She and   
Dirkan warned Dedron that if he ever did such a thing again, he would be sent   
away to the moon of Eustachia for a year. This was a harsh punishment for   
anyone because Eustachia was mostly wilderness, with very few modern comforts of   
home. Shalila also threatened to revoke his right to fight as a warrior for   
Astoria.  
  
A year after that, Tayla had returned from Kami Orchida's, stronger   
and wiser than ever. Two days after she had come home to stay, she noticed   
Dedron assaulting an already badly wounded Riccan, who was vainly trying to   
fight him back. Dedron and Riccan had been sparring, but Dedron had been   
entirely too rough on Riccan, hurting him more than he could handle.  
Riccan had finally told Dedron that he didn't want to play anymore, but Dedron   
laughed, called him a weakling, and continued beating on Riccan anyway, even   
though Riccan had told him to stop. A furious Tayla had jumped in between   
Riccan and Dedron, and she told Dedron to leave Riccan alone.  
  
Dedron had been furious because Tayla had intervened, so he took his   
full anger out on her instead. He flew at her, and Tayla was forced to defend   
herself. Aunt and nephew had jumped into a nasty battle royale with fists and   
feet flying. Dedron called Tayla every nasty name that a male could call a   
female, which ignited Tayla's ire further. But it was when Dedron pulled out a   
huge chunk of Tayla's hair that Tayla was set off further.  
  
Riccan had tried desperately to help his young aunt, but Dedron punched him hard   
in his face, knocking him out. As the old cliché goes, that had been the straw   
to break the camel's back. Tayla's next round with Dedron was merciless, and by   
this time, ki blasts were flying, drawing everyone's attention.   
  
Gracina and Raakon were the first to arrive and were shocked to   
notice a still pint-sized Tayla facing off against Dedron, who was twice her   
height and twice her size. Gracina and Raakon pulled the fighting pair apart   
and by the time things settled down, Tayla had two broken fingers and a bloody   
nose, but Dedron had wound up with a broken jaw, two cracked ribs and two black   
eyes, all inflicted by Tayla. It had taken all of Gracina's strength to   
restrain her young, furious sister and calm her down. Riccan woke up and   
shakily told his mother and uncle how the fight had started, and both Gracina   
and Raakon were amazed at how much damage that their tiny sister, who had been   
ten-years-old at the time, had been able to cause. Then they remembered how   
well their sister had done in the battle against Prince Vegeta and his cohorts.  
Raakon had lectured both Tayla and Dedron, insisting they apologize to each   
other, and that Dedron apologize to Riccan. Tayla's tremendous power had   
shocked Riccan, who had never seen Tayla fight so hard and so angrily before.   
Tayla had been appalled at how much pain and damage she had caused Dedron; she   
had been similarly horrified after she had recalled the full details of what she   
had done to Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz. Tayla's astonishing strength frightened   
even herself.  
  
Dedron had been as frightened by Tayla's power, but he never   
admitted it. To this day, he still snubbed her, but he never dared to attack   
her again; he wouldn't even bully the other children when she was around. He   
did swear by the Seven Moons of Astoria to take his revenge out on her one day,   
and he trained harder than ever, so that he could one day become stronger than   
Tayla. Both he and Rojal, his best friend, did not like the idea of Tayla being   
stronger than them, and their new goal now was to become stronger and more   
powerful than her. They both considered themselves to be more important than   
their youngest aunt, and they wanted the power to prove it.  
  
Rojal and Dedron also feared Tayla's growing influence among their   
peers, for Tayla was seen as a leader among them. They both knew that Tayla was   
more popular and more prominent than they were, even though they were higher   
than her in rank. What if Tayla's friends and the rest of the Astorians decided   
that they wanted Tayla to become Astoria's next ruler instead?   
  
Riccan, then remembering that moment when Tayla had taken Dedron down, snapped   
at Dedron, "If you don't leave me alone, I'll go to Tayla, and we'll both get   
you!"  
  
Bendros tousled Riccan's hair. "Hey easy, little fellow. Dedron's   
not going to bother you." Riccan didn't believe Bendros, and he scowled   
furiously at Dedron, who snorted and ignored his young, pesky cousin.  
  
Arlon and Lukan decided to have a friendly sparring match, and they   
were in the middle of it, laughing and grinning, when Prince Ridikar joined the   
group of Astorian young men. "Greetings, fellows! How are you enjoying your   
stay so far?"  
  
Rojal grinned. "Very well, thank you. Hey, are there any lovely   
young ladies that you know are available?" Arlon and Lukan now wondered the   
same thing.  
  
Ridikar laughed. "Of course there are! I am having a party   
tomorrow night, but I'll have to leave early; I have a private dinner date with   
your young aunt."  
  
Rojal raised a reddish eyebrow. "Are you talking about Tayla?"  
  
Ridikar grinned. "She's your only unmarried aunt here, isn't she?"  
Arlon's joyous grin melted into an anxious frown. He narrowed his eyes at   
Ridikar. "My sister, Tayla, is only twelve. Isn't she just a bit young for   
you?" Arlon had his father's hair color and skin coloring, but his eyes were   
like his mother, Tika's, except that they were two shades darker. His navy-blue   
eyes were almost black now.  
  
Lukan's frown matched Arlon's. Lukan's looks were a masculine   
version of Tayla's, with the same round, saucer-like brown eyes and heart-shaped   
face. He was a close friend of Bendros', and both he, Arlon, and Bendros   
mutually agreed to watch Ridikar whenever he was around Tayla. He, like Arlon,   
knew that four years was nothing (at least according to Astorian standards), but   
he had already decided that Prince Ridikar would not be a good match for his   
baby sister. It didn't matter that Ridikar was to become King of Calmag   
someday. In Lukan's eyes, Ridikar was too slick and devious to be trusted with   
little Tayla.  
  
"Actually," Ridikar replied seriously, "Tayla is of marriageable   
age, according to Calmagian standards. Why, my little sister, Caline, is just a   
year younger than Tayla, and she just got married recently. It was a good   
match, and her new husband is an important nobleman with two thousand acres of   
land and his own city. He is very rich; my father was pleased with the decision   
he had made."  
  
Kekron asked, "Didn't your sister have any say in this?"  
  
Ridikar shook his head, as if Kekron had asked a ridiculous question. "Of   
course not. She is a female, my father's ward until her marriage, and the   
marriage contract was an excellent one. If she had refused, my father would   
have disowned her. She wasn't too thrilled about marrying a man twenty-five   
years older than her, but she'll adjust to him, and she'll bear strong sons."  
  
Kekron inquired further, "Women have no say on this planet in whom   
they wish to marry?"  
  
Ridikar looked at Kekron strangely. "The men do the choosing here,   
and the parents arrange the marriages. Men may choose their mates, and the   
women, if single, must agree to wed them, if they parents consent to the match.   
All women are subject to the men in their family. When a male is ready for   
marriage, he picks his bride and arranges a contract with her parents, and if   
the parents are satisfied, he may marry her."  
  
"But what if the girl doesn't want to marry him?" Riccan asked,   
chewing on a hangnail.  
  
"She has no say in that," Ridikar explained with a sigh. "It is up   
to her parents, and if she refuses a good marriage contract, her parents usually   
threaten to disown her."  
  
Kekron was uncomfortable with this. On Astoria, women and men had   
near-equal rights, and women could do almost everything that the men could.   
Women were still more protected then the men were, however, and they were under   
their guardians or parents' care longer than men were, but other than that, they   
had the same rights as the men did.  
  
"Are women allowed to become warriors or have other occupations?"   
Kekron asked, as he watched the beauty of Calmag's three moons. A picture of   
the three moons of Calmag was part of the Calmagian royal family crest.  
  
"Only men may fight," Ridikar told him. "The only occupations that   
most women have are as wives and mothers. Some are nurses, maids, or   
governesses before they marry, but after that, they no longer work at anything   
except running the household and raising their children. Most Calmagian women   
aren't strong enough to be good warriors anyway, and they don't need to. The   
men can more than take care of things here."  
  
Ridikar straightened his back, until it was straight as a ramrod.   
"And I, myself, am hoping to marry soon. I will need a future queen who can   
bear me strong sons to rule in my stead after I pass on to the next dimension.   
A young bride, in the full bloom of womanhood, or close to it, is just what I   
need. Tayla may be a good possibility; my grandfather is thinking of discussing   
it with the Superior Gran and Granden. Farewell and good-night." And with a   
casual wave and flutter of his strong, thick hand, Ridikar was gone from the   
balcony and down the hall leading to his bedchamber.  
  
The young men glared darkly at him, except for Rojal and Dedron, who   
were seeing Ridikar's interest in Tayla as a good opportunity to be rid of the   
girl once and for all.  
  
"Ridikar should make her a good husband," Rojal said hopefully. "He   
is to become the King of Calmag. Tayla would follow in Great-Aunt Kildara's   
stead as the next Queen of Calmag; it would be a good position for her."  
  
The other young men, except for Dedron, stared at Rojal in   
disbelief. "How can you say that, Rojal?" Arlon asked angrily. "Tayla is only   
twelve years old, and she would not be happy living here on Calmag. Besides, I   
doubt that Nama would ever allow it, even if Tayla were of age. And I wouldn't   
blame her for not allowing such a marriage! I don't like the young cretin   
myself, and I don't think that Nama and Dirkan do either."  
  
"Great-Nama would be foolish not to allow such a good opportunity!"   
Rojal snapped at his uncle, who was only three years older than he was. "Think   
about it: we want Calmag to ally with Astoria anyway, and a marriage between   
Tayla and Ridikar would solidify such an alliance. Tayla would surely produce   
strong children, even if only the males would be allowed to become warriors.   
The Calmagians are strong people who could benefit us, and it would be best for   
both races to intermarry with each other, if possible."  
  
"You just want to get rid of Tayla!" Riccan shrieked loudly, so   
loudly that two Calmagian guards from two castle turrets away could hear him.   
"You've never liked Tayla, Rojal, so you're just trying to get rid of her! You   
don't care whether Tayla is happy or not! I don't like Ridikar, and I don't   
want Tayla to marry him!" The normally self-assured Rojal flinched at Riccan's   
angry accusation. He was trying to find a way to deny this allegation before   
the others started to suspect the truth.  
  
"What is it that you don't like about Ridikar?" Bendros asked Riccan   
quietly. He agreed with Riccan, but he was hoping that someone would be able to   
put a name on the niggling suspicions about the Calmagian heir.  
  
"I just don't like him that's all," Riccan replied uncertainly. "I   
don't think he'd be nice to Tayla too much. He just gives me a bad feeling. I   
don't think that he'd be good to Tayla." Riccan, being only nine years old,   
couldn't quite a name to his worries about Ridikar, but the others could   
sympathize with him.  
  
"I don't like him either," Lukan agreed. "I can't exactly say why,   
but I don't trust him, especially with our little sister."  
  
"There's just something not right about him," Kekron added. "Maybe   
it's the way he views women. He seems to consider them to be inferior to men.   
I don't think he'd treat Tayla as his equal, like an Astorian male would. Maybe   
that's what's bothering us: he seems to view Tayla as an object, someone to be   
acquired, someone to be-conquered, perhaps, like a prize to be won."  
  
"That's the best way I've heard it so far," Bendros said   
affirmatively. He turned to the other young men, while noticing Rojal and   
Dedron leaving the group.  
  
"Goodnight, everyone," Rojal spoke for both him and Dedron, as they   
left the balcony and their peers altogether. When they were gone, Bendros   
continued, "We've all agreed that we don't care for this Ridikar. What I   
suggest we do is that all of us take turns keeping an eye on him-"  
  
"And beat him up, if he does anything to Tayla?" Riccan suggested   
brightly.  
  
"Riccan, don't interrupt," Arlon told him. "Let him finish." Even   
though Bendros was not Clan of Chloe, he was the future Granden of Sahara, and   
Arlon and many of the other young men of their age group looked up to him.  
  
"Sorry," Riccan apologized.  
  
Bendros began again. "Arlon and I can mention our concerns to the   
Superior Gran, and we all must make sure that Tayla is not left alone with him."  
The others agreed, and Riccan, forgetting himself again, interrupted, "He's   
having dinner tomorrow night with her; Tayla told me. She likes him a lot, even   
if we don't."  
  
Bendros sighed. That was exactly what he had been worried about.   
Tayla was too young and inexperienced to be able to handle a boy like Ridikar,   
who seemed unlikely to treat her with respect.   
  
Bendros was almost tempted to break Ridikar's neck in advance, but   
since Ridikar had not done anything yet, there was nothing that he and the   
others could do, but keep an eye on him.  
  
Bendros swore not to allow Ridikar to bother Tayla or make her feel   
uncomfortable. He, personally, planned to have a nice chat with Ridikar about   
treating a Princess of Chloe properly.   
  
  
  
  
The next morning in the courtyard of the Calmagian Palace. 7AM (Frieza Stellar   
Time), 9AM (Astorian Galactic Time), 11AM (Calmagian Royal Northern Time)  
  
Tayla was excited. She was to join Ridikar for dinner at five   
o'clock later that evening. She planned to wear her favorite lavender caftan,   
with was cut in the new shoulder-bearing, sleeveless Astorian style. A silky   
pale green sash imprinted with violets would complete this ensemble, along with   
crystal emerald-tinted shoes. For now, she was wearing a pale pink caftan with   
a soft blue sash, imprinted with daisy-like flowers.  
  
She was now sitting in the courtyard on one of the castle's famous   
electric-blue marble benches. There was a large fountain in the middle of the   
courtyard with a statue of King Kitchator in the middle of it. The King's   
statue was pouring water out of an ornately carved vase into the fountain. The   
courtyard was lined with flowers similar to Earth's roses, only most of these   
roses were electric-blue and bright neon green.   
  
Tayla watched the fountain for a long time, fascinated with it,   
until a small girl joined her. The little girl sat down besides Tayla. Tayla   
then turned to notice the tiny child, who had whitish-blond hair and eyes a   
brighter blue that some of the Calmagian roses. The girl's skin was as white as   
the snowy clouds of Calmag (pale skin was normally a desirable trait among   
Calmagian women). The small lady had an ethereal appearance that made Tayla   
stare in astonishment. The girl was wearing a pale blue sheer dress that was   
low-cut and sleeveless, revealing the cleavage of a childish bosom.  
  
Tayla finally managed to regain her composure and smiled warmly at   
the otherworldly creature. "Hello," she told the other girl graciously, "I am   
Princess Tayla Chloe."  
  
The girl smiled shyly, revealing perfect pearly teeth. "I am   
Princess Caline, Prince Ridikar's sister," she said in a whispery voice so low   
that Tayla had to strain to hear her.  
  
Tayla stretched both hands out to her in a proper Astorian handshake, and   
Princess Caline hesitantly took them and shook them gently, for she knew the   
Astorian greeting. "Welcome to Calmag," Caline told her softly.  
  
"Thank you," Tayla told her, and for some strange reason, her voice   
was now the same decibel as Caline's. Tayla felt that she should talk in the   
same tone as the wraithlike creature. Caline didn't seem to be a real person;   
she seemed to be more like a good spirit than a living being.  
  
"I can only talk for a few minutes, Princess Tayla," Caline told her   
in her normally whispery voice. "My husband is expecting me."  
  
"Husband?" Tayla asked, puzzled, her voice now raised back to her   
normal tone. "How can you have a husband? You don't look much older than I am.   
In fact, you don't look like you're any more than ten or eleven years old."  
  
"I'm eleven," Caline explained. "And I married Alberm a month ago.   
He is twenty-five years older than I am. I am still not overly fond of him; in   
fact, he frightens me at times, but he is a good provider and strong warrior, so   
I cannot complain."  
  
Tayla was shocked that a little girl younger than her could have a   
husband, but she kept her composure and continued, "If you weren't fond of him,   
why did you marry him?"  
  
"Alberm wanted to marry me, and Father agreed to the marriage   
contract. I tried to tell Father that I did not like him, but Father insisted   
that I marry him anyway. I had no choice in the matter; it is the men of the   
family who determine whom their women may marry."  
  
"That's awful," Tayla told her indignantly, "to be forced into a   
marriage when you are only a little girl and don't like who you have to marry!"   
Caline's wide blue eyes grew even wider, as she shrank back from Tayla's   
powerful, dulcet-toned voice.  
  
The frightened young bride looked around anxiously, and then she   
whispered to Tayla, "Do not worry; I am taken care of, as long as I do what   
Alberm tells me to do." Caline rubbed her white arm ruefully, and it was then   
that Tayla noticed a large purple and yellow bruise on the ghostly arm. The   
sight of it dismayed Tayla.  
  
"How did you get that bruise?" Tayla asked her softly, her voice   
lower than even Caline's.  
  
A tear glistened in one of Caline's blue eyes. "I behaved badly,   
and I caused Alberm to lose his temper. I am thankful that he only squeezed my   
arm, instead of giving me a full beating. I refused to mate with him one night   
because I had a bad headache, and he did this. I should not have refused him,   
for he is my husband and may have me whenever he wishes. He hurts me badly when   
we mate, but at least he does not beat me when I comply."  
  
"Does your father know about this?" Tayla asked her, horrified.  
  
Caline nodded shamefacedly. "It does not matter to him much as long   
as Alberm does not beat me too badly. To Father, a few bruises for bad behavior   
is nothing; as long as Alberm does not hurt me too much, he won't say a word.   
He only sees Alberm's money and powerful army and equipment. Alberm is an   
excellent businessman, as well as a fine warrior and one of Father' strongest   
allies on Calmag."  
  
"That doesn't make what he's doing to you right," Tayla told her   
furiously, "No man has a right to treat his wife the way that this Alberm treats   
you."  
  
"My father treated my mother no differently," Caline stated, "except   
that he, at least, did not beat or hit her. He just shouted at her so harshly,   
that was all. She died when I was five years old."  
  
Tayla shook her head at this. Such behavior would not have been   
tolerated on Astoria; abusing your spouse guaranteed a long prison sentence,   
whether you were male or female. She took Caline's hand and patted it gently.   
"I will go to my grandmother, and perhaps she can help. She could talk to Uncle Kitchator-"  
  
Caline became alarmed, and her whispery voice grew into a shriek. "No!" she cried loudly, "my grandfather does not like it when others interfere in his family matters. He would say that I was making too much out of nothing. And then Alberm would definitely beat me then, and no one would stop him. My grandfather is very fond of Alberm, and our marriage pleased him. He considers Alberm as a son, for Alberm has done so much in increasing Calmag's prosperity. And Alberm is a great diplomat; he was one of the ones that your grandmother talked to, one of the ones who arranged your people's visit to our planet. Alberm is a Kai in my grandfather's eyes. I beseech you, Princess Tayla, not to try to interfere, please!"  
  
"I'll agree for now," Tayla said reluctantly, "but you should not to tolerate Alberm's abuse. What he is doing to you is not right under any circumstances. You can talk to me anytime that you wish while you are here. I am Queen Kildara's niece, you know."  
  
"I know," Caline whispered, with a small smile. "I have heard the stories from Grandmother last night about how strong you are, and how you managed to defeat Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans almost single-handedly. I wish I was as strong as you, Princess Tayla, but I was not trained as a warrior like you were. I can paralyze people, like all Calmagians know how to do, but the men's powers are stronger than the women's."  
  
"You may just call me Tayla," the young Princess of Chloe told her, "And if you like, I can teach you how to defend yourself."   
  
Caline's electric-blue eyes widened, and she was about to reply when a large, burly man approached the two small girls. "There you are, Caline! Where in the world have you been, girl?"  
  
Tayla disliked the man on sight. The large man was six-feet, seven-inches tall, and he was corpulent, the size of six people her size put together, weighing over three hundred pounds. He was red-haired and red-faced, with a big, bulbous nose and bulging olive green eyes that were pale and watery. He seemed to have a permanent sneer on his fat face, and the angry, contemptuous way he looked at Caline made Tayla instantly edgy. Tayla guessed correctly that this was Alberm.  
  
"Alberm, I am sorry, truly," Caline stammered fearfully. "I was just welcoming Princess Tayla Chloe to Calmag. She is a year older than I am, if I am correct."  
  
"You are," Tayla said tightly, keeping her chocolate eyes fixed on Alberm. Alberm was so fat that Tayla could not, for the life of her, understand how he was a warrior. If Alberm was a warrior, then he surely had to be a poor one.  
  
Alberm's expression instantly changed to a more benevolent expression, and he laughed heartily. "Well, well, so you are Superior Gran Shalila Chloe's granddaughter, Tayla Chloe. You were on the guest list. Well, hello, little girl, I am Alberm of Rendor, my own private city, and I am sorry if my wife troubled you. She always seems to be running her mouth."  
  
"She hasn't troubled me," Tayla told him as politely as possible. "I have enjoyed her company. She has told me much of your success here on Calmag."  
  
Alberm smirked. "Good, she's bragging about me, and I like that! It shows that she's well behaved. She may be a child, like you, but she's my woman and my wife. You yourself are old enough to get married; better keep an eye for all the young, single Calmagian boys, particularly Ridikar, for he seems fond of you. Just think, Princess Tayla, of being the next Queen of Calmag!"  
  
"I am too young to get married," Tayla told him quietly, in that same steely polite tone that she usually reserved for someone that she disliked, but couldn't afford at that moment to offend. "By Astorian law, I cannot marry until I am seventeen, and my husband would be of my own choosing, if my grandmother consents to the man that I wish to marry."  
  
"Caline, it's time to go," Alberm told his child bride sternly. "I must meet with some of the important Astorian people, and I want you at home where I know that you won't get into trouble or bother our guests."  
  
Tayla spoke up quickly. "Actually, I was just about to ask her, if she'd like to join me for the day, Alberm. It is not every day that I get to meet a Calmagian princess, and I would like to make some friends here before my people and I go home to Astoria."  
  
Alberm chuckled. "Well, I suppose that would be fine; at least my little wifey can't get into much trouble in the company of a Princess of Chloe from planet Astoria." He reached towards Caline, who was now standing up, and squeezed her buttock hard with his large hand.  
  
"That hurts!" Caline cried out. "Please don't do that, Alberm, at least not in front of others!"  
  
Alberm's face darkened. "You are my wife, my mate, and I may touch you where I please! You are my property, Caline, and that's something that you need to learn to understand." And with that, he seized his small child bride and kissed her roughly on her mouth before pushing her away. "Farewell, girl, and enjoy the day with the Astorian princess! And tonight, I will expect your presence in my bed, no more excuses!" Alberm proudly trotted off, like an Earth peacock.   
  
Tayla had a hard time concealing her anger. "That b-bastard," she whispered, using a forbidden word. "Who does he think he is, treating you like that? I ought to-"  
  
"No, Tayla," Caline said anxiously, "I know that you wanted to hurt him, but you mustn't do so. I also know that you can kill him, but you would only make trouble for your people, if you did. My grandfather would not understand, nor would he be pleased. Please don't strike out against him, Tayla."  
  
Tayla emitted a deep guttural growl that did not suit her at all, but she backed down reluctantly. "Very well, I will for now, but he still has no right to treat you like he does." She beckoned Caline to follow her to her bedchamber, and Caline slowly did so, leaving the courtyard behind. Since Caline, like all Calmagians, could not fly, Tayla had to walk the entire way with her until they reached the elevator inside the castle on the first floor. 


	39. Alberm's True Occupation

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Alberm's True Occupation  
  
The Courtyard of the Calmagian Palace, near the King's swimming pool  
  
Alberm, a warrior, an important nobleman, and successful   
businessman, was haughty and proud. He had good reason to be, for he had a   
young child bride, albeit one that was reluctant to sleep with him, but one that   
would surely bear him strong sons, despite her tiny size. He had wanted the   
child since she was nine years old, but he had to wait a couple of years until   
she was almost past puberty and larger in size. Caline had not grown much in   
size since then, but Alberm liked his women tiny.  
  
He was also one of the King of Calmag's favorites, as well as an   
important interplanetary diplomat. Caline had been given to him as a wife as a   
sort of reward for his actions. Alberm was more powerful and more important   
than ever because he had married into the royal family of Calmag.  
  
He was charming and affable in public, and most people who did not   
know his true nature, liked him immediately. Even the Superior Gran and   
Granden, who Alberm would meet tonight in person for the first time, had seemed   
impressed with him. He easily hid the darker side of him, the side that was   
cruel, manipulative and greedy towards those he considered beneath him.  
  
He was indeed greedy, greedy for money, greedy for status, and worse   
of all, greedy for power.  
  
Alberm now had someone else that he had to meet with before he was   
to join the rulers of Astoria for dinner, and that particular person was now   
sitting calmly on a rock near the King's private swimming pool, which was shaped   
like a kidney. Alberm thought this man, who resembled an ugly brown grasshopper   
with big bulging eyes, was one of the ugliest things that he had ever seen.   
Alberm, however, was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself in this   
instance, for both he and the "grasshopper-man" were serving the same liege.  
  
Alberm waved politely at the odd insect creature and said as   
heartily as possible, "Hello, Reccor."  
  
  
  
Frieza's mother ship, Frieza's private library  
  
Frieza was meditating after a hard day of training; he was trying to   
reach a third form of himself, so that he could move past the two   
transformations that he already knew. His mother had programmed it into him,   
but Frieza was having difficulty with reaching that required, necessary third   
transformation needed to eventually become substantially more powerful than any   
Saiyan or Astorian.  
  
He had just showered, and now he was in a private trance by his   
fireplace, and the golden glow of the flames illuminated his white and pink   
body, making it almost eerie and ghostly looking. He wasn't sure that he liked   
the idea of his second form; he had seem the diagrams of this second form that   
Queen Frost had hoped that he would reach, and he thought that it was hideously   
ugly. Frieza wasn't vain by any means, but even he had been visibly repulsed by   
what his second transformation would make him look like. Couldn't his mother at   
least have tried to make the transformations not so disfiguring?  
  
Frieza shook that niggling thought away. What did looks really   
matter? It was power and strength that were the important things, as well as   
intelligence. And it wasn't as if anyone would dare to hold his looks against   
him anyway. His few concubines throughout the universe didn't seem to object   
too much, and the occasional visits with them kept him satisfied. Frieza made a   
mental note to have Captain Ginyu hire more Ginyu Girls that were actually   
mating-compatible with him; Eclipse was his personal favorite out of the Girls,   
but he could not mate with her, for their bodies were too different. Frieza   
knew that the men in his family had great difficulty in the past having humanoid   
women for mates. Except for his father, King Cold, who didn't seem to have a   
problem mating with anyone; Frieza wondered, not for the first time, if he   
should ask his father for advice about successfully mating with a humanoid   
woman. He then shuddered at the thought, but there was no one else that he   
could really ask; not even his mother had left instructions on how to go about   
it.  
  
His private reverie was interrupted by Reccor's raspy, annoying   
voice coming through his scouter. "Lord Frieza, are you there?"  
  
Frieza hissed; he hated it when anyone interrupted his meditating,   
but he had been expecting Reccor to contact him, so he could not complain.   
"Yes, I am here," he told Reccor, trying to keep the impatience out of his   
voice.  
  
"Sire, Alberm of Calmag is with me, as you have requested."  
  
Frieza's annoyed scowl melted into a satisfied grin. He knew he   
could count on that fat, slobbering nobleman of Calmag to betray his people and   
the Astorians. He had hired Alberm as his spy on Calmag two years before,   
promising Alberm great riches and rule of Calmag, if he complied. Frieza had   
played on Alberm's lust for Calmag's throne, and he had told Alberm that he   
could rule that planet under his protection. But the Calmagians were now   
growing stronger, possibly strong as the Astorians, and Frieza was becoming   
anxious about that, so he decided to have the Calmagian people wiped out, except   
for maybe Alberm and a few Calmagians that would be loyal to him. Frieza knew   
that Alberm was greedy and selfish, and that Alberm wouldn't be too distraught   
over the loss of his entire race. Alberm had already more than proven his   
usefulness by arranging the Astorians' visit on Calmag. Frieza admired Alberm's   
cleverness, and he decided that he would allow Alberm to live after all.   
  
Frieza was wise enough to know that he could not easily destroy   
planet Astoria, as he had planet Vegeta. The Astorians were no stronger than   
the Saiyans, and he could have easily destroyed Astoria with his one finger   
blast alone, but something was standing in his way, and right now, this force   
was stronger than even Shalila or Tayla Chloe.  
  
That force was the deity of Astoria, Kami Orchida.  
  
Kami Orchida was not as physically strong as the Astorian race that   
she watched over, but she was also a powerful sorceress, and many, many years   
ago, she had concocted an almost unbreakable spell of protection over all of   
Astoria and her seven moons that would keep Frieza from destroying it   
single-handedly. Frieza had learned of this strange spell when he and his   
forces had tried to take Chloe twenty-two years ago, and he knew the spell was   
connected to Kami Orchida's strong life force. As long as Kami Orchida lived,   
the spell of protection would remain in place. As long as Kami Orchida lived,   
Frieza would not be able to clear Astoria on his own; if he wanted the planet   
cleared, he would have to send others to do it for him, like he had done with   
the Saiyans several times. If Frieza wanted to destroy the Astorians and their   
planet himself, Kami Orchida would have to die. If he even attempted to land on   
Astorian soil, the protection spell would immobilize him and cripple him   
completely, but it would not kill him. He would just be in a state of lifetime   
torment, if he tried to get through the atmospheres of Astoria, and the torment   
would cause such pain and agony that it would make him want to die.  
  
Near the end of the Battle of Chloe, Kami Orchida had begged the   
Grand Kai of the universe for protection of her planet from Frieza. Kami   
Orchida could have lived to be over one-thousand years old, but in order to have   
the power needed for her protection spell, she had to give up three hundred   
years of her life in order to protect the planet permanently from Frieza. The   
Grand Kai had told her that the spell could protect Astoria, from Frieza   
personally, and Frieza only, not his minions, and that the spell would be broken   
should she die before Frieza. Kami Orchida had immediately agreed to the terms,   
and she was able to cast her protection spell, ensuring Frieza's torment and the   
Astorians victory over Frieza's forces. Once Frieza was crippled by the spell,   
he had been forced to retreat, but he had ordered his minions to stay behind   
until Chloe was cleared. Of course, once Frieza was gone off of Chloe, Shalila   
and her people were able to finish off most of Frieza's invading forces on their   
moon easily. Frieza was forced then to order a complete retreat, and only   
thirty minions out of three thousand had survived that bloody battle. Dodoria,   
Jaden, Zarbon, Balair and Ginyu (who had been just a beginning Mid-Elite officer   
at the time) had been among the survivors.  
  
Frieza hated Kami Orchida, almost as much as he hated Shalila Chloe   
and her wretched Namek, Dirkan. He knew that he could not touch Kami Orchida   
himself; he would eventually have to send someone one day who could find her and   
eliminate her, but he could find a way to finish off the Astorian rulers   
immediately.  
  
That was why he himself had sent Alberm to Astoria two years ago.   
Alberm had never actually made it to Chloe, for his ship had crashed on the moon   
of Pearl, where Shalila's granddaughter, the Superior Gran Heir Apparent, Gorna   
Chloe, the next ruler of Astoria, had been visiting the lesser rulers of Pearl.   
Alberm had suggested an alliance with his planet of Calmag, and Gorna had   
agreed, with Shalila's permission. Alberm had only met Shalila and Dirkan   
through radio; he had not met them in person yet. Shalila had trusted Gorna   
enough to allow her to make the arrangements for the trip to Calmag and the   
delicate negotiations with the King of Calmag, whom Alberm had consulted with in   
advance before his departure for Astoria. The King of Calmag knew of the   
planned alliance with Astoria, and he had given his blessing for it, but he,   
like the rest of the Calmagians, knew nothing of Frieza's involvement. Gorna   
also had also been completely left in the dark about Alberm's true intentions.  
  
And now Alberm had successfully managed to lure the Astorians to   
Calmag, with the King's permission. Frieza had to laugh at how Alberm had so   
easily won the King's trust, that the Calmagian ruler would not question why   
Alberm was so eager to have the Astorians, the important ones out of the race,   
on Calmagian soil.  
  
Frieza forced himself to pay attention when Alberm's voice echoed   
through the scouter. "Sire, I am at your service. The Astorians have landed on   
Calmag, and Princess Tayla Chloe has come with them."  
  
Frieza grinned wider. "Good, very good! Now, have you met the   
child yet, Alberm? Did you have your scouter with you when you met her?"  
  
Alberm replied quickly, "I had to keep my scouter out of sight when   
I met her, sire. She seems to have already formed a friendship with my young   
wife, Caline. I swear that little girl bride of mine can be such a handful-"  
  
"I don't care to hear of your child bride, Alberm! What was   
Princess Tayla's power reading?"  
  
"Sixty-thousand sire. It could possibly rise to eighty or ninety   
thousand, if she powers up."  
  
Frieza unintentionally chomped down on his lower lip in worry.   
"Sixty-thousand? Sixty thousand? Sixty thousand! How did she become that   
powerful in five years? How? Put Reccor on!"  
  
Reccor's voice was now coming through to Frieza. "Yes, sire?"  
  
"Reccor, explain to me how Tayla was able to get up to sixty   
thousand on a scouter reading. According to Nappa, when he and the other   
Saiyans fought her five years ago, Tayla's power reading had only been two   
thousand, and then when her power increased, it had suddenly become   
twenty-thousand. How did she get up to sixty thousand?"  
  
Reccor stammered, "Perhaps her training under Kami Orchida, sire?   
She did get sent there for training when she was eight years old. We should   
have taken her then, sire. She has become so much stronger and wiser from her   
time there-"  
  
Frieza clenched his fists and counted to one hundred. Just before   
the storm within him was about to break however, it suddenly stopped, and Frieza   
began to brighten. He chuckled lightly through the scouter, much to Reccor and   
Alberm's relief. "Perhaps, this scenario isn't so bad after all."  
  
"What??" the two spies asked, puzzled.  
  
"She's more valuable than ever. It is a good thing that I am   
sending my Elite officers here to Calmag, eh? Now is a perfect time to take her   
away and destroy her grandmother once and for all! Shalila Chloe will die   
knowing that her darling granddaughter will work for me for the rest of her   
life!"  
  
Reccor choked, "Sire, Astorians can live to be two hundred years   
old. Are you sure that you want to keep her for that long?" Alberm agreed with   
him, and they were both also thinking about the Saiyans' long life spans as   
well. Saiyans could also live to be two hundred years old.  
  
Frieza laughed arrogantly. "I can get rid of her anytime that I   
tire of her! Anyway, my four combat Elite teams should be arriving on Calmag   
any day now. I am also sending a fifth team of my best low-levels to eliminate   
the weaker Calmagians. That will leave my Elite officers free to destroy the   
more important vermin, as well as capture Tayla Chloe. Zarbon's team seems to   
be ahead of the other officers on their way here, so Reccor, I want you to meet   
with Zarbon and have you both contact me when he arrives. Alberm, I want you to   
keep a close eye on the Astorian visitors, especially Tayla Chloe, her   
grandmother, and that Namek, Dirkan. Are there any other species with the   
Astorians?"  
  
"Why, yes, sire," confirmed Alberm. "There are also three Meatian   
visitors, and one creature that resembles a coffee-skinned Astorian. She is an   
unusual sort of Astorian, sire, and she has brown skin and thick, coarse black   
hair. She is beautiful, although odd with a low scouter reading. I have not   
met her in person, but I have seen her around the castle. She looks like the   
Astorians, and yet she has none of the Astorian characteristics. She must be a   
mutant Astorian, or a weaker form."  
  
"Are you talking about Princess Hazel Carr-Chloe?" Reccor rasped.   
"She is no Astorian, fool; she is a Human, from planet Earth, that little blue   
planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Shalila Chloe's youngest child, Gohan Chloe,   
the Chief of Intergalacticpol, married her. They now have two half-Astorian,   
half-Human children together. How could you mistake her for an Astorian?"  
  
Alberm became defensive. "How was I supposed to know that? I have   
never seen nor heard of Humans before! Up until now, I thought that Astorians   
were only mating and reproductively compatible with Saiyans and Calmagians. I   
didn't know that there were other species that they could interbreed with."  
  
"I am amazed that Prince Gohan took her to be his mate," Reccor   
stated. "She is a beautiful woman for her species, but she is much weaker than   
most of the Astorian women. Humans can be such fragile creatures. I wonder how   
her half-breed children will turn out to be." Reccor picked up a neon-green   
rose and sniffed it. "Odd-colored flower, yet it smells so sweet, like musk.   
These must be Calmag's famous musk roses. I have heard that they have strange   
healing capabilities, such as instantly healing wounds. I believe that if you   
squeeze the petals of these roses--"  
  
Frieza was not interested in roses at this moment. He interrupted   
quickly, "I have one Human fighter who is coming to Calmag with Balair's team.   
His name is Bhodie Lett, and for a Human, he fights fairly well. He was   
Balair's prize pupil. But enough now, I have important matters to attend to.   
Reccor, Alberm, you know what to do, I presume."  
  
"Yes, sire," both spies chorused. Alberm sniffed the neon-green   
rose appreciatively, inhaling the musk scent. The Calmagian men believed the   
musky scent of the roses to be an aphrodisiac, and they sniffed them often   
before mating with their wives.  
  
"Farewell," Frieza told both of the spies, as he cut off   
communication.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Alberm, after leaving Reccor, went into the royal castle through the   
banquet hall and asked a fat, white-skinned guard, which room that Princess   
Tayla was staying in.  
  
The Calmagian guard replied, "She is staying in the eastern guest   
suites, Lord Alberm, but she and her friends are in the castle drawing room at   
the moment." The guard scratched his nose, which was almost as large as   
Alberm's. Alberm quietly thanked the guard, and he left the puzzled guard   
behind, as he left the banquet hall. The guard was confused; why would Lord   
Alberm want to know where Princess Tayla was staying? Lord Alberm already had a   
wife, the Princess Caline. The guard shrugged it off; it was none of his   
concern.  
  
Alberm strolled down the gray and white brick corridors of the   
castle to the drawing room, which was elegantly decorated in navy-blue and gold.   
The walls in the drawing room were covered with gold damask, and the hardwood   
floors shone. The couches were capsule-shaped and gold, covered with a   
velvet-like material. Princess Tayla, Princess Caline, a little boy, and three   
other little girls were sitting on the strange couches, and Tayla was bragging   
about her grandmother and Dirkan to Caline.  
  
"…And when the evil Saiyan king, Dayrus, grew into a giant Oozaru,   
Nama and Dirkan were worried, but they didn't let it get to them. Dirkan kept   
firing eye lasers at the giant monkey while Nama managed to cut off his tail.   
Dayrus shrank back into just a regular Saiyan again, and Nama and Dirkan   
attacked him with their swords. Then Dayrus took Dirkan hostage and threatened   
to blast him into the next dimension, but Nama took her Sword of Chloe and   
chopped off Dayrus's head without a single thought!" Tayla was boasting to   
Caline. Caline's deep blue eyes were as wide as Tayla's. Caline placidly   
folded a handkerchief and listened to Tayla, amazed.  
  
"Have you ever had to fight Saiyans?" Caline asked softly.  
  
Tayla nodded. "Prince Vegeta and his two friends, Raditz and Nappa,   
came to kidnap me five years ago when I was just a little girl. They wanted to   
take me to Frieza to make me work for him, but I didn't want to go, so I fought   
them with my family's help."  
  
Riccan interrupted then, breaking into the conversation, with his   
mouth full. He really looked up to Tayla and tried to emulate her whenever he   
could. "Pappa told me how brave Tayla was, Caline! I saw some of the fighting   
myself before Tayla was kidnapped, and Tayla just went up behind Raditz and   
squeezed his tail 'til Raditz started screaming and crying! Aunt Marya told me   
that Tayla just walked right up to mean old Prince Vegeta and his pals and   
demanded that they let Aunt Marya go! Just like that. And then Great-Nama told   
me that if it weren't for Tayla, she wouldn't be alive right now! Tayla just   
jumped right in front of Prince Vegeta's ki blast and blasted it right back onto   
him with a Mirror Shield attack-"  
  
Caline herself interrupted then. "What's a Mirror Shield attack?"  
  
"A basic Astorian fighting technique," Tayla explained. She crossed   
her arms and wrists in proper Mirror Shield position. "When someone fires a ki   
blast at you, you put your arms and wrists in this position, and then you pull   
your arms back, like this-" she threw her arms and wrists to the sides-"and that   
deflects the ki blast back onto your enemy, causing him to be hit with his or   
her own attack." She relaxed her arms again.  
  
Lelina changed the subject; she was proud of her aunt, but she   
wanted to learn more about Tayla's new friend. "Excuse me, Princess Caline, but   
Tayla told me that you are already married. Is that true?"  
  
Caline's face grew paler than usual, and she nodded.  
  
"Is he good to you?" Veal asked, who herself would have already been   
married, had she still been living on planet Meat. Meatian girls could marry at   
age thirteen, and most of them were engaged before then. Caline's early   
marriage did not surprise Veal the way it did Tayla and the other Astorian   
children. Before Veal and her family had been forced to leave Meat, Veal's   
father, Steak, had already arranged for her to marry a boy, Tuna, who was five   
years older than she was. Veal had truly loved Tuna, and Steak had been one of   
the rare Meatian fathers who had been allowing her to marry for love; most   
Meatian fathers arranged marriages to build alliances between Meatian tribes and   
increase their fortunes. Tuna had died fighting the Saiyan invaders led by   
Bardock.  
  
Tayla was trying to find a way to change the subject back, as she   
noticed the paler-than-paler look on Caline's worried face. Tayla grew wary   
then, for she could sense Alberm's ki. Lelina, Riccan, and Veal grew cautious   
as well, and Lelina regretted bringing the subject up. Petalia, who had been   
embroidering, looked up and around the room, as she also sensed Alberm's ki.   
She also noticed the large bruise on Caline's arm.  
  
Petalia, who had not been born with a sense of tact, asked Caline,   
"Who gave you that bruise?"  
  
Caline felt faint, for she could sense Alberm's presence, if not his   
ki; she, like many non-fighting Calmagians, had no skill in ki manipulating or   
sensing.  
  
Alberm strolled into the room then, smiling warmly, but Tayla could   
see a cold, steely glint in his watery eyes. She narrowed her brown eyes at him   
and pressed closer to Caline, as if preparing to protect her from this menace.   
  
Alberm could feel Tayla looking right through him, and it chilled   
him that he was so transparent to her. Alberm gave an involuntary shudder;   
Tayla's intense hawk-like look unnerved him. He almost believed that she was   
reading his mind and his dirty, black heart and not liking what she was seeing.   
Princess Tayla was just a child; how could she worry him so? Then he   
knew why: he could sense the girl's great power, a power that he was certain   
that she wouldn't hesitate to use, if he committed evil in her presence.   
  
Tayla's brown eyes blackened, as they combined with her now-grim   
features into a warning expression, beckoning Alberm to back away at once.   
Alberm laughed nervously and quickly excused himself, as he fled the room with   
as much dignity as he could under Tayla's withering expression.  
  
Caline and the other children had felt the intensity and power of   
Tayla's dark glare, and it unnerved them too, but since it was not aimed at   
them, it did not frighten them, as much as it had Alberm.  
  
They were all relieved, however, when Tayla's disapproving look   
faded back into its normal pleasant, gentle appearance.  
  
Tayla rested a small hand on Caline's snowy arm to reassure her, as   
she said softly, "I could feel his true nature; he is so evil, so black of   
heart, and yet he fears me."  
  
"Of course he would," Riccan chirped, breaking the solemn mood. "He's just a   
fat man. You could turn him into clay if you wanted to! I don't like him one   
bit. Is that Caline's husband?"  
  
"Yes, Riccan," Tayla answered quietly.  
  
Riccan turned to Caline and took her hand into his small, meaty one.   
"Tayla and I will beat him up, if you want us to."  
  
"Riccan," Tayla said warningly. "We are not going to create any   
more trouble than necessary. We don't want to endanger Caline or our people by   
attacking Alberm without good cause in their eyes."  
  
"But he's mean, Tayla," Riccan protested, "I know that he is, and   
I've just seen him once. He's the one who gave Caline that bruise, wasn't he?"  
  
Caline nodded fearfully, and Tayla whispered, "It's going to be   
okay, Caline, we'll find a way to protect you from him."  
  
"No one can protect me from him," Caline said, trembling now. "He   
is my husband, and I am his property."  
  
"You aren't anyone's property," Riccan said fiercely, releasing   
Caline's hand and balling up his small, red fists. "No one is anyone's   
property; you're not a slave. If you were my wife, I wouldn't treat you like he   
does!" Tayla had not told him, or the others about Alberm abusing Caline, but   
they could all sense Caline's fear of him, and they disliked him.   
  
Caline smiled shyly at him, and Riccan's heart melted. The shy   
Calmagian princess kissed the bold little boy Astorian prince on his ruddy   
cheek. Riccan's face reddened and a sly, almost-manlike grin spread across his   
face.  
  
"I have to go to the lavatory," she whispered softly, "I'll be back   
soon." Tayla followed behind her to the girls' lavatory that was down the hall   
from the drawing room. When both girls had left the room, the other girls   
started teasing Riccan:  
  
"Riccan likes Caline!" Petalia squealed with a grin.  
  
Lelina said slyly, with a tiny grin unlike her, "Riccan's chasing a   
married lady!" She didn't seem to be at all scandalized since Caline was just a   
child and seemed too young to be married.  
  
Veal just giggled. Riccan blushed; he really did have a crush on   
Caline. 


	40. Vegeta and Diamonique

Chapter Forty: Vegeta and Diamonique  
  
Planet Calmag, one thousand miles away from Magan  
  
Three small ships that were not the same as the Saiyan pods were now   
resting among the Calmagian Mountains of Ensley, a vast mountain range. The   
ships were shiny metal and conical shaped, and one ship had brought Zarbon's   
team here, and the other ship had Vegeta's team. The third ship held Balair and   
Dodoria's team. They had decided to split up tomorrow and not wait for the   
fourth and fifth teams, which would have the Ginyu Force and the low-levels.   
Tonight, they were camping in the mountains, awaiting further instructions from   
Frieza.  
  
And one mile away from the other Elite fighters, were a young   
humanoid couple who had excused themselves, presumably to scout the area for   
trouble, but everyone knew better, for the two involved were from different   
teams. This couple was now lying side by side in a cave that the young man had   
found. His long, furry tail brushed against his partner's slender   
peaches-and-ice thigh.  
  
"Mmmm," Diamonique purred happily, as she ran her deadly diamond   
nails along Prince Vegeta's bare, muscular chest. "You're like a fine wine; you   
get better with time!" They had just finished mating, and they were ready to go   
for another round. Both of them were completely nude.  
  
Vegeta chuckled wickedly. He didn't care about Diamonique much, but   
she knew how to please him. He bit her shoulder hard and licked where he had   
bitten. Diamonique pressed her bluish lips to Vegeta's mouth and slipped her   
whitish tongue inside his mouth, savoring the flavor of him. She pressed   
herself against him and threw a peachy-blue leg over his well-developed thigh.  
  
"Who ever thought that a boy could please me so much!" she whispered   
delightedly.  
  
Vegeta narrowed his coal eyes slightly, and his lips twisted into a wry grin.   
"I am no boy; I have been a man for a long time. You should have known that."  
Diamonique giggled. "I knew that, silly little prince!" she laughed in a   
throaty voice. She grinned slyly. "I wonder what your father would think of   
you having a Gemstarian mate! I wouldn't be such a bad match, you know, for I   
am Gemstarian nobility! I'd bear you strong sons to reign in your stead."  
  
Vegeta was puzzled, as Diamonique rolled on top of him and thrust   
her slender hands into his thick, wiry hair. She whispered in his ear, "I have   
decided to take you as my mate permanently! You will become the father of my   
children; my uncle, who is the King of Gemstar now, would be greatly pleased!"   
She began nibbling on his collarbone and whispered, "What shall we name the   
firstborn?"  
  
Vegeta slid away from Diamonique carefully. His face was marked   
with his familiar scowl, and his black eyes were dark and cold. "Diamonique, I   
have no intention of taking you as my permanent mate. Have you not forgotten   
that our dear Lord Frieza put on no-procreation order on all Saiyans? It   
infuriates me, but until he decides otherwise, I cannot go against it."   
  
Actually, Vegeta was really waiting until he could become stronger   
than Frieza, so he could destroy him. Vegeta had no plans to take a mate and   
sire children anytime soon, even with Frieza's no-procreation order, which   
Frieza put on some of the more powerful fighters that could create stronger   
children than him. Raditz and Journa (who were still secretly meeting, despite   
Vegeta's orders) had been angered that Frieza could decide whether or not they   
could have children, not that Journa would have consented to have a child   
anyway, for she had vowed that no "brat" of hers would ever work for Frieza.  
  
"And what would be wrong with me as a permanent mate?" Diamonique   
asked edgily. "We would be perfect for each other. It is not like there are   
any female Saiyans left alive that you could mate with anyway, unless you plan   
to take your own sister as your woman."  
  
Vegeta snarled at such an idea. He told Diamonique icily, "Saiyans do not   
commit incest. Neither Nappa nor Raditz are particularly worthy of her as her   
mate, but I'd rather have her be with at least Nappa. As for you and I, we are   
only lovers, not mates; it is not the same thing, for we do not share any bond.   
You knew that when we had started mating with each other that there would be   
nothing more than that."  
  
Diamonique was normally not one to beg, but her lust for her young   
Saiyan lover was starting to become something more, and she wanted Vegeta to be   
the father of her children. A Prince from any strong race would bring much   
status and rank to any Gemstarian woman. The last time she had visited her home   
planet of Gemstar, her uncle had hinted that it was time for Diamonique to take   
a husband and have children. Diamonique knew that he was right, for Gemstarian   
women could only have children up until their late thirties, and most   
Gemstarians only lived into their fifties. The Gemstarians were not a   
long-lived race, despite their powers. Diamonique was considered too old for a   
mate now by many Gemstarian men; most Gemstarian females married when they   
between the ages of twelve and eighteen years old. Most Gemstarian men also   
considered Eclipse too old, and Mahogany was only eighteen, but already her   
chances of taking a mate were becoming slim, despite her great beauty and   
intelligence. Mahogany and Eclipse had signed the usual three-year contracts   
with the Ginyu Force, but their contracts would soon expire, and Mahogany knew   
that if she wanted a husband, she could not sign up for another three-year term.   
Eclipse and Mahogany knew that their Ginyu Girl roles brought them great status   
and power among the Gemstarians, and that they would have to use that advantage   
to increase their somewhat slimmer chances of obtaining a husband.   
  
Anyone working for Lord Frieza automatically had enormous esteem and   
respect among the Gemstarian people, and many Gemstarian women aspired to become   
Ginyu Girls or possibly even warriors. Gemstarian men who served Lord Frieza   
were held in high regard, and they were greatly sought after as mates.  
  
Diamonique knew that her time was running out, and her biological   
clock was ticking. She had to take a mate soon, and although there were still   
some Gemstarian men who would marry her because of her position as one of   
Frieza's Top Elite officers, she preferred young Vegeta because of his royal   
status. Gemstar had once been an ally of planet Vegeta, and before planet   
Vegeta's demise, the Saiyan king had been talking about encouraging Saiyans and   
Gemstarians to interbreed with each other. The Gemstarian king had been quite   
welcome to this, as there were an enormous surplus of Gemstarian women for   
Saiyan men to have as their mates. The Saiyans, however, had been hesitant   
about that because they normally preferred to take Astorian women, if they had   
to mate outside of their race. Astorian women were favored over Gemstarian   
women as mates for Saiyans because of their longevity, strength, power, and   
reputation for producing strong warrior children. In comparison, Gemstarian   
women were short-lived, a great disadvantage for a Saiyan, who could live up to   
be two hundred years old.  
  
But Diamonique was descended from the strongest class of   
Gemstarians, the Diamondian Tribe, the Elite class of the race, the nobility and   
royalty combined in one group. The Diamondians were the longest-lived,   
strongest, and most powerful of the Gemstarian race. Eclipse and Mahogany were   
also considered Diamondians, despite their mixed blood. Twenty years ago,   
Mahogany's father, who was a powerful Diamondian warrior, had captured a small   
Calmagian ship the size of a Saiyan pod. This pod had contained one of Queen   
Kildara of Calmag's young Astorian maids, who had become so homesick that she   
had been released from her vows and sent home to Astoria. The maid, however,   
had never made it home to Astoria, nor did she ever see her home planet again,   
for Mahogany's father had taken the maid as his captive and made her his bride.   
The maid, who later became Mahogany's mother, had slowly grown to love her   
captor/husband, and she was now the happy mother of five half-Gemstarian,   
half-Astorian children, with Mahogany being the second oldest and most petted.   
  
Diamonique thought that Vegeta was foolish to turn her down and that   
her noble blood should be reason enough alone for him to take her as his   
permanent mate. "Vegeta," she told the young prince patiently, as if he were a   
child, "I am of noble blood, of Elite class status, of the strongest Gemstarian   
race, and that alone should be a good reason for you to take me as your mate.   
We are perfect for each other, and I know that, as a Saiyan of the Elite class,   
you can give me strong children who will become warriors. My uncle would be   
greatly pleased to have the Prince of all Saiyans marry into the Diamondian   
tribe of Gemstar. I want you to marry me, Prince, and come home with me to   
Gemstar next month."  
  
Vegeta looked at Diamonique, as if she were insane. "Diamonique, I   
am not interested in you as a wife or mate, and I do not wish to have children   
with you. We do not have the bond required to become mates, and I cannot afford   
to take a mate right now anyway. I must accomplish my goals of becoming   
stronger than Frieza, of becoming the strongest in the universe, and of becoming   
a Super Saiyan. Those are the only things that truly matter to me, and nothing   
else is important to me. We are lovers, and it will never be any more than   
that," he finished, without the slightest trace of regret or apology.  
  
Diamonique seethed, "You were just using me then, is that it?"  
  
Vegeta snorted, "You were using me as well. You certainly had no   
problems with using my young body and exuberance for your pleasure. If I had   
known that you would demand more, I would not have continued coupling with you.   
This is our last night together, unless you wish to drop the idea of trying to   
make our mating anymore than what it truly is."  
  
Diamonique was now furious; she had been truly hoping to take Vegeta as her   
mate. She did not love him, but she thought that he would be a good, strong   
partner and provider. And his title as a Prince was alone enough reason for   
Diamonique to desire him. She was also obsessed with his body and his wonderful   
lovemaking, which could be either extremely tender, or rough and bold. How dare   
he turn her down, she, Diamonique of the Diamondian Tribe of Gemstar? There   
were still many men who wanted her for a mate, even at her age, men who would do   
anything to marry into the Elite Gemstarian tribe, and Vegeta had the nerve to   
turn her down! She gnashed her crystal teeth together.  
  
"You are a fool to turn me down," she told Vegeta icily.  
  
Vegeta's scowl deepened. "Hmmph!" he snorted. He stood up, cold   
and distant, and began to put his clothes and armor back on. He had enough with   
Diamonique. He did not care about her, except as someone to give him pleasure.   
She should have known better than to expect to be any more than that.  
  
"Goodnight," he told her coldly, as he began to leave. Diamonique   
angrily blasted a rock formation, shattering it into thousands of cold, gray   
pieces. Vegeta would pay for rejecting her! She clenched her small fists,   
with the deadly diamond nails piercing the flesh, making it bleed.  
  
"Bastard monkey prince!" she whispered into the warm Calmagian   
night, hating him.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Why didn't we insist that some of the Ginyu Girls come in our ship,   
instead of coming in Captain Ginyu's ship?" Dodoria whined, as the other Top   
Elite officers began setting up base camp.  
  
"'Cause Captain Ginyu, that posing fool, insisted on teaching the   
Girls a new cheerleading routine before they landed on Calmag," Balair grumbled.   
"I don't see what the point is of Ginyu's foolish poses! He and his men look   
like clowns and pretty boys every time they perform them. One of these days,   
someone is going to kill them while they play rock, paper, and scissors to   
decide who gets to pose first. Idiots, all of the Ginyu Force!"  
  
Dodoria greedily chewed on the leg of an animal that he had just killed and   
roasted with a ki blast. With his mouth full, he asked, "Isn't Bhodie, your   
former pupil, talking about joining the Ginyu Force?"  
  
"Yeah," Balair admitted, "but I'm trying to talk him out of it. I'd   
rather see him dead than see him become one of those dancing pretty boys in the   
Ginyu Force. If he gets into the Force, I'll blast him; he's been my best   
student yet, and I don't want him learning stupid poses and dances when he needs   
to be killing off his opponents. You know that they now have a new guy who just   
made it in, but he's a four-eyed weakling from planet Bas. What are so great   
about those Basins anyway? Basins, like this Guido, are a weakling race."   
  
Dodoria offered Balair a leg from the animal he had killed, and   
Balair accepted it, chomping down on it greedily. He and Dodoria both chewed   
with their mouth open, and between mouthfuls, they both belched loudly and   
laughed. He and Dodoria both had the worst table manners of Frieza's Top Elite   
officers, and the other Top Elite officers usually tried to avoid watching them   
eat whenever possible.  
  
"They're weak, all right," Dodoria agreed, his mouth full, "but they   
have a unique talent that makes them able to take down stronger opponents.   
Guido, like most Basins, can make time stop, just by holding his breath. Time   
stops in the area he's in, for as long as he can hold his breath."  
  
Balair nearly choked on his food. He spat it out and cried, "Are   
you serious?"  
  
"As Lord Frieza when he plans to blow up a planet," Dodoria   
answered. "That's the only reason that Guido made it into the Ginyu Force,   
other than his poses, which also impressed Ginyu. If it hadn't been for that   
little talent, Ginyu would have made soufflé out of Guido." He gave Balair half   
of the animal he had killed, without offering it to the other Elite officers.  
  
Diamonique returned to the group, red-faced and angry. Balair   
smirked when he saw her. "What's the matter, Diamonique? Vegeta got your tongue-or that special something between your legs?" he asked crudely.  
  
Diamonique responded to that by decimating Balair's half of   
Dodoria's prey with a single ki blast. Balair's meal was now a pile of black   
ash. Balair snarled at Diamonique, "What the hell was that about?"  
  
"None of your business!" Diamonique snapped at him.  
  
"Temper, temper, Diamonique," Dodoria said easily, with his mouth   
once again full. "No lover's spat with a Saiyan is worth ruining a good meal.   
I'm sure that next week, your monkey prince will be eating out of your hands   
again."  
  
"I am through with him," Diamonique hissed. "I can do better than a   
mere monkey! I am Lady Diamonique of the Diamondian Tribe of Gemstar, and I can   
have anyone that I wish!"  
  
"Except for Vegeta," Balair sneered. Diamonique shot him a look   
that was powerful enough to blow up Calmag. Balair just laughed out loud,   
spitting pieces of food everywhere. Diamonique looked at the Sistrai warrior   
and his poor table manners in disgust.  
  
Jaden and Chestra watched the entire scene, amused. Jaden whispered   
to Chestra, "About time he dumped that twat!" She and Chestra were eating some   
fish that they had caught, with Chestra eating daintily and Jaden eating   
greedily. Jaden did not have Chestra's fine table manners, but hers were much   
better than Dodoria's or Balair's.   
  
Chestra looked at Jaden, amazed. "I didn't think that you were that   
concerned about Vegeta's welfare," she whispered back.  
  
"I'm not," Jaden snorted, "but I do respect the boy, and I think he   
can do much better than Diamonique. Ah well, at least she's initiated him into   
manhood. I'd hate to see a former pupil of mine end up eating out of   
Diamonique's diamond-encrusted hands. I'd have to kill Vegeta, if he ever   
thought of taking that woman to be his mate."  
  
Chestra said quietly, "I doubt that happens. Vegeta is more   
concerned with training and becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe   
than he is about taking a mate. He is very handsome though, and strong and   
powerful. Too arrogant and foul-tempered for me, however."  
  
"His attitude can be amusing at times," Jaden stated. "I've had to   
keep myself from laughing every time he mouths off to Frieza. I would say that   
he picked it up from me, but he had that attitude long before King Vegeta and   
Frieza gave him to me to train. I've known him since he was six years old, and   
even then he was a conceited little snot. But then you have to admire someone   
who can be impertinent towards Frieza and live to tell the tale."  
  
"That's true," Chestra admitted. "I myself had to keep from   
laughing when Vegeta talks back to someone. He does have wit, if not charm. It   
will take a strong woman with a strong will to handle him someday."  
  
"A strong woman with a strong will that Vegeta won't kill first,"   
Jaden added.  
  
  
  
  
  
Vegeta came back to where Journa, Raditz and Nappa were sitting.   
Vegeta and Nappa had just started talking to Raditz again, and Vegeta was only   
now starting to be civil towards Journa again. Journa and Raditz straightened   
themselves and stood up to greet their Prince, along with Nappa. Nappa had a   
huge, lascivious grin on his handsome face.  
  
"So how was your 'scouting' with Diamonique? Find any trouble, or   
did you make any, Prince?" Nappa asked slyly.  
  
"I won't be 'scouting' with Diamonique anymore," Vegeta told him.   
"The Gemstarian woman and I are through."  
  
"Thank the Kais," Journa whispered to Raditz, for she greatly   
disliked Diamonique and thought that her brother could do better than that   
Gemstarian whore.  
  
Nappa asked, "What happened?"  
  
"She expected more than what I was willing to give," Vegeta said   
shortly. "That is all that you need to know."  
  
Nappa smirked. "So I guess you're going back to the Ginyu Girls,   
eh, Prince?"  
  
Vegeta grinned finally, forgetting Diamonique quickly. "Perhaps. I   
have not visited the Ginyu Girls for some time…have there been any new ones?"   
Vegeta did not usually take time out for women, even when he had been having an   
affair with Diamonique, but even he had to satisfy his urges now and then.  
  
Nappa nodded. "There are two new ones: Orlana, from planet Hycan,   
and Forlani, from planet Papillion. Forlani is a sweet, luscious thing with   
large pink and gold butterfly wings and long, red-black hair. She's no Eclipse,   
but she is a toothsome creature. Orlana is also lovely with large pink eyes,   
long pink hair and yellow skin. She's a cute thing for her species, but it's   
unlikely that she'd be mating-compatible with a Saiyan. There is however,   
Mahogany, and you know her. She's been with the Girls for a while, but I think   
that she'd be perfect for you."  
  
Vegeta snorted. "She is a beauty, but she is Diamonique's cousin   
and has Astorian blood. Those reasons alone would be enough to deter me."   
Vegeta hated the reputation for Saiyan males' desiring of Astorian women-and it   
was all because of that weakling great-uncle of his, King Dayrus. The Saiyans   
that had occupied Astoria many years ago had gained the entire Saiyan race a   
reputation for raping women, particularly Astorian women. His father, King   
Vegeta, had told his son that when the Saiyans had come to Chloe years ago for   
the summit at the Temple of Chloe, the Astorians had feared the Saiyans' sexual   
appetites and had ordered the more desirable women to stay in hiding.  
  
Vegeta, like his father, had thought that the Astorians had been   
ridiculously paranoid, for not every Saiyan male was looking for force himself   
upon an Astorian woman; he certainly wasn't. Vegeta was not always gentle in   
his lovemaking, but he had never raped a woman. Vegeta didn't believe in   
forcing himself on a woman; he didn't want a woman who did not at least desire   
him in return. Even, he, as cold and inconsiderate as he was, enjoyed sex more   
when his partner was enjoying the coupling as much as he did.  
  
Vegeta chuckled lightly, and then he grew serious again. "Maybe   
I'll pay them a visit when Ginyu gets around to bringing them here. Nappa, I   
want you to contact Ginyu and inform him to have one or two girls   
available-humanoid girls. Maybe I will try out this Mahogany, after all; she'd   
probably be a satisfying creature despite her Astorian blood."  
  
Nappa grinned. "Yes, Prince."  
  
Vegeta turned to the other two Saiyans. "Journa and Raditz, it is   
time for all of us to retire. You two are not to sleep within close proximity   
of each other, is that clear? Raditz, I am keeping one eye on you," he said,   
his voice full of deadly warning.  
  
Raditz was about to say something in anger, but Journa's eyes   
silently pleaded with him not to make things worse. They both grudgingly   
agreed, and all of the Saiyans retired for bed. 


	41. Jaden's Brilliant Plan

Chapter Forty-One: Jaden's Brilliant Plan  
  
The next morning, the mountains of Ensley  
  
Jaden was the first to wake up; she had always been an early riser,   
and Rybanese warriors only needed five hours of sleep a night. Jaden quietly   
nudged Chestra and Zarbon, who were sleeping nearby, with their arms and legs   
wrapped around each other.  
  
"Hey, wake up!" she urged the sleeping couple in a whisper. Chestra   
and Zarbon grudgingly awoke, for neither one of them was the natural early riser   
that Jaden was. When she was certain that the two were awake, I continued, "I   
have a plan."  
  
"What's that?" Chestra asked, sleepily, her cheek pressed against   
Zarbon's green hair.  
  
"We go find some Calmagian royal police officers," Jaden answered,   
"and then we allow them to arrest us. Their paralyzing powers have no effect on   
any of us five, so we needn't worry about that."  
  
"How come?" Chestra murmured.  
  
Zarbon explained, "Remember when Frieza insisted that all of those   
going to Calmag have those special immunizations, my dear? Well, the special   
formulas in those shots have made us immune to the Calmagians' paralyzing   
abilities. I see what Jaden is saying: if we allow the Calmagian royal police   
to arrest us, they will take us directly to the Calmagian investigators because   
we are on Calmag illegally. The investigators will then take us to the king and   
his advisors to have our fates decided, and then we can attack the important   
Calmagians and Astorians-and capture Princess Tayla."  
  
"You've got it," Jaden told Zarbon approvingly. "And I just   
happened to hear the voices of some Calmagian soldiers in these mountains. One   
of them admitted that they were Calmagian royal police officers." Rybanese   
could hear almost as well as Meatians could, hearing things many hundreds of   
miles away when they wanted to.  
  
"Let's go then!" Chestra piped up, now fully awake. She stood up,   
with Zarbon following her.  
  
"Chestra, will you wake up Crystalis and Pork?" Jaden asked, rubbing   
the grit from her yellow eyes. "We won't wake anyone else; just our group is   
plenty."  
  
Chestra quickly shook Crystalis and Pork awake, and both Lower-Elite   
officers struggled to their feet. Pork, the Meatian, rubbed his electric-blue   
eyes that matched his bright blue hair. Chestra smiled warmly at her two first   
students; Crystalis, twenty years old, had been her first, and Pork, sixteen,   
had been her second. The other Top Elite officers, even Zarbon and Jaden,   
thought that Chestra was too "gentle" with her recruits, but for Chestra's first   
two times at training recruits, she had not done too badly. Crystalis and Pork   
had made it into the Elite by the skin of their teeth, but they were in, and   
they could advance, particularly Pork. Having a recruit make into the Elite was   
every trainer's hope because it reflected well on them, and Frieza would hold   
the trainer in high regard. Having a recruit make it into Top Elite, however,   
was the crowning achievement of any trainer.  
  
Pork greatly missed his family, which Frieza had told him died. To   
this day, Frieza did not know that Chestra and Jaden had helped Pork's Meatian   
family escape; Jaden had reported to Frieza that the Meatians had been executed   
during an escape attempt. Frieza had simply accepted her explanation, and to   
her and Chestra's eternal relief, had not inquired further.   
  
Frieza, on Balair's recommendation, had decided to spare the Meatian lad because   
of the boy's stamina and speed, and Chestra and Jaden had not been able to   
smuggle him out of Frieza's clutches. Pork had been assigned to Chestra, a   
woman that he still had a minor crush on, even though she told him that she   
already had a mate. Pork was unaware that his family was on Calmag at the   
moment, and Jaden and Zarbon had told Chestra not to tell him at this moment.   
Jaden and Zarbon liked the boy, but they were still uncertain of him, even   
though Pork had pledged allegiance to Frieza.  
  
Crystalis, Princess Journa's friend and roommate, had been a slave   
like Chestra. Crystalis was not as physically strong as most of the Elite, but   
she possessed some odd abilities that made up for her lack of brute strength.   
She was from planet Espica, and slave traders from there had captured her and   
her family. The slavers had sold her to the Sistrai, which later sold her to   
Frieza at a very low price. Crystalis' family had been killed, and Frieza had   
destroyed her planet shortly after the Espican slavers had sold her to the   
Sistrai. Frieza had considered the girl worthless until he found out about her   
peculiar abilities: reading minds of those she touched with one hundred percent   
accuracy, and even more unique: the ability to gain the fighting abilities,   
fighting knowledge and ki attacks of anyone that she touched.   
  
For example, if she touched a Saiyan, she would automatically obtain   
the ability to turn Oozaru; if she touched a Sistrai, she would gain the ability   
to liquefy and vaporize herself. The only drawback to this bizarre gift was   
that it only lasted for three hours at a time; after that time, the effect would   
wear off, and Crystalis would lose those abilities. The latter talent had been   
the main reason she had been accepted into the Elite; if it had been based on   
her brute strength and ordinary ki attacks, she would have only qualified to be   
a low-level. Chestra, the Top Elite officer assigned to train her, had   
discovered that strange knack of Crystalis's when Crystalis had accidentally   
blown up a small moon, using Chestra's power of telekinesis. Balair, who   
normally would not have thought much of someone so much weaker than him, had   
been shocked when Crystalis had been able to vaporize herself after pushing him   
away to keep him from bullying her. Crystalis could only gain their powers by   
touching them; it would not work if they touched her. She could not control   
this rare power either, for she would obtain new powers and techniques during   
touching even if she didn't want to. Most of the Elite, and even Frieza   
himself, avoided Crystalis whenever it was possible that she would touch them.   
They really had little to fear, for Crystalis was too shy and timid towards most   
of the Elite fighters to try to use their powers against them. She had few   
friends, with Chestra, Pork and Princess Journa among them. Even Vegeta and   
Balair, who were usually mean towards her, kept a safe distance from her   
whenever they could, even though they could still kill her if they wanted.   
  
Jaden and Zarbon tolerated her, as long as she did not touch them.   
Chestra had talked them into taking Crystalis with them because she thought that   
the Espican girl would be useful by obtaining the Astorian and Calmagian powers   
needed to defeat both races.  
  
Pork smiled warmly at Crystalis; he liked her, for she was like an older sister   
to him. He was one of the few males who could see past Crystalis's hideous   
looks. "Looking forward to this?" he asked her, a bit excitedly.  
  
"I-I think so," Crystalis stammered. "Are you?"  
  
Pork nodded; he had been at an impressionable age when I had given   
him to Chestra to train, and he had been an obedient and willing recruit. He   
thought that his family had perished, so Frieza's forces had, in a way, become   
his new family. He felt guilty about the lives he had taken so far, but those   
in higher authority than him had managed to brainwash him for the most part.   
Pork was a good fighter, but he, like Crystalis, was too afraid to confront the   
higher Elite officers and Frieza directly. It was easier to go along with what   
they wanted than to oppose them.  
  
Jaden and Zarbon allowed everyone to have a quick breakfast, which   
consisted of freeze-dried eggs, sausages, ham and grape juice. After they ate,   
they followed Jaden, flying through the mountains until they came up the   
Calmagian Royal Police, better known as the CRP.  
  
"How will we get ourselves arrested, Commander Jaden?" Pork asked.  
  
"Just follow my lead, boy," Jaden told him, chewing a piece of rock   
to sharpen her teeth. She spat the rock out and flew down from the sky to   
confront the largest, most powerful CRP officer. The others followed behind   
her. The Calmagian officers were dressed in blue, stiff uniforms trimmed with   
gold belts and buttons, and they wore golden leather boots on their feet.  
  
The officer was muscular, brown-haired and gray-eyed. Jaden   
wrinkled her nose in disgust, for the CRP officer had not bathed in weeks, and   
she could tell.  
  
The CRP officer spoke in a sharp tone, "Your papers? Where are your   
alien's visas?"  
  
Jaden grinned evilly. "We don't need any."  
  
"You do, if you wish to prevent arrest. What planet are you from?   
On whose authority are you here on?"  
  
"On whose authority do you have to be asking these questions?" Jaden   
asked him curtly, but keeping that same wicked smile, which showed her sharp,   
pointed teeth.  
  
"The King's authority, of course! I am Lieutenant Balboun of the   
Calmagian Royal Police! Who sent you here? Is this king expecting any of you?"   
He gestured to the crowd of ten other CRP officers, who surrounded the group.   
All of them pulled out high-tech laser guns and pointed them at the group.  
  
The invaders looked unfazed, except for Pork and Crystalis. Chestra   
spoke up coolly, "Is this how you normally welcome visitors to your planet?   
Such warm hospitality."  
  
"Answer the questions, woman!" Lieutenant Balboun snapped sharply.  
  
"We don't answer questions," Zarbon told the lieutenant silkily.   
"We give them. And we want to know why you need to treat us in such a manner?   
You Calmagians must have very poor manners."  
  
One of the Calmagian guards dared to approach Chestra and squeeze   
her buttocks. "Luscious thing, aren't you?" the guard, who was three times   
Chestra's age and ten times as ugly, leered. "I'll be happy to question you,   
myself." Another guard, young and skinny and buck-toothed, grabbed Chestra's   
breast and licked her ear.  
  
He wrapped a meaty arm around her and pulled her close to him.   
Zarbon saw the scene and before Chestra could react, he fired a ki blast at the   
lascivious guard, ripping off his arm. The guard howled in pain, as Chestra   
swiftly broke the hand of the guard that had licked her ear and touched her   
breast. She then used her mind to fling him into a cliff, breaking a few limbs,   
but not killing him.  
  
"Paralyze them!" Lieutenant Balboun ordered.  
  
The guards tried, but Crystalis touched two of them and gained their   
paralyzing abilities, and the other guards could not harm the other invaders.   
Their paralyzing powers had no effect on the intruders. Jaden broke the necks   
of two of the guards, and Zarbon broke the back of a third. Pork and Crystalis   
were able to disable, but not kill the other guards; Chestra eventually killed   
them off herself. In a few minutes, only one guard and the lieutenant were   
alive. The laser guns had had no effect on the invaders, for the lasers could   
not even injure them.  
  
Lieutenant Balboun pulled out a radio and called for more soldiers.   
Before the invaders from Frieza knew it, dozens more CRP officers came scurrying   
out of the mountains. Zarbon whispered something to his comrades, and they all   
mutually agreed.  
  
"We surrender," Zarbon told him quietly, putting up both of his   
hands. The others did the same.  
  
The CRP officers pointed their laser guns at the invaders.   
"Lieutenant, what should we do with these troublemakers?" an officer asked.  
  
Balboun stated, "Arrest them; they will pay for their crimes against   
the Calmagian people. The king will probably want to meet these usurpers before   
they are executed."  
  
Jaden grinned at the others, and Zarbon and Chestra grinned back.   
These Calmagians were idiots; did they not know whom they were dealing with?   
Jaden smirked; she couldn't wait until these Calmagians found out they were   
members of Frieza's Elite forces. Of course, by the time that happened, not   
much of Calmag would be left standing.  
  
"And I thought the Egimarians of planet Egimari were missing a few   
bolts," Chestra whispered gleefully. "I thank the Kais that they did not endow   
this race with brains."  
  
Zarbon chuckled wickedly, "Fools, all of them."  
  
Pork and Crystalis were shaken, but Chestra hastily assured them in   
a whisper, "Don't worry, you did fine. We want them to arrest us, because they   
are going to take us right to the Astorians, and they don't even know it yet."   
Chestra smiled confidently.  
  
"I can't wait to see the looks on the other Top Elite officers'   
faces when they found out they we are way ahead of them in the gain," Jaden   
laughed. "By the time the others figure out what we have done, Calmag and the   
Princess Tayla will be ours."  
  
"Careful, Jaden," Zarbon cautioned her, although he was feeling as   
confident as she was. He couldn't wait to rub this in the faces of Balair,   
Dodoria, and Captain Ginyu, but he knew that the war had only started. "We   
don't want to count our corpses before they're buried."  
  
"True," Jaden admitted, "but you have to admit, things are going to   
a great start."  
  
The CRP officers put restraining handcuffs on the wrists of Jaden and Zarbon's   
team. They knew about these restraining cuffs, but they also knew that the   
cuffs were not powerful to hold them; they could break out of them anytime that   
they wanted, even Pork and Crystalis. A cruiser flew to the mountains and   
landed before the opposing sides. The CRP officers led Jaden and the others   
onto the cruiser into holding cells on that ship. They locked the invaders in a   
small, cramped cell with no light.  
  
The police cruiser flew off into the blue-gray Calmagian sky over   
the mountains.  
  
  
  
  
  
Balair and Dodoria were furious when they woke up and found Jaden   
and Zarbon's team missing.  
  
"They went on ahead of us!" Balair hissed. "I told you, Dodoria,   
that we should have gotten up earlier! No telling where they went now!"  
  
"Relax, will you, Balair?" Dodoria snapped. "They couldn't have   
made it very far." He kicked Bhodie Lett awake, and Bhodie struggled to his   
feet.  
  
"What's going on?" Bhodie asked, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.  
  
"We've got to go," Balair told him curtly. "Wake up Diamonique."  
Diamonique was already awake, but she was taking her time getting ready,   
brushing her icy blue and silver hair. "What's going on?" she asked, annoyed.  
  
"Jaden and Zarbon took their team and went ahead of us," Balair told   
her angrily. "I ought to break their necks! How did they manage to get such a   
head start?" He was in a grouchy mood, and he had no feminine body to help ease   
it; Frieza had forbidden him to take Farla with him to Calmag.  
  
Vegeta, not of Balair's team, floated down from the sky and landed   
on the dusty ground. He smirked at Balair and Dodoria, with his tail wrapped   
firmly around his waist.  
  
Vegeta chuckled maliciously. "All of you are fools, but then that's   
nothing new. I was up before anyone here, and Jaden and her team allowed the   
Calmagians to arrest them. I have already sent Nappa, Raditz and Journa ahead   
to follow them. In no time, they will reach Princess Tayla's location. Jaden's   
plan was brilliant, I'll give her that, but there is one advantage that we   
Saiyans have over her and the others. We even have this advantage over you."  
  
Balair snapped, "And just what would that be, Prince?"  
  
Vegeta laughed triumphantly, showing his perfect teeth. "We are the   
only ones who know what Princess Tayla looks like."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Captain Ginyu and his men were on their own private ship, a   
comfortable luxury ship, courtesy of Frieza. They had already entered Calmag's   
atmosphere, and now they were looking for a place to land.  
  
While Ginyu's pilot, Naborki, from the same planet as Jeice (unlike   
Jeice, he had green skin and black hair, but he resembled him), was trying to   
find a good place to land without attracting the attention of the residents of   
Calmag, Ginyu, his men and his Ginyu Girls were practicing their poses.  
  
Captain Ginyu had become obsessed with ballet-like poses, his   
favorites including arabesque positions and plies. The Ginyu fighters danced   
merrily around the ship, each with a Ginyu Girl in his arms.  
  
Finally Ginyu ordered his men to release the girls and practice   
their introductory poses.  
  
Guido was first. He posed upside down, balancing on one finger, with his other   
limbs in the air. He twirled about in the air on one thick finger and shouted   
triumphantly, "Guido!"  
  
The Ginyu Girls cheered and clapped, and Eclipse, Forlani, and   
Mahogany held up signs with single numbers on them. "I give that one   
a-six-point-five," Eclipse declared, holding up her scorecard.  
  
Jeice was next, as he twirled about like a ballerina. He then   
stopped and spread his arms and legs out in an X pose, with his white hair   
flowing in the air. "Jeice!"  
  
The Ginyu Girls cheered again, with Forlani declaring that one an eight (she   
harbored a minor crush on Jeice). Jeice blew kisses to all of the Ginyu Girls.  
Baata, Reccoom and Ginyu showed off their poses next, one after another, each   
gaining a higher score than the others before him.  
  
"Our poses are great, no matter how many times we do them!" Jeice   
declared happily.  
  
Mahogany was pleased, but quiet and thoughtful. She was the most intelligent of   
all of the ten Ginyu Girls, even Eclipse, in people smarts as well as book   
smarts. She liked the Ginyu Force tremendously, but she secretly thought that   
they needed to spend more time on their training instead of their latest posing   
styles. She wisely kept her thoughts to herself, however.  
  
There were six other Girls besides her, Eclipse, Orlana, and Forlani: Miracle,   
Azure, Gira, Lark, Clover and Swallowtail. The other Girls had, like her and   
Eclipse, been selected for their beauty, intelligence, talent and grace.   
Swallowtail was a Papillonian like Forlani, Miracle and Azure were singers, Gira   
was an alien who could shape-shift into any form a male wanted, and Clover and   
Lark were professional dancers.  
  
Naborki called out to Ginyu, "Prepare to land on Calmag!"  
  
The Ginyu Force and the Ginyu Girls cheered until the ship started   
to shake violently, as if an unseen voice had taken the craft in its hand.  
  
"System failure!" Naborki cried. "Our engines seem to be   
malfunctioning!"  
  
"Fix it then!" a panicked Ginyu cried. The others were scared too   
because none of them knew anything about fixing a ship.  
  
The ship shook harder than ever, and it began to flip upside down.   
Lights began to flicker and smoke started coming out of the control panels.   
Suddenly, one of the engines exploded!  
  
"We're going to die!" Guido cried, clinging to Baata, who was   
squeezing him so tightly than Guido could not breathe.  
  
"Fix it, Naborki!" Ginyu screamed.  
  
"Can't you do anything, Captain?" Jeice cried in terror.  
  
"How can I? I'm a warrior, not a technician!"  
  
The Ginyu Girls screamed in terror, as they began fleeing to the   
escape pods, followed by the Ginyu Force members. Unfortunately the buttons   
required for opening the door to the escape pods did not work. Jeice blasted   
the door open, but he was too late.  
  
The ship shook harder than ever as sparks landed on the metal   
floors. Fires began to erupt, and by the time Jeice and the others were able to   
open the pods, the entire ship exploded over one of Calmag's oceans.  
  
"KABOOM!"  
  
First there was a mushroom cloud, then flying blood, body parts and   
metal swirling about in the air, and finally a deadly silence so still that a   
bird could be heard crying from hundreds of miles away.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Nappa, Raditz and Journa were shocked to see an explosion over one   
of Calmag's largest oceans. They had to cover their eyes to prevent the light   
from the explosion from blinding them, and they were close enough to the ocean   
that the smoke was able to reach them. They had been flying around that large   
body of water when they had noticed Ginyu's ship trying to find a place to land.  
  
Journa gasped, "That looked like Captain Ginyu's ship! How did   
their ship explode like that?"  
  
Raditz put his hand on his mate's shoulder. He was stunned, but he   
shook his head at Captain Ginyu's stupidity. His tail swished agitatedly in the   
wind.  
  
"Don't feel too sorry for Ginyu," Raditz told his lover abruptly.   
"Frieza told all of us to have our ships inspected before leaving for Calmag,   
and Ginyu didn't do that. The Ginyu Force was too busy practicing their   
worthless poses to have the ship inspected. This is all Ginyu's fault; he was   
responsible for this."  
  
Nappa's chiseled face, which either held a scowl or his nasty   
"I'm-going-to-get-you" grin, was shocked and horrified, for his little Eclipse   
had been on that ship.  
  
"I've-I've got to make sure Eclipse is okay!" he said in an   
unusually trembling voice.  
  
Raditz shook his long mane at him. "There was no way your little Ginyu Girl   
captain could have survived that explosion. I doubt if the Ginyu fighters   
themselves are alive."  
  
"We have to find out for sure-don't we?" Journa asked, her short,   
slender tail moving back and forth anxiously, like a waving stick.  
  
Nappa told her shakily, "Your brother gave us specific orders to   
follow the Calmagians who had arrested Jaden and Zarbon's team. He'll be   
furious, if we go against his commands." He tightened his tail around his waist   
so tightly that it nearly crushed him; he did this on the rare occasions he was   
nervous or anxious.  
  
"What about Eclipse?" Journa asked him.  
  
Raditz turned on his scouter to search the area. "Hmm, maybe Miss   
Eclipse did survive. Someone did anyway. My scouter is picking up the ki   
levels of several life forms, but the scouter can't tell us who or what they   
are."  
  
"What should we do?" Journa asked, toying with the end of her little   
tail nervously.  
  
Nappa, whom Vegeta had put in charge, was uncertain. He wanted to go to the   
site of the explosion to ensure that Eclipse had survived (he cared nothing for   
the Ginyu Force), but he knew that Vegeta would be angry, if he didn't follow   
his explicit orders. His Prince was determined to capture Princess Tayla and   
have his revenge.  
  
"Raditz, Journa," he told them abruptly. "I am going there alone.   
You two continue to follow Jaden and Zarbon's team before they get too far   
ahead. If the Prince asks, I stayed behind to ensure that the other teams don't   
follow us and cause trouble." And with that, Nappa flew away from the two other   
Saiyans towards the ocean, where Ginyu's ship had exploded.  
Raditz and Journa watched him go; they were amazed that Nappa would take the   
time to care for someone else. Of course, Nappa was loyal and devoted to Vegeta   
and Journa, but then they were his Prince and Princess; he only tolerated   
Raditz. They had never seen Nappa that concerned for anyone who wasn't a   
Saiyan.  
  
"He must really-care for her," Journa stammered. "Do you think that   
Nappa was thinking about taking Eclipse for his mate?"  
  
Raditz wrapped his unusually long tail around Journa's tiny waist   
several times, showing his wanting to comfort, protect and possess her. He told   
her quietly, "If Nappa does take Eclipse for a mate, and she will have to leave   
the Ginyu Girls. The question is: will Eclipse being willing to do that,   
assuming that she has survived the explosion?"  
  
"The mating bond does strange things to people," Journa asserted   
positively. Love was really what she wanted to say, but that word was rarely   
used among Saiyans, even among the most devoted couples. She and Raditz, for   
all of their devotion to each other, had never once told each other "I love   
you." The closest they had come to saying, "I love you", was declaring that   
they would willingly die for the other.  
  
"Well, maybe what happened just now isn't entirely bad," Raditz   
said, with a tiny grin.  
  
Journa was startled. "Why do you say that?"  
  
Raditz's tail tightened around her, as he drew her closer to him   
with it. "Because we're alone at last!" he said triumphantly, kissing her   
firmly on her lips. Journa slowly, but happily returned his unexpected kiss.  
  
  
  
  
  
The entire Ginyu Force had miraculously survived the explosion, but   
Naborki and six of the Ginyu Girls had perished. Other than the Ginyu Force,   
only Eclipse, Mahogany, Orlana, and Forlani had survived. The Ginyu Force had   
managed to retrieve the surviving Ginyu Girls and take them to a nearby island.   
The worst injuries out of the survivors were Jeice's broken leg, Forlani's   
cracked ribs, and Guido's crushed left eye. The others just had bruises and   
lacerations. Mahogany, who had been a fully certified nurse on Gemstar before   
joining the Ginyu Girls, had been treating everyone's wounds. She had been a   
nurse since she was twelve years old. She had gone to Frieza for the first time   
when she was fifteen, intending to join his medical staff, but Captain Ginyu had   
spotted her that day and suggested that she become a Ginyu Girl. Mahogany had   
consented, with Ginyu and Eclipse's persuasions.  
  
Mahogany was cleaning the worst of her cousin, Eclipse's injuries   
when Nappa found the survivors. "Eclipse!" he cried, flying towards her and   
Mahogany.  
  
A startled Mahogany began to stitch together the folds of Eclipse's   
laceration, as Nappa knelt besides the Ginyu Girl captain. "Are you okay?" he   
asked Eclipse gruffly.  
  
"Just barely," Eclipse whispered hoarsely, her voice full of tears   
for the dead Ginyu Girls.  
  
"Most of our Girls died," Mahogany choked in a whisper. "Eclipse,   
Orlana, Forlani, and I are the only ones left. Captain Ginyu's pilot, Naborki   
is gone too."  
  
Nappa's tail unwound from his waist and swished about in the winds   
with rare sympathy. He took Eclipse's small hand.  
  
"I'm here," he told her gruffly. He made a mental note to break   
Ginyu's neck for not doing a preflight check, as Frieza had ordered. He'd just   
have to be careful, so that Ginyu would not switch bodies with him out of spite.   
Nappa had flirted with other women, but it was Eclipse that he truly cared for.  
  
He would definitely report Ginyu to Frieza once the Calmagian   
mission had been completed.   
  
Eclipse smiled weakly at the Saiyan fighter, whom she was slowly growing to   
love. Eclipse dared not say so aloud though because she was certain that Prince   
Vegeta would not approve. She never thought that a sixteen-year-old boy would   
disturb her so, the way that Vegeta did. She pulled Nappa's hand to her lips   
and gently kissed it.  
  
Captain Ginyu approached the trio just then. "Eclipse, Mahogany, are you two   
girls okay?"  
  
"They are," Nappa snarled, baring his teeth, "with no thanks to   
you!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Captain Ginyu snapped.  
  
"You stupid idiot!" Nappa roared, using his free hand to form a   
large, ham-sized fist. "Why in the universe didn't you have a preflight check   
done before you took your people to Calmag?"  
  
Mahogany stared at Ginyu with stunned, disbelieving eyes. "Captain,   
is he telling the truth?"  
  
Ginyu shamefacedly nodded.  
  
"How could you not have that done?" Mahogany cried passionately and   
angrily. "Seven people are dead now, Captain! Dead! Do you care for your   
Force and your Girls that little? How could you have doomed us all like that?"   
She burst into tears and began to sob into her slender hands.  
  
"I-I wasn't thinking," Ginyu choked, mourning the loss of the other   
Girls. "I remember telling the technicians to wait until later, so that my men   
and I could practice our fighting poses-"  
  
"Oh, you and those blasted poses!" Nappa hissed. "What good are   
those poses, Ginyu? Tell me that! I am reporting you to Lord Frieza when this   
is over!"  
  
Captain Ginyu paled then under his lavender skin. He was one of   
Lord Frieza's favorites, but he knew that Lord Frieza would have his horns once   
he found out that he had skipped over the preflight check. And how was he going   
to explain the deaths of the others, particularly Azure, Frieza's new favorite   
Ginyu Girl next to Eclipse?  
  
"There is no need for that, Nappa," he stammered pleadingly.  
  
Nappa glowered at him. "No need for what, Ginyu?" he said a calm,   
low tone full of contempt and hatred. "No need to inform Lord Frieza that you   
failed to have a preflight check done on your ship, that six Ginyu Girls are   
dead, and that one of Frieza's favorite pilots died also? You'll be lucky, if   
Lord Frieza allows you to keep your Force and your Girls. You'll be lucky, if   
you are even allowed to remain in Top Elite."  
  
Captain Ginyu looked away from Nappa, knowing that he was right. He   
would be lucky if Lord Frieza allowed him to live at all.  
  
  
  
  
  
Frieza's Control Room, Frieza's Mother Ship  
  
"Sire, one of the ships sent to Calmag exploded!"  
Frieza had been gulping down some aspirin (he just had a nightmare of Shalila   
Chloe chopping off his head and King Vegeta blasting away the lower half of his   
body, and now he couldn't go back to sleep) when he heard this announcement.  
  
"Which one?" Frieza asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible.  
  
"Captain Ginyu's ship, sire." The speaker was an alien from planet   
Reznak, a Drydakian Lower-Elite technician who resembled a meerkat. (All   
Drydakians resemble meerkats [think Timon from "Lion King"].)  
  
Frieza remained mostly impassive. "Contact Ginyu at once, and ask   
if there are any survivors."  
  
"Yes, sire." The Drydakian technician pressed a few buttons, as he   
watched the radar picture of planet Calmag, an analog picture at first.   
  
"While you're contacting him, Katon, run a fourth-level scan on the   
planet Calmag; I want to be able to see the terrain and any survivors from the   
crash, if any," Frieza ordered. This task was possible because the Ginyu Force   
had advanced scouters that contained hidden video cameras.  
  
"Yes, sire." Katon hurriedly pressed a few more buttons, and a   
perfect video picture of the island where Ginyu and his group where located   
popped up on the screen. Frieza could see the blue-gray skies of planet Calmag,   
the broken pieces of a ship, and the bodies of three, bloodied Ginyu Girls,   
Gira, Swallowtail and Azure. Frieza gasped briefly when he saw that Azure was   
dead, but he quickly recovered.  
  
"Captain Ginyu?" Katon urged, "Captain Ginyu, are you there?"  
Ginyu's voice answered back through the speakers in the control room. "I'm   
here."  
  
"Are you alright, Captain? Are there any other survivors?" Katon   
chewed on his thin lip nervously.  
  
"My entire Force survived, but six of my Ginyu Girls are dead. We   
are still uncertain as to why our ship exploded."  
  
Mahogany and Eclipse's soft sobs could be heard in the background;   
Nappa was trying to comfort them as best as a Saiyan could. Orlana and Forlani   
were wailing loudly. Guido was crying aloud over his crushed eye that was now   
blind.  
  
"No clue at all, Captain?"  
  
"None at all," Ginyu assured Katon hastily. The wavering tone in   
Ginyu's voice made Katon suspicious, but he decided to ignore it for now.  
  
"What are the names of the Girls that survived?"  
  
"Eclipse, Mahogany, Orlana and Forlani."  
  
"Any injuries?"  
  
"Uh…our ship exploded, Katon!" Ginyu snapped sarcastically. "Yes, I   
think that there would be injuries! Guido lost an eye, Forlani has broken ribs,   
and Jeice has a broken leg. My horns are broken off, but they'll grow back."  
  
"Thank you, Captain," Katon replied, turning to Frieza. "Sire, do   
you wish me to question him further?"  
  
"I will contact him myself, Katon, thank you," Frieza told him   
quietly. Katon merely nodded, not used to being thanked. Katon dismissed Ginyu   
for now and cut off communication with him.  
  
At that moment a gray salamander-like creature entered the control   
room. He had a patch of black hair on his head, a pointed snout, friendly black   
eyes and a long tail that was like a metal knife with scales. This tail was   
mostly metallic, and it could slice through many enemies. His scaly tail   
swished gracefully back and forth behind him.  
  
"Skale, good! Glad to see you here!" Frieza told him in an   
unusually warm tone. "I need you to do me a favor."  
  
"Anything, sire," Skale told him cheerfully. Skale had been a   
former warrior for Frieza, and he had trained under Jaden. Jaden, on a mission   
to a distant planet with him, had noticed that the young man (now no more than   
twenty-one years old) had superb technical abilities, and she had suggested to   
Frieza that Skale would make a better technician than a warrior. Frieza had   
Skale transferred to the Technical Division of his forces, and Skale was now a   
Top Elite Technical Officer. He was technically Top Elite himself, but most of   
Frieza's people didn't consider anyone but warriors to be true Top Elite. Skale   
was also from planet Reznak like Katon, but he was a mixed breed:   
half-Drydakian, half-Reznakian.  
  
There were two other people with Skale, a large creature resembling   
a white rhinoceros with short red hair, black horns, a scaled tail similar to   
Skale's and an ugly expression of disdain. The other was a humanoid woman,   
middle-aged for her race, but still pleasant to look upon.  
  
Skale was one of three people in charge of the Technical Division;   
the others were Minosh, a male Reznakian who was the rhinoceros creature from   
planet Reznak, and the humanoid woman, Scout, a female pureblooded Gemstarian   
who was no relation to Diamonique and not of the Diamondian Tribe. At   
thirty-four years old, Scout was the oldest female Gemstarian working for   
Frieza, and she had been descended from the Leaden Tribe, the lowest class tribe   
of Gemstar. She did not know Diamonique, Mahogany, or Eclipse very well, and it   
was unlikely that she ever would, for most Diamondians looked down on Leadens.   
Scout was still beautiful at her age with snowy blond hair and large green eyes   
like clear emeralds, but she was considered too old to be a Gemstarian male's   
wife, and she probably would spend the rest of her short life serving Frieza.  
  
Minosh was the first cousin of planet Reznak's current ruler,   
Reznor, the tyrannical dictator who had conquered Reznak from the inside ten   
years ago. Reznor was an important friend and ally of Frieza's (Reznak was one   
of Frieza's allies), and he had recommended Minosh to Frieza. Minosh and   
Reznor, being from the Reznakian race, considered themselves superior to the   
"lesser" races: Drydakians and the half-breeds known as Dreznakians (the mother   
was Drydakian) or Rezdakians (the mother was Reznakian), who were considered   
tainted because of their mixed Drydakian and Reznakian blood. Consequently,   
Minosh never associated with the Drydakian, Katon, whom he considered inferior,   
unless it was absolutely necessary. Minosh loved his job with Frieza, but he   
hated working with a mixed breed like Skale (who was a Rezdakian). Minosh was   
the cruelest of the three who enjoyed creating the hurtful tools and   
technologies that helped Frieza's fighters conquer planets.  
  
Minosh and Skale did not like each other, and the only project that   
they had ever worked on together were the Saibamen, the green plant-like   
creatures that could sprout from seeds. The Saibamen were living beings, cloned   
from several species, and they had no thoughts or feelings except to destroy and   
kill those who stepped in their path. The Saibamen were invented just shortly   
before Vegeta and the others had gone to conquer Astoria, and many warriors had   
taken the seeds with them to conquer planets or to use as target practice when   
they were training. Both Skale and Minosh were looking forward to seeing how   
well their new creatures would do on planet Calmag, for almost all of the Elite   
fighters had taken a few Saibamen seeds with them. Skale and Minosh did not   
agree on much, but they both approved fully of their newest creations. The   
Saibamen were hard to defeat. Vegeta was the first to ever practice on the   
Saibamen when he had been just a boy; he had wanted to take some seeds with him   
to Astoria, but the Saibamen had not been fully tested and approved yet. The   
Saibamen seeds were only released for full use three years ago.  
  
Frieza spoke up just then. "Skale and Minosh, I want you two to go   
to Calmag immediately. Take your scanners with you and report to Scout of your   
findings on the ship's remains. I want to know exactly what caused that ship to   
explode; I'm certain that something can be determined. Skale, I'm giving you an   
additional task: you are to get a full report from Captain Ginyu on the ship's   
explosion and consequences. If Ginyu objects, tell him you have my permission   
to obtain a full report and interrogation; I will give you this letter of   
consent from me"-he pressed a rolled scroll into Skale's gray hand-"and this   
will ensure that Ginyu gives you a full explanation." Skale and Minosh agreed,   
although Minosh was not happy about being with Skale for a long period of time.  
  
Frieza also explained to Skale and Minosh that he wanted them to   
find out as much as they could about the Calmagian technology, reputed to be   
superb, and to steal any plans or blueprints, if they could.  
  
He then turned to Scout, whose pleasant face was impassive and   
unreadable, not revealing any thoughts at all. He addressed her, "Scout, I want   
the report of Ginyu's preflight check. Look it up on your data assistant."  
  
Scout pulled out a small, gray, crescent-shaped machine that   
resembled a cell phone and pressed two red buttons on its keyboard. She then   
typed in Ginyu's name with one finger, and then she pressed the blue button that   
would bring up his preflight check report.   
  
The small screen on the machine read, "Status: preflight check   
Report Unavailable. Reason: No preflight Check was made before departure for   
destined planet."  
  
Scout looked at Frieza nervously. "B-bad news, sire. Ginyu did no   
preflight check."  
  
Frieza cursed under his breath. What had Captain Ginyu been   
thinking? 


	42. Tayla's Upheaval

Chapter Forty-two: Tayla's Upheaval  
  
The Calmagian Palace, Two Days Later  
  
Tayla was walking in the courtyard, accompanied by Lelina and Veal.   
Both of her best friends were pressing Tayla for details about her dinner last   
night with Ridikar. Unlike the boys, they envied Tayla and thought her   
fortunate to have such a handsome, older boy pay attention to her. Lelina   
thought that Ridikar was attractive, and Veal thought that he was charming.   
They wanted to know everything, from what Tayla had worn to whether or not   
Ridikar had kissed her.  
  
"He kissed me on the hand," Tayla told them softly. "I could sense   
that he wanted to do more, but Dirkan was chaperoning me the entire night. He   
doesn't like Ridikar too much, even though he had dinner with us. The roasted   
duck with apple and pear sauce was scrumptious, and Ridikar even offered me   
champagne, but Dirkan told him no."  
  
"My father let me taste champagne when I was about nine," Veal said.   
"It tasted light and bubbly, but Mummy got mad at him for allowing me to try   
it. She said that champagne was not for children, not even a taste."  
  
"Alcohol is forbidden by our laws anyway," Lelina added, "but you   
know, I think that I would have liked to try some, just once. Did you want to   
try any of the champagne, Tayla?"  
  
"I did wish I could for once," Tayla admitted, "but I know that it's   
wrong, so I won't do it."  
  
"What do Astorians find so bad about alcohol anyway?" Veal wondered.   
Alcohol had been a regular part of meals on planet Meat, and children were   
allowed to drink it once they turned fourteen.  
  
"Our people consider it to be the root of much evil," Lelina   
replied. "It is addictive, and it can cause people to do many awful things,   
such as hurt others or stop caring about things. It also inhibits a fighter's   
ability to perform fully as a warrior or a healior. Actually, the ban on   
alcohol was put in place right after our people took Astoria back from the   
Saiyans. The Saiyans used to drink alcohol there all of the time, and when they   
were drunk, they would either kill innocent men or rape our women. A drunken   
Saiyan was one of our people's worst fears back then."  
  
Veal ran a thin hand through her lavender hair. "Meatians don't   
believe in abusing alcohol, but drinking it in moderation is considered to be   
okay. I am sorry for what your people had to endure; at least your race was   
able to fight back." She sighed sadly, wistfully. "I'm going to be   
alone for the rest of my life."  
  
Lelina and Tayla were shocked by this declaration. "Why do you say such a   
thing?" Tayla asked, startled by Veal's sudden declaration.  
  
Veal sighed. "I am a Meatian, and even though Meatians are   
mating-compatible with Astorians, it is unlikely that anyone would want to marry   
me. Humanoids usually prefer marrying other humanoids, and I am mostly   
mammalian. Boys treat me as a friend, but no one wants to court me, like they   
do you and Lelina. By the time we return to Astoria, you and Lelina will be   
allowed to have suitors, and you both will have flocks of them chasing after   
you. I am of marriageable age, according to Meatian law and standards; most   
girls my age would have been married by now. I know that you and the others   
don't like the idea of arranged marriages, Tayla, but at least that way, no girl   
is left without a husband. Every girl on my planet, no matter how ugly or   
pretty they were was always married before age sixteen. On Astoria, I won't   
have a chance at all. I wish my father was able to arrange a marriage for me."  
  
Tayla noticed tears welling up in Veal's lavender eyes, and she put   
an arm around her friend. "Don't give up, Veal, you're only fourteen. Someone   
will surely come along to love you for whom you are. When that time comes, it   
won't matter to him whether you're humanoid or mammalian; he'll love you just   
because you're Veal. There's no reason why a male wouldn't love you, Veal.   
It's not the end of the universe; there will be someone for you."  
  
"And arranged marriages aren't all that good, Veal," Lelina told her   
practically. "Look what Caline is going through with Alberm."   
  
"Poor Caline," Veal sighed sadly, forgetting about her own worries   
for the moment. "I feel sorry for her. She is such a sweet girl, and she   
deserves better than Alberm. Her father did poorly when he arranged Caline's   
marriage to him; even Meatian fathers won't marry their daughters to someone who   
would abuse them or treat them badly."  
  
Lelina turned towards Tayla, her long red-brown hair flowing in the   
gentle Calmagian breeze. "Tayla, Ridikar is Caline's brother, isn't he? He's   
going to rule Calmag someday; isn't there anything that he can do to help his   
sister?"  
  
Tayla spoke softly, with a niggling doubt that was pounding against   
the walls of her heart about to take the form of words, "I've tried to talk to   
Ridikar about Caline, but when I told him about how Alberm was treating her,   
Ridikar changed the subject to how well Alberm had done in bringing the   
Astorian-Calmagian alliance about. Come to think of it, whenever I tried to   
bring the subject of Caline up, he always seemed to want to talk about something   
else. That worries me, I admit. I like him so much, but how can I like someone   
who doesn't seem to want to help his sister."  
  
"Maybe he didn't want to say anything with Dirkan there," Lelina   
suggested quietly. "Someone has to make Ridikar understand how serious Caline's   
situation is. Does Dirkan know now?"  
  
"Yes, he does," Tayla told her, toying with a strand of her dark   
hair, "and he told me he and Nama will see what can be done for Caline. I hope   
they can get her out of that awful marriage. Alberm is worse than a Saiyan!"  
  
"I agree," Veal told her. "I don't think that even Saiyans treat   
their own mates that badly."  
  
They heard the sound of a whirring engine behind them and a small   
puff of smoke enveloped them. Ridikar pulled up on a hover bike in front of   
them. The three girls were impressed with the vehicle, for it was silver and   
green with gold engines and smooth and sleek.  
  
"Hello, ladies," Ridikar greeted them with a smile. He flashed   
Tayla a more private smile and said to her, "Hey, Tayla, do you want to go   
riding with me on my new hover bike for about half an hour?"  
  
Tayla looked at Veal and Lelina anxiously, wanting to go with   
Ridikar, but feeling bad about leaving her friends behind. Veal and Lelina   
smiled gently at her. "If you want to go with Ridikar, it's fine with us," Veal   
assured her.  
  
Lelina was about to agree, but then she remembered that Dirkan and   
Great-Nama probably would not approve of Tayla being without a chaperone. The   
Astorians usually did not like their young ladies under age seventeen to be   
alone with a young man without a chaperone until they were engaged to someone.   
  
"Are you sure that's going to be okay with Great-Nama and Dirkan?"   
Lelina asked her.  
  
"It should," Tayla reassured her. "Nama and Dirkan are at a meeting   
with Uncle Kitchator and Aunt Kildara, and they won't be back anytime soon. I'm   
only to go riding with him for half an hour like he said. I need to talk to him   
anyway. I'll be all right; I know him. If anyone asks, I've gone riding with   
him."  
  
Tayla climbed on the back of the hover bike, wrapping her slender   
arms around Ridikar's waist. She unwound them briefly when Ridikar gave her a   
helmet to put on. After fastening the helmet to her head, with Ridikar's help,   
she put her arms around Ridikar's waist again, and Ridikar turned on the hover   
bike. Tayla waved farewell to her friends, and before Lelina and Veal knew it,   
Tayla and Ridikar were in the sky under the dome, no more than part of a green   
and silver blur. That hover bike was so fast that Lelina shuddered; she hoped   
that Tayla would not fall off of the hover bike.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla was enjoying herself now, once she had recovered from the   
shock of the hover bike's immense speed. Ridikar continued flying through the   
air on the hover bike, thoroughly appreciating Tayla's company. He knew of a   
cave, a cave that he liked to camp out at on a cliff. Ridikar considered that   
cave a home away from home, and he had many supplies and gadgets in there,   
enough to sustain two people for weeks on end.  
  
Finally, he would get to be alone with Tayla, like he always wanted.   
He enjoyed her arms embracing him as they sped off together, trying not to   
notice the polluted Calmagian sky above the dome.  
  
At least the air under the dome was pure and clean, mostly.  
  
At last, they reached the cozy cave on the cliff. Tayla tried to   
talk to Ridikar as they went along in the air, but they were going so fast, and   
the wind was so loud that Tayla was unable to carry a good conversation with   
him. Ridikar landed gracefully in front of his private cave, and he lifted   
Tayla off of his bike gently. When he got off the bike himself, he put his   
hands on Tayla's tiny waist.  
  
"You'll like it here," Ridikar assured her, flashing a private smile   
at her.  
  
He escorted Tayla into his cave, and Tayla was impressed. The young Princess of   
Chloe noticed the space-age gadgets and machines, including refrigerators and a   
stove. The modern machines provided a striking contrast against the walls of   
the caves and the stalagmites and stalactites, most of which had been cleared   
away. Tayla also noticed a gold bed in a faraway corner, covered in blue and   
green silks.  
  
"I like your cave," she told him shyly. "It's beautiful."  
  
"Not as beautiful as you," Ridikar assured her smoothly, wrapping an   
arm around her waist, as he led her further inside.  
  
She blushed. "Thanks."  
  
Ridikar chuckled wickedly, leading her to a comfortable, stuffed   
chair that he had brought from his own suite. He settled Tayla into the chair,   
and he himself plopped down into another stuffed chair besides her. The chairs   
were red, velvety and bouncy; she had not sat in anything so comfortable in a   
while since she had left Astoria.  
  
"Ridikar," she spoke finally. "May I talk to you about something?"  
  
Ridikar watched her with his sleepy eyes. "Sure, you can talk to me   
about anything!"  
  
"It's about Caline," Tayla said finally, determined not to put this   
subject off any longer. "Caline's husband, Alberm, hits her, Ridikar. He yells   
at her and puts her down, treating her as if she's no more than a discarded   
toenail."  
  
"What do you expect me to do about it?" Ridikar asked her quietly,   
not thinking seriously about Alberm's treatment of his sister. "I can't   
necessarily intervene, Tayla; Caline is Alberm's property now. She's his wife."  
  
"Caline is no one's property!" Tayla nearly screamed. She took a   
deep breath when she realized how loud her voice had suddenly become. "Caline   
is a person, a good person, a good, sweet girl who deserves much better than   
Alberm. Something has to be done, Ridikar; someone has to help her," she told   
him in a somewhat calmer tone.  
  
"He is harsh on her once in a while," Ridikar admitted, "but she   
often disobeys him, and she can be stubborn and difficult. A wife should be   
submissive and obedient to her husband at all times. Alberm gave our father   
last night a less than flattering picture of Caline, and our father is not   
pleased with her. Caline is refusing to sleep with him, so Alberm has to force   
her to lie with him-"  
  
"You mean rape her?" Tayla cried in horror.  
  
"In a Calmagian marriage, there is no such thing as rape," Ridikar   
asserted firmly. "A wife is supposed to lie with her husband whenever he   
desires her, unless she is very sick, or is recovering from childbirth. Alberm   
is not happy that Caline will not make love with him; he wants a child with her,   
but she will not lie with him unless he forces himself on her. Caline is being   
very disobedient, and it is Alberm's duty as a husband now to keep her in line.   
Perhaps he is being hard on Caline, but I myself would be furious if my wife   
would refuse to sleep with me, if she wasn't sick or recovering from childbirth.   
Alberm was talking to my father and I, and he says that Caline screams and   
cries and begs him not to touch her. What kind of wife does that make Caline?   
What kind of honor can she bring her husband, her husband's family, and our   
family when she behaves like she does?"  
  
"Caline is scared of him," Tayla persisted. "That is probably why   
she will not sleep with him. You have to help her, Ridikar, please! If not for   
her, then at least for me! I would be very thankful and grateful, if I knew   
that Caline was safe and happy, and she can't be like that with Alberm. Caline   
would be much happier, and I would be too. Do something to help her. Please?"   
Her chocolate saucer eyes pleaded with Ridikar, and Ridikar was moved.  
  
"For you, I will," Ridikar told her firmly. "I will see what I can   
do to help my sister. I will speak to Father, and possibly Alberm myself.   
Don't worry, Tayla, I'll take care of it."  
  
Tayla was relieved; for a few minutes, she didn't think that Ridikar   
cared anything about his sister. She had some suspicions, but her normally   
forgiving nature overcame them. She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you,   
Ridikar, for I greatly appreciate this."  
  
"No problem," Ridikar told her easily. He rose from his chair and   
pulled Tayla out of hers with his large hands. He pulled her closer to him and   
whispered, "You're an unusual girl, Tayla, but I like you! I'll think that   
you'll make a good wife someday!" He wrapped on arm around her waist, and then   
he moved his other hand up to her hair.  
  
Tayla noticed him touching her hair, and she gently pulled his hand   
away. "I'm not ready to let you do that just yet," she told him kindly.  
  
"Why not? I'm just touching your hair," he told her softly.  
  
"You're not supposed to touch my hair, or any other special places   
until I give you permission," Tayla stated firmly.  
  
Ridikar chuckled wickedly at her. "Well, Princess Tayla of Astoria,   
may I touch your hair?"  
  
Tayla thought about it for a few seconds, and then an impish smile   
crossed her face. "Yes, you may," she whispered. Ridikar's hand slid up into   
her dark hair, stroking it. He then brought his lips to hers, kissing her   
gently. Tayla was enjoying his kiss, not thinking at all about the time that   
Prince Vegeta had kissed her. She began to press her rosebud lips against his.   
  
She was lost in his kiss, as his free hand slid down toward her   
bottom. Startled by this, she broke from their kiss and gasped, "Ridikar-"  
  
"Calm yourself," he whispered soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt   
you, my sweet. I would never do anything to hurt you or compromise your honor."   
He kissed her again, like an experienced male, a male too experienced for   
someone as young as Tayla. He began rubbing circles on Tayla's slender back,   
and this helped her to relax. Ridikar's lips moved from her lips to her chin,   
down to the hollow of her throat.  
  
Tayla was enjoying this, as confused as she was; she was only twelve   
years old, and she wasn't certain if she should be allowing Ridikar to do being   
doing this with her. She liked it, and yet she felt a tiny bit guilty.   
  
Would Nama and Dirkan have approved of this? Tayla wondered, as   
Ridikar lifted her up into his arms and started carrying her towards his bed.   
He sat her down on his bed and sat besides her. He pressed his lips to hers   
again and pulled her close when a loud voice, all too familiar to Tayla, came   
booming into the cave.  
  
"YOUNG MAN! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER NOW!"  
  
"Dirkan?" Tayla gasped, breaking away from Ridikar's embrace.  
  
Ridikar's thoughts were full of curses.  
  
Another voice, as loud and furious, came after the first.  
  
"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER! SHE'S JUST A CHILD!   
I'LL BREAK YOUR NECK BEFORE I'LL ALLOW YOU NEAR HER AGAIN!"  
  
"Who was that?" Ridikar asked Tayla, but before Tayla could identify   
which of her brothers had yelled like that, Bajal and Dirkan dashed swiftly   
further into the cave like a couple of angry lions. Bajal swiftly seized   
Ridikar by his collar and flung him against the wall of the cave. Dirkan   
punched Ridikar hard in the ribs.  
  
"Stop!" Tayla screamed at them in terror. "You're hurting him!"  
  
"Good!" Bajal roared, more at Ridikar than at his baby sister.   
Bendros, Arlon and Lukan were correct about this little son of a whore. Bajal   
himself had not liked the boy from the moment he heard of Ridikar's too obvious   
interest in his youngest sister. Cletos had agreed with him, and even Raakon,   
normally the first person to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, instantly   
detested the heir to the Calmagian throne when he had noticed him paying court   
to Tayla.  
  
Dirkan and Bajal had come to the palace courtyard looking for Tayla   
to take her to her grandmother when he noticed that she was not with her   
friends. When Veal and Lelina were questioned, Lelina shamefacedly confessed   
that Tayla had gone off riding with Prince Ridikar, and no, he did not say where   
they were going.  
  
Dirkan turned from Ridikar and Bajal a moment to speak to Tayla.   
"Tayla, are you alright? He began to notice Tayla's eyes darkening with anger.  
Tayla's full fury was about to be unleashed. "Yes, I'm alright!" Tayla told him   
angrily, in such a harsh tone that even Dirkan, who normally didn't fear anyone   
with a lower ki level than him, was taken aback. Tayla had never spoken to him   
so icily before. "At least I was until you two came barging in and attacking   
him for no good reason! He did nothing to you two! You both ought to be   
ashamed of yourselves!" She was near tears now, and the tears were about to   
fall when Cletos, Lektron, and Raakon came dashing into the cave.  
  
Lektron was the first to notice Tayla's tears, and he misinterpreted   
the source as something that Ridikar had done to hurt Tayla. "Tayla, are you   
okay? Tell me what that bastard did to you, and I'll take care of him quick.   
No boy is going to molest my wife's little sister!"  
  
"He didn't molest me!" Tayla screamed at him furiously. "We were   
just kissing! And you're not going to care of him, Lektron! I won't allow it!   
Bajal and Dirkan already did more than enough damage for one day!"  
  
Bajal was still holding Ridikar's collar. "Now tell me, you little   
sleaze: what exactly did you do to my sister? We all know the real reason you   
brought her to this cave! If I catch you near her again, I'll fix your anatomy   
so that you won't even be able to pee, understand?"  
  
"Let me go!" Ridikar hissed at Tayla's angry oldest brother. "I did   
nothing to her! She's right; we were doing nothing but kissing!"  
  
Tayla threw herself past Dirkan and at Bajal. "Let him go, Bajal!   
I mean it! He's done nothing to you! He did nothing wrong!" She turned to   
Dirkan, as she tried to pull Bajal's arms off of Ridikar and almost succeeding.   
"Dirkan, make my brother let him go!"  
  
"For what?" Dirkan roared. "So he can try something on you again?   
He's not going near you again, Tayla! And you will not see him anymore, your   
grandmother and I will see to that!"  
  
"No, you won't," Tayla told him defiantly, looking directly in his   
eyes. "And you won't get Nama involved either."  
  
The cave became silent, so silent that a tiny pebble could be heard   
falling. All the men in the cave stared at Tayla in shock, their mouths agape.   
None of them would have ever ordered Dirkan like that, not even Bajal, the most   
arrogant and brash of them all. Dirkan himself was startled by Tayla's angry   
declaration. If anyone else had told him off like that, he would have been   
infuriated. He would have expected such a response from Bajal or Lektron, but   
not his little Tayla, his favorite, his darling.  
  
He tried to keep his voice low and even, for this was the first time   
that Tayla had ever directly defied him like this. He said sternly, "Tayla, I   
am your guardian, and you must obey me. When I say that you will not see this   
boy again, I mean it. Your grandmother will back me up. That is final."   
Tayla's eyes and new glare darkened, for Dirkan had never pulled rank on her   
like this before.  
  
"You can't stop her from seeing me!" Ridikar declared angrily,   
encouraged by Tayla's stance. "She is of marriageable age, and I plan to make   
her my bride." Bajal angrily threw Ridikar to the ground, but Ridikar scurried   
towards Tayla before Dirkan or Bajal could catch him. He could have paralyzed   
them, but he was too shaken by fear now to do so. He grabbed Tayla's hands and   
pulled her close to him. He looked down into her cocoa eyes. "Princess Tayla   
Chloe of Chloe, Astoria, will you marry me?"  
  
All of the men in the room gasped in shock and horror, and Lektron   
and Cletos instinctively reached for their swords. Raakon quickly put himself   
in their path.  
  
"No," he told them sternly. "A blade is not the way to solve this."  
  
Cletos kept his voice even. "This little cretin plans to wed my   
little sister, and he is not worthy of her! I will do whatever it takes to   
protect and guide our sister, whether it is by word or blade. Now out of my   
way!" he ordered his younger brother.  
  
"Protect and guide me?" Tayla shouted at him, her temper still in   
full swing. She said contemptuously to her older brother, "Why are you so   
worried about me? Shouldn't you be worrying about your own children? Do   
Petalia and Dedron still know that you care for them, if you do at all? When's   
the last time you spent any time with either one of them?"  
  
Cletos was taken aback now; his small sister really had a way of taking the wind   
out of anyone's sails. "Tayla," he told her stiffly. "My affairs are none of   
your concern."  
  
"Well, then how come I can't know your business, but you can know   
mine?" Tayla demanded to know.  
  
"You are underage, unmarried, and our youngest sister," Cletos told   
her firmly. "It is my job as an older sibling to look after you and protect   
you, even if you do not approve. That goes the same for the rest of your   
siblings, even Gorna."  
  
"If you are protecting and looking after me," Tayla told him   
sharply, "then who is protecting and looking after your children? Dedron almost   
hates you, and he's mean to everyone, and Petalia thinks that you don't love her   
anymore! You are hurting them; it's not their fault Farla left! They think   
that it's their fault, and you haven't convinced them otherwise!" Tayla was   
over exaggerating a bit now, for only Petalia blamed herself for her mother's   
departure; Dedron put the full blame on their mother.  
  
Tears came to Cletos' eyes, which were as brown as his sister's; he   
had their mother's red hair, however. He was afraid to say another word to his   
defiant sister, for fear of crying. He pushed past Lektron and Raakon and   
hurried quickly out of the cave, deeply ashamed and embarrassed. Tayla's words   
had stung him to the core.  
  
Tayla watch him run out of the cave, and her heart broke for him;   
she now felt awful, so awful that she couldn't look Ridikar in his eyes. The   
others felt bad for Cletos, but they also thought that Tayla was right in this   
matter; perhaps Cletos did need a good dressing-down for his actions concerning   
his children.  
  
Ridikar interrupted their sadness for Cletos with his imperative   
question, "Tayla, will you marry me, please?" He had a poor sense of timing,   
and Dirkan and Bajal pounced on it immediately.  
  
"Fine time you've picked to ask her?" Bajal growled at his sister's   
suitor. "She isn't marrying you now or ever!"  
  
"I agree," Dirkan declared vociferously. "After we leave his cave,   
you will not be allowed anywhere near Tayla, Ridikar! You better be thankful   
that you are still alive! You are a disreputable boy and completely unworthy of   
her! No such marriage will be allowed; her grandmother and I will see to that!   
Tayla is only twelve, and she will not marry at such a young age!"  
  
"She will, if my father and grandfather permits it!" Ridikar hissed   
rebelliously at the Namek warrior. "She is old enough by our laws to be   
married! My father and grandfather approve of my plans to marry her. They   
think that she will be a good Queen of Calmag, and so do I!"  
  
Dirkan snarled, hating the boy's defiance, "She will never marry   
you, even if she lives to be as old as I am! If I have to cripple you to   
prevent it from happening, then I will!"  
  
"And I'll help him!" Bajal added heatedly.  
  
"No, you two won't," said a still, soft voice, the dulcet-toned   
voice that Dirkan usually enjoyed hearing, except when it carried this note of   
anger and disobedience.  
  
"Tayla Chloe, what in Orchida's name are you saying?" Dirkan hissed.  
  
Tayla turned from him and towards Ridikar, angered and hurt by   
Dirkan and Bajal's actions. How could they do this to her? How could Cletos,   
Lektron, and Raakon allow this to happen? Tears welled up in her brown sugar   
eyes, as she stood proudly and bravely before Ridikar.  
  
Completely unaware at this time of what she was truly agreeing to,   
she looked right up into Ridikar's eyes and said six words that would shatter   
the Clan of Chloe's peace for some time:  
  
"Yes, Ridikar, I will marry you." 


	43. Tayla's Family Reacts

Chapter Forty-Three: Tayla's Family Reacts  
  
The next morning, the Palace meeting hall  
  
"I forbid it!" Shalila declared furiously, stomping around the hall,   
like an angry mammoth. "She will not marry that boy, especially at her age! I   
am going to shake some sense into that girl, if it's the last thing I do! I   
don't care if the King and Queen of Calmag will likely approve; Tayla is too   
young to commit herself to anyone!" She was truly angered now, not only by   
Tayla's accepting the marriage proposal of a boy that Shalila did not approve   
of, but of the actions of Dirkan and Bajal yesterday. Dirkan and Bajal were now   
forced to listen to Shalila's raving and ranting.  
  
If Shalila had been home on Astoria, she would have started throwing   
everything within reach, but since she was on another planet and using someone   
else's property, all she could do was stomp throughout the palace, slam doors,   
and shout at the top of her very healthy lungs.  
  
She turned on her husband and her grandson now, wanting to vent her   
rage on the two people she considered responsible for this disaster. "Dirkan   
and Bajal, I hold you two fools accountable for this! What in the universe were   
you two idiots thinking, charging after Ridikar like that? You two could have   
caused a serious rift between Calmag and Astoria. There are planets that go to   
war over this sort of thing alone! It took me hours last night to calm down   
Ridikar's family and explain to them your actions. Kildara had to talk her   
husband out of having you two arrested for the assault on the heir to Calmag's   
throne. You two are lucky to have your lives and your freedom still! And you   
two imbeciles upset that child for no good cause!" Shalila took a deep breath   
before continuing, " I understand that you two muscle-bound gorillas had to go   
retrieve Tayla from Ridikar. If you had calmly, but firmly insisted that Tayla   
come back here with you, she probably would have done so quietly, with no fight.   
Instead you two come charging into that cave like two barbarians with no brains   
or common sense! Dirkan, I specifically told you not to do anything to   
embarrass Tayla in front of Ridikar, and now you and that foolish grandson of   
mine have literally pushed Tayla into Ridikar's arms! The exact opposite of   
what we wanted has now happened! If you two weren't related to me, I would-"  
  
"Shalila, love, please calm down," Dirkan begged her; begging was   
something that he rarely did, but he had never seen Shalila so angry with him   
since the days that he had first started training her for the war against the   
Saiyans. "Tayla is not going to marry him."  
  
Shalila took a deep breath and toned her voice to a very low level.   
She shot Dirkan a deadly glare, something she had not done since her early days   
first training under him. She looked straight into his shiny coal eyes and said   
in an icy undertone, "You better insure that does not happen, Dirkan, you and   
Bajal both. You and Bajal are responsible for this crisis, and you two will   
help me solve it. I ought to make you both handle this entire matter, but since   
Tayla is my granddaughter, I will not allow her to make such a foolish mistake.   
Plus such a situation requires a wise woman's hand. Tayla would have never   
accepted Ridikar's proposal, if it had not been for you two pushing her into it.   
She will not marry that boy, even if I have to drag her off of Calmag early to   
prevent it from happening. I love her, and I will not allow her to ruin her   
life, no matter what she insists on doing."  
  
Bajal held his head down in shame; he had no voice or spirit left to   
argue with his grandmother, for his wife, Alora, had raged at him herself the   
night before. Alora called him every name that a woman could call a man,   
putting him down for his idiocy. Alora thought that Bajal and Dirkan had gone   
too far in trying to stop Ridikar. Alora had yelled at him for hours, and then   
she demanded that he apologize to Tayla today, or he would be sleeping on the   
floor for the entire time on Calmag.  
  
Bajal looked at the stone floor, hoping to avert his grandmother's   
wrath. At that inopportune moment, Tayla slowly entered the meeting hall,   
looking for King Kitchator; she and Ridikar were supposed to meet him together.   
Tayla gulped when she saw her angry grandmother, who told her archly, "Tayla,   
sit down; I want to have a talk with you about this ridiculous proposal of   
Ridikar's."  
  
Tayla sat down on a wooden chair against the wall and said not a   
word, for although she had told Bajal and Dirkan off, she did not dare talk back   
to her grandmother. Shalila was still in charge of her, and she wanted Tayla to   
know it.  
  
Shalila glared at her granddaughter darkly. "Well, young lady, what   
do you have to say for yourself?" She sat down in another wooden chair next to   
her granddaughter, crossing her arms and sitting upright and stiff.  
  
Tayla was silent, trying to think of a way to answer without   
angering her grandmother further. What was left of her drama and passion the   
night before had fled the moment she saw her grandmother's angry gray eyes.  
  
"Well?" Shalila prompted her.  
  
"Dirkan and Bajal shouldn't have attacked Ridikar like that!" Tayla   
cried suddenly.  
  
"They did overreact," Shalila told her sternly, "but you should not   
have gone off with a young man by yourself. Did you even think of the   
consequences, Tayla? Didn't you realize that Ridikar could take advantage of   
you? You had no business being with Ridikar alone!"  
  
Tayla looked down in her lap, shamefaced, for she was just realizing   
the wrong that she herself had done. She knew now, and probably knew then, that   
she should not have gone off with Ridikar by herself without permission. But   
she liked Ridikar, and Ridikar had managed to get her alone last night for a few   
minutes and tell her how wonderful married life with him would be.  
  
Tayla dared not to say a word, as Shalila continued her lecture:   
  
"You will break this engagement off immediately, Tayla. You are   
twelve years old, far too young to marry anyone. I don't care if you are old   
enough by Calmagian law; you are an Astorian, and you will follow Astorian law   
in this instance. You are still my ward, and such a marriage would require my   
consent, which I will not give. Even if you were of age, Ridikar is not a   
suitable husband for you, and his actions yesterday proved it-"  
  
"But, Nama!" Tayla protested, "We were just kissing!"  
  
"Kissing leads to other things, especially when you are alone like   
you were yesterday. It doesn't matter, Tayla; I do not like the boy, and I will   
never consent to a marriage between you and him. There is something about him   
that is not right, something sinister-"  
  
Rojal entered the room at that moment, pleased that Tayla would be   
marrying Ridikar and therefore would be staying on Calmag permanently. He saw   
this as a welcome chance to have Tayla off of the Clan's hands once and for all.  
  
He deliberately ignored his grandmother's ire and smiled brightly at   
Tayla, much to everyone's surprise. He walked over to Tayla and took her hands   
in his. "Tayla, I congratulate you on this marriage, for it will make you a   
Queen and solidify Astoria's alliance with Calmag. I am proud to have my   
youngest aunt become the next Queen of Calmag," he declared happily.  
  
Tayla smiled slowly at him. "Thank you, Rojal, it's nice to know   
someone is happy for me."  
  
"ROJAL!" both Shalila and Dirkan declared in a unified, terrible   
voice. Shalila turned to her heir and said in a voice laced with icicles,   
"Tayla is not marrying Ridikar, and that's final."  
  
"Rojal is right, Nama," Tayla told her softly. "Wouldn't you like   
to see me become a Queen?"  
  
Shalila thought that Tayla was being impertinent, and she whipped   
around and snapped at her in a tone sharp enough to slice steel, "No, I do not,   
young lady! Not Ridikar's queen anyway! I don't care if he is to become the   
next king after his father; you are not marrying him, and I mean it!" Tayla   
shrank back from her Nama's razor voice.  
  
Gracina and Gorna entered the meeting hall at that moment, followed   
by Lelina and Gracina's four children. Tila and Tayka were carrying flowers   
that they had made into bouquets, the fragrant green and blue roses of Calmag.   
Nikon was loudly banging a drum and singing happily:  
  
"Tayla's getting married, hooray, hooray!  
She'll get to play and have fun all day, hooray, hooray!  
There'll be lots of yummy food and candy to eat,   
And plenty of kids to meet!  
Tayla's getting married, hooray, hooray!"  
  
"NIKON!" Gracina shouted at her second oldest child severely, "That   
will be enough! Tayla is not marrying anyone!" Nikon stopped banging his drum   
and grew sad and quiet.  
  
"I don't see why not," Tayla told her beloved older sister calmly,   
as Tila and Tayka gave her their bouquets of roses. Tayla sniffed them   
appreciatively and kissed both Tila and Tayka on their foreheads. "Thank you   
both for these flowers, I love them."  
  
"Can we come to your wedding, Aunt Tayla?" Tayka asked.  
  
"Can I wear my pink caftan?" Tila asked.  
  
"Is Ridikar going to kiss you?" Tayka wanted to know.  
  
"Are you going to kiss him?" Tila inquired.  
  
"Will you be getting toys, lots of toys?" Tayka asked hopefully.  
  
"Can I play my drum at your wedding, Tayla?" Nikon asked loudly.  
  
"Are you going to have lots of candy, Tayla?"  
  
"Are you going to dress up really pretty?"  
  
"Want Tila and me to get you more roses for your wedding?"  
  
"Will there be lots of food?" asked Nikon, who could eat almost as   
much as Dedron.  
  
"Children, quiet," Gracina told her brood sternly. All three   
children fell silent immediately; they were well trained. Riccan finally spoke   
up, angry with Tayla for agreeing to marry Ridikar:  
  
"Well, I don't want you to marry Ridikar, Tayla! I don't like him!   
Why are you going to marry him?"  
  
"I love him," Tayla told Riccan, but with a small note of   
uncertainty in her voice.  
  
"You're only twelve!" Gracina avowed. "How can you know what love   
between a man and a woman is like at your age?"  
  
"You were fifteen when you agreed to marry Lektron," Tayla   
protested, "and that age is not much older."  
  
"Tayla," Gracina told her quietly, "Lektron and I grew up together,   
and I knew him all of my life, plus I had my parents and grandparents' approval.   
You barely know Ridikar, and from what I have heard of him, he does not sound   
like husband material. He does not respect you, nor care for your honor or   
virtue." She smoothed her burgundy caftan and adjusted her brown sash, trying   
to think of more words to say.  
  
"Yes he does!" Tayla cried. "You don't know him, Gracina, you   
really don't! He's charming and handsome and kind and brave-why he fought to   
save his planet from Saiyans and Hycanese when he was only my age!"  
  
Dirkan laughed contemptuously. "In his dreams, maybe! I doubt that   
boy even knows what a Saiyan or a Hycanese looks like!"  
  
Gorna finally cut in sharply, "Tayla, Gracina and Nama are right.   
You are a mere child, and no Astorian girl at your age is getting married. You   
are a naughty, badly behaved girl who has now shamed our Clan. What did I do to   
deserve such a troublesome sister like you? If my daughter had pulled such a   
stunt, I would be furious! If you were my child, I would-"  
  
"Gorna--" Shalila began warningly, but Tayla interrupted before her   
grandmother finished.  
  
"But I am not your child," Tayla retorted, "so you have no say in   
this, Gorna."  
  
"Thank Kami Orchida that you are not my child!" Gorna snapped   
angrily. "But you are wrong when you say that I have no say in this matter. I   
am your oldest sibling and the next heir to Astoria's throne, and no sister of   
mine is marrying a reprobate like Ridikar. Yes, I agree with Rojal that such a   
union would strengthen an alliance with Calmag, but I do not agree with him   
about you marrying Ridikar. The young man is no good, even if he is to be the   
next ruler of this planet after his father! I forbid it, Tayla Chloe, and   
that's final! I will prevent this marriage, if I have to chain you by your   
wrists to your bed!"  
  
Tayla leaped out of her chair and stared defiantly at Gorna. The   
room became quiet and tense. "You will not prevent anything, Gorna, for I am   
not subject to you yet. You should be happy that I am marrying Ridikar; you   
said so yourself that anything to help Calmag and Astoria ally with each other   
is a good thing."  
  
Gorna hissed at Tayla's first sentence, "I did not mean my youngest   
sibling marrying a disgraceful young man like Ridikar! You have no idea what   
that boy is truly like-why he has done nothing but cause trouble. He drinks and   
parties constantly, and he's a weakling and a coward. There is nothing in him,   
nothing worthy."  
  
"I see many things in him that are worthy," Tayla told her quietly.   
"And he is no coward, Gorna, for he had the courage to propose to me right in   
front of everyone yesterday."  
  
"You are a Princess of Chloe!" Gorna shouted. "And no Princess of   
Chloe related to me will disgrace herself by marrying at only age twelve. You   
have often cause trouble and disgrace for me in the past, making me angry,   
taking up everyone's attention and favors, but this, Tayla Chloe, this time you   
have gone too far! You aren't worthy of the attention and love that everyone   
showers on you-"  
  
"Gorna!" Gracina cried out.  
  
"That will be enough, Gorna!" Shalila snapped angrily.  
  
"Quiet, Gracina, I will have my say," Gorna shouted at her younger   
sister. She turned to Shalila and said bitterly, "Nama, you defend her even   
now? Considering that she has let us all down?"  
  
"Gorna," Shalila told her sternly. "I do not approve of Tayla's   
actions yesterday, but I do not approve of how the situation was handled either.   
And Tayla has done nothing to you personally to deserve your insults. If you   
have constructive criticism for her, fine, but no insults or hurtful remarks   
that will make things worse."  
  
Gorna stiffly turned away from her; all she could see was that   
Shalila was still defending Tayla. She turned to her errant youngest sibling   
and completely ignored her grandmother's advice. "Tayla, I knew that one day   
you would do something to mar your name and reputation and that day has come!   
You have shamed the Clan of Chloe name with your actions! I am ashamed to call   
you my sister! You are a spoiled brat who insists on having everything your own   
way, and if you were my daughter, I would cast you out-"  
  
Tayla burst into tears at that moment, as she held up seven fingers.   
"Then cast me out then, Gorna! Allow this marriage to happen, and I promise,   
by the Seven Moons of Astoria, that you will never see me again! You have   
always hated me, Gorna, for no good reason! I don't what I have done to you to   
deserve this before now, but it no longer matters! Why do you hate me so much?   
I wanted to love you and you to love me, but I know that will never happen! You   
should be happy that I am marrying Ridikar, for I will not be coming back to   
Astoria to pester you anymore. Then you can be happy once and for all and have   
Nama and everyone to yourself, just like you always wanted! You'll finally get   
your wish, Gorna: to be rid of me permanently!" And with that, she pushed past   
everyone and ran out of the meeting hall, with everyone calling after her.  
  
"Tayla! Come back, please!" Shalila cried, her heart breaking at   
her granddaughter's pain.  
  
"Tayla!" Dirkan cried. He and Shalila ran out of the hall after   
her.  
  
Gracina told Gorna nastily, "Congratulations, Gorna, you finally won. Your wish   
has been granted. Just tell me this much: are you happy with what you wished   
for?" Gracina then ran after Dirkan and Shalila.  
  
Gorna fell to her knees and grew silent. 


	44. Gorna Turns Over A New Leaf

Chapter Forty-Four: Gorna Turns Over A New Leaf  
  
Two hours later  
  
The entire meeting hall had long ago cleared, but a shocked Gorna   
stayed there alone with Rojal. Rojal put his hand on Gorna's arm.  
  
"Mother, don't worry, this is all for the best," Rojal told his   
stunned mother.  
  
Gorna said nothing, and her pale eyes were becoming watery when   
Riccan dashed into the meeting hall and shouted aloud:  
  
"Tayla's gone! Ridikar came to pick her up on his hover bike, and   
they flew out of the city! Look at this note!"  
  
Dear Nama, Dirkan, Gracina and everyone else,   
  
I have decided to go away for a little while. Ridikar is taking me with him   
to go explore Calmag, and so I will be with him for a few days. Maybe by the   
time we return,everyone will be happy again.   
  
I'm sorry for any pain or worry that I'm about to cause.  
  
Love, Tayla  
  
Gorna stayed on her knees and cried. She saw in her mind the pain   
in Tayla's eyes when Tayla had cried out loud that Gorna had always hated her.   
Gorna forced herself now to remember the awful way she had treated her youngest   
sibling the past twelve years of the girl's life. Tayla's haunting question,   
"Why do you hate me so much?" kept banging against the walls of Gorna's mind.   
In that moment, Gorna realized the full horror of what pain she had caused her   
sister.  
  
"Kami Orchida," she whispered, "what have I done to that girl?"  
  
Shalila returned at that moment with Gracina. Both of the women's   
eyes were full of tears.  
  
"We can't find that child anywhere," Gracina choked.  
  
"Gorna, Rojal, Riccan, you haven't heard from her, have you?"   
Shalila asked worriedly.  
  
Gorna arose sadly, the pain of what she had done to her youngest   
sibling weighing upon her heart. Rojal stood nearby quietly, not saying a word.   
Riccan stood in a corner with his face to a wall, trying not to let anyone see   
his tears at Tayla's departure. Finally he went over to his mother and put his   
face in her dress. Gracina held his head against her thigh.  
  
"She would never come to me. Never." She showed Shalila and   
Gracina the note and whispered, "This is all my fault."  
  
"WHAT?" Shalila and Gracina cried, not only shocked at the note, but   
also shocked at Gorna for admitting blame. It wasn't like Gorna to admit that   
she was wrong, unless she was forced to do so.  
  
"You are right, Nama," Gorna whispered hoarsely, unable to look her   
grandmother or her sister in their eyes. "That child has done nothing to me,   
and I treat her so badly."  
  
"Why, Gorna?" Gracina asked quietly. "I never understood what you   
had against our sister."  
  
Gorna was deeply ashamed now, remembering that look of extreme pain   
festering in Tayla's brown eyes. "My Kami," she whispered, "what have I done?"   
She tried to think of her next words carefully. Finally she said chokingly, "I   
don't hate her, I really don't. How could she have thought that I hated her?"  
  
"You've never given her any reason to think otherwise," Gracina told   
her severely.  
  
Gorna said softly, "No, I haven't. I have always been jealous of   
her, and she is just a child. Strange, she's younger than my own children. Why   
have I treated her so badly? It is not her fault that she is more loved than I   
am-"  
  
"Gorna," Shalila told her gently. "You are loved no less than   
Tayla. You are both loved the same, in different ways for different reasons.   
Gorna, many people look up to you and are expecting you to rule over them wisely   
and well one day. No one can replace you, and I rely on you in many ways. Look   
what you have done to help this alliance with Calmag; most of the credit goes to   
you, my dear. Yes, Tayla may be petted more, but she is the youngest and a   
little girl--well I guess I can't say she's really a little girl anymore, can   
I?"  
  
"If she is, she won't be for long," Gracina whispered. "She's   
already growing up, and so fast too. I remember I had started thinking of boys   
when I was her age as well."  
  
"You had a flock of suitors before you were thirteen," Gorna   
scolded, but the usual sharpness was not in her tone. "It took me a long time   
to find someone who wanted to marry me, and Etros came along. I will admit that   
I envied you as well, Gracina, for the way you could always twist Pappa and   
Granpappa around your little finger as well as the boys your age." Gracina had   
always been the most popular with suitors out of all of the Mantros Chloe   
sisters. Blond, blue-eyed, brave, intelligent, and the most beautiful Mantros   
Chloe sister, sensible Gracina had never been denied any attention that she had   
wanted. Gorna, plain, plump and peevish, had thanked the ancestors and Kami   
Orchida when Etros had begun courting her.  
  
Gracina tried to think of a way to deny this, but she couldn't, for   
she knew Gorna's words were true. Finally, she said, "True, but don't you   
remember, Gorna, that Granpappa favored you above most of us? Remember when he   
used to call you his little chocolate dumpling?"  
  
Gorna permitted herself a small smile. "Yes, I do. I miss him so   
much, even to this day. I guess that's why I was angry with you, Nama, for   
marrying Dirkan five years ago. I was afraid that you had forgotten about   
Granpappa."  
  
Shalila rested her hand on Gorna's shoulder and smiled gently. "No,   
dear, I haven't forgotten about your grandfather. I will always love him, and   
he gave me so much, including you two ladies, and our little Tayla. I wouldn't   
have any of you right now, if it hadn't been for him." Her reminiscing face   
clouded suddenly. "Speaking of Tayla, we have to go find her now! Gracina,   
Gorna, I'm worried about her; she's never been like this before."  
  
Gorna hung her head in shame, blaming herself further. "I'll never   
forgive myself if anything happens to that poor girl." Gorna felt worst than   
ever now, for she had remembered several times in her life when a small Tayla   
had tried to make overtures of affection towards her and had been cruelly   
snubbed. Gorna could never bring herself to show love or affection towards   
Tayla, and she had secretly envied Shalila and Gracina's easy ability to do so.   
Tayla had always been petted and doted on.  
  
Gracina noticed and said, "Gorna, you can't dwell on that now; when   
we find Tayla, you'll have plenty of time to make amends with her."  
  
"She'll come back," Rojal said curtly, speaking at last. "She's   
just hiding out, hoping to make us feel sorry for her. At least she did the   
right thing for once by agreeing to marry Prince Ridikar; when she marries him,   
she'll be one less problem we have to worry about-"  
  
Gorna turned on him in a rage. "Don't you ever belittle her again,   
Rojal, do you understand me?" she hissed in such a sharp a tone that even   
Shalila and Gracina, used to her rages, drew back.  
  
"Mother!" Rojal gasped in amazement at his mother defending Tayla.   
"I was just-"  
  
"You were just going to say how much trouble she is, weren't you?"   
Gorna snapped. "Rojal, neither one of us are going to do anything to hurt her   
again, do you understand me? We were both wrong to treat her the way we have   
been; it is more my fault than yours, for I started this, making you think that   
Tayla was inferior to us. Well, I am going to do something to make up for what   
we have done, and so are you. You are going to help us search for her."  
  
"You can search for her," Rojal shouted at his mother. "She's not   
my problem or my concern. I am not about to waste my time, knowing that she   
will eventually come back on her own. I'll be here waiting." He marched out of   
the room.  
  
"Rojal Chloe!" Shalila screamed at him angrily. "You come back here   
immediately!" But Rojal was already long gone.  
  
"Never mind him, Nama," Gorna said firmly. "I will settle him   
later. Tayla is our main concern right now."  
  
Shalila nodded, and then something stuck her heart. "My Kami, I am   
no less innocent than anyone else! I snapped at her myself when I should have   
tried to tell her kindly why Ridikar wasn't right for her. The tone I used to   
speak to her when she asked me if I wanted her to become a Queen was harsh; she   
wasn't being impertinent. She was simply asking honestly. I thought that she   
was talking back to me, and she had never really done that before. I will never   
forgive myself if-"  
  
"Nama, please don't think about that right now," Gracina said,   
distressed. "Let's just find her and bring her back safely. I could break that   
Prince Ridikar's neck; this is all his doing! He probably talked Tayla into   
going. If that little bastard lays an improper hand on her, I'll show him just   
how dangerous a Princess of Chloe can be!"  
  
"I'll hurt him too!" Riccan declared vociferously, speaking for the   
first time since he had shown Rojal and Gorna the note. "Just because I'm   
littler than he is doesn't mean I can't beat him up!"  
"Riccan," Gracina told her son more quietly. "The adults will   
handle that part, if necessary. Why don't you go ask the other children if they   
heard from Tayla, okay?"  
  
Riccan nodded and left the meeting hall. The others followed behind   
him shortly after.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A small woods near the city of Magan under the city dome.  
  
Tayla and Ridikar had not actually left Magan yet, but they were   
preparing to. Ridikar had his two menservants pack some things for him, and   
Tayla had packed herself a small suitcase. Ridikar had told Tayla that leaving   
for a few days would be best for everyone.  
  
"And then by the time we come back, everyone will be so glad to know   
that you're alive that they will let us marry," Ridikar told her happily,   
kissing her cheek. He and Tayla were sitting on Ridikar's hover bike near a   
small pond. Tayla liked Ridikar, but she was having second thoughts about   
leaving her family behind without permission. She smoothed her pale blue caftan   
and twisted her pearly yellow sash with blue birds on it in her hand.  
  
"Ridikar, I've been thinking," she began quietly, now that she had   
had time to calm down and think things over. "I don't think it's a good idea   
for us to leave; your family and my family will not approve-"  
  
"My father will understand," Ridikar interrupted, "and I've already   
left him a note. He will approve of our marriage, Tayla, I promise you. Tayla,   
we are going to be so happy together; you will enjoy being a Calmagian Princess   
and bearing my heirs. Just think: King Ridikar and Queen Tayla of Calmag!" He   
wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, their lips almost touching.  
  
Tayla was quiet and thoughtful now, now ashamed of her earlier   
behavior. "I shouldn't have talked to Gorna the way I did back there." She   
suddenly didn't want to be held, and she began easing herself away from him.  
  
"Yes, you should have," Ridikar assured her easily, not allowing her   
to pull away. "Your elder sister should have been happy for you. Doesn't she   
realize what a tremendous opportunity this is for you? She should be proud to   
have a sister of hers become a Queen someday! You worry too much, Tayla."  
  
Tayla tried again to pull away from Ridikar, but Ridikar's hold on   
her was firm. "Ridikar, my family was right: I should not have gone off with   
you by myself yesterday; I should have had a chaperone with me. What we did   
yesterday was wrong; it felt nice, and I liked you kissing me, but it was too   
soon. We should have waited. Ridikar, I like you very much, but I think we   
should break our engagement off; at least until we are older."  
  
"Break our engagement off?" Ridikar laughed. "Tayla, you are so   
funny sometimes! I love you and I want you to be my bride! I'll never agree to   
you breaking off our engagement; we are as good as wed now! And once you marry   
me, you won't have to worry about being a warrior anymore!"  
  
"Will I be allowed to be a warrior?" Tayla asked, more concerned   
than ever now.  
  
"Of course not!" Ridikar laughed merrily. "Fighting is for men!   
The only thing you need to be concerned with after our marriage, Tayla, is   
bearing my heirs and being a good wife. You won't need to fight anymore; I will   
fight for you. You also won't need to be a healer anymore either; you can just   
relax and be a lady and a future Queen." He put his lips on her neck, and Tayla   
grew hot and uncomfortable, as his hands began stroking her torso. He wasn't   
this aggressive yesterday.  
  
"But Aunt Toria, Kami Orchida, Dirkan, and Nama all expect me to be   
a healior," Tayla protested. "Everyone is expecting me to grow up strong and   
powerful, maybe even strong enough to defeat Frieza one day. Kami Orchida has   
trained me long and hard for two years, and I can't let her and the others down.   
I can't stop being a warrior or a healer, Ridikar, I can't. And I don't want   
to."  
  
"Sure you can," Ridikar declared. "I don't want my wife fighting   
and possibly getting killed when her job is to be the mother of my children! I   
will take care of both of us, starting now." He pulled Tayla tighter against   
him, and Tayla managed to get a hand free.  
  
"Stop!" she cried out, trying to push him away. "What are you   
doing?"  
  
"Trying to spend time with you before our departure," Ridikar told   
her, kissing her neck as Tayla squirmed uncomfortably. "You know, Tayla, you   
make me feel so good, and I don't think my father will object if we were to   
consummate our marriage before the actual ceremony."  
  
"Consummate?" Tayla asked, a new fear rising up in her heart. "You   
mean lie with each other before marriage? That would be wrong."  
  
"No, it wouldn't, the men in my family do it all the time. My   
father lay with my mother before their marriage, and Alberm lay with Caline a   
week before the ceremony. Of course, she said he was too rough, but she   
survived. I'll be gentle with you, however, seeing it's your first time." He   
began reaching under the hem of her sky blue caftan and began sliding the dress   
over her thigh.  
  
"No!" Tayla cried, her voice loud enough now to frighten nearby   
birds away. "I don't want to do this, Ridikar! I promised Nama, Seven Moons   
Oath, that I would wait until I was properly wed. Let me go; I want to go   
back!"  
  
"No, you don't," Ridikar said to her smoothly, completely ignoring   
her protests. "You are going to stay here with me until I lay claim to you and   
make you my wife in spirit. You're going to enjoy this, I promise you." He   
pushed her down onto the ground faster than Tayla could free herself. He tried   
to pin her beneath his weight, as he and Tayla struggled with each other. Tayla   
was about to punch him in his ribs, as she was terrified beyond belief, but   
Ridikar quickly seized her by both of her wrists, and her ki began to drain.   
Tayla was more scared than before, for she was now absolutely helpless.  
  
"Let me go!" she cried in terror, for Ridikar was holding her wrists   
so tightly that her ki was becoming weaker by the second.  
  
"I didn't want to have to do this, Tayla, but it was either that or   
paralyze you," Ridikar told her with a new, hard edge in his normally suave   
voice. "I know that Astorians cannot fight back when they are grabbed by their   
wrists, and I didn't want to have to resort to this, but I guess I have to." He   
crushed his lips against hers, as Tayla continued to fight him with little   
energy that she had. Ridikar had now succeeded in pushing her caftan up to her   
waist. Tayla continued to squirm, as Ridikar whispered with his lips against   
hers, "I've been wanting you for a long time, Tayla, and once I lay claim to   
you, you will have to marry me-Calmagian law. Even your family won't have a   
choice." Ridikar tore her caftan open up to her chest, ripping her dress and   
her sash, a new sash that Gracina had made for her.  
  
Tayla was trying not to cry, but she couldn't help it, as a tear or   
two slid down her cheek. This was all her fault; she shouldn't have been alone   
with Ridikar, she should have listened to her family, and now she was about to   
get what she thought she deserved.  
  
Ridikar crushed his lips against hers further, as he pushed his   
tongue in her mouth, and that was his first real mistake. Tayla sank her teeth   
into his tongue, and Ridikar screamed in pain. She tasted blood-Ridikar's   
blood. Tayla spat out the amber fluid that had leaked into her mouth.  
  
"You little slut!" he screeched, now being forced to release her   
wrists entirely, as he brought his hands to his now bloody mouth. He made   
another grab for her, as Tayla managed to slide out from underneath him. Before   
he could seize her, however, Tayla punched him hard in his face, making him fall   
backwards into the pond. He made a fantastic splash, scaring away the fish in   
the pond. When he came out of the water, a red frog was sitting on top of his   
head.  
  
Tears still streaming down her cheeks, Tayla rose to her feet and   
then, she began to laugh uncontrollably, seeing a normally smooth and debonair   
Ridikar soaked to the bone with a frog on his head.  
  
"As Nama would say, you're all wet!" Tayla couldn't stop laughing at   
him, as she pointed to him.  
  
"I'll get you, Tayla Chloe, if you don't go through with the   
marriage!" Ridikar snarled. "I'll ruin you, if you don't marry me! We are   
betrothed, and only the man may break the engagement, not the woman! You will   
marry me, or I'll-I'll tell my family and there will be no alliance between your   
planets! Your family will hate you, and so will mine, if you don't agree to be   
my bride! No lady refuses me!"  
  
Tayla grew worried then, her laughter suddenly coming to a halt.   
Could Ridikar do that? She repressed her fear for now, however, and turned on her heel away from him, trying to hold her torn caftan together. She leaped into the air and flew away from a soaked Ridikar as fast as she could, taking her bag with her.  
  
When she was out of the Magan woods, and near the outskirts of the   
city, she heard a faint sobbing below in some bushes beneath her. Tayla landed   
gracefully down near the bushes and searched the shrubs, suddenly finding a   
crying, bloody figure with pale hair and white skin.  
  
"Caline!" she cried, alarmed.  
  
Caline looked up from the ground. There was a large bruise on her   
snowy cheek, and she had two black eyes. Her nose was bleeding and her gold   
dress was torn in shreds. Bruises decorated her exposed torso, arms and legs.   
Tayla especially noticed the bruises around Caline's thighs and stomach.  
  
Tayla swiftly drew the girl up into her arms, and Caline cried loud   
and hard into Tayla's budding bosom. Tayla put aside her troubles for now, for   
Caline needed her.  
  
"Alberm?" she whispered.  
  
Caline sobbed and nodded.  
  
"I-I was feeling sick, very sick, and I told Alberm that I did not   
want to lie with him last night, but he became angry and forced me, beating me   
up. I-I tried to fight him off, begging him to stop, but the more I resisted,   
the angrier he became. Finally he-he had his way with me and hit me harder for   
refusing him. He is so cruel when he couples with me, Tayla!"  
  
Tayla's concern hardened into fury. "I'll-I'll kill him for that!   
He'll pay, Caline; I promise you, he will pay! I'll make him pay for this!   
We'll go to my Nama and your father, and they'll-"  
  
"My father won't do anything, I know," Caline whispered fearfully,   
her bloody and bruised face in Tayla's torn caftan. Caline was too wracked with   
fear and terror to notice that Tayla was also in distress. "He admires Alberm,   
and they are close friends; he'll think that I deserved what I received. No one   
will help me, except for maybe you, Tayla. Tayla, I am so scared! Will you   
help me hide or run away? Please?" The little child bride began to cry louder.   
Tayla held her close and pulled out her small suitcase.  
  
"Caline, come with me," Tayla ordered her softly, as she opened her   
suitcase and drew out a small red, leather case. The red case held medicines   
that Tayla, like all healiors, carried with her. She led Caline further into   
the bushes, hiding them both fully. She gently removed Caline's garments and   
began cleaning and treating her new friend's wounds the best that she could with   
her healior kit. She whispered to Caline that she was not going to hurt her, as   
she felt the other girl for broken bones. Thankfully, there were none, although   
the Calmagian princess did have a sprained wrist, which Tayla put a splint on.   
Tayla then took out an extra caftan from her suitcase that was a deep purple and   
encouraged Caline to put it on. The caftan was a size too large, but Caline was   
grateful and happy for it. Tayla gave her a violet sash to match.  
  
"I-I promise that I will have these returned to you," Caline told   
her in a whisper.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Tayla assured her softly. "You may keep   
them; I have others." Tayla pulled out a damp cloth and cleaned Caline's pale hair with it, as best as she could. She then took out a pale green hairbrush and brushed Caline's hair slowly with it, trying to fix her friend's tresses the best that she could. She gave Caline several poultices for her bruises, but it would be a while before the bruises went away.  
  
Caline was calmer now, but then her pale blue eyes widened, as if   
just remembering something horrible. "Tayla, I forgot, forgive me, but there's   
something that I must tell you-"  
  
Tayla cut her off for now. "Tell me on the way; we are going to see   
Nama and Dirkan about this." She then gently put her arms around Caline from   
behind and was about to carry her into the air when a sharp voice that Tayla had   
come to hate sliced through the still Calmagian air. She quickly released   
Caline and dug into her suitcase quickly, finding her sword.  
  
"Where are you taking my wife?"  
  
"Alberm!" Caline shrieked in terror.  
  
Tayla pulled out her blade quickly from her suitcase. "Touch her   
again, fat man, and your heart will meet my blade," she said coldly, the last   
half of the sentence being one of her grandmother's favorite battle quotes.  
  
Then she heard a familiar voice call for her. 


	45. Tayla Saves The Day For Now

Chapter Forty-Five: Tayla Saves The Day-For Now  
  
"Princess Tayla! There you are! Your entire family has been   
worried about you!" The Arlian Interrogator, Reccor, cried aloud. "They have   
been searching everyone for you!"  
  
"I will see them, shortly, Reccor," Tayla told him calmly. "Reccor,   
would you please find Nama and Dirkan and ask them to wait for me?"   
  
She turned to Alberm, and said in an icy voice, "You will not   
bother or touch Caline anymore, Alberm. You have hurt her long enough, way too   
long for my taste! I am going to my grandmother and my Uncle Kitchator, and   
they will make you pay for what you have done to Caline! You are a bastard,   
worse than a Saiyan, and when you go to hell, I will feel sorry for the devils   
down there, for even they don't deserve to put up with someone as despicable as   
you! Why, even Frieza wouldn't sink as low as you have!" Tayla didn't know   
that last fact for sure; she was just using that comparison to deliberately   
insult Caline's abusive husband.  
  
Alberm's red, fat face twisted into an ugly, sneering expression.   
"You disreputable Astorian tramp! If you weren't a Princess of Chloe and a   
guest of the King and the Queen's, I'd give you the spanking that you deserve!"  
  
Tayla narrowed her milk chocolate eyes at him, as she held out her   
sword in front of him. She said in a cool, frosty tone, "Why don't you do it   
then, Alberm? You seem to be very talented at beating up little girls; why   
don't you try to beat up one who can actually fight you back?"   
  
Alberm pulled out his sword. "Are you challenging me?"  
  
Tayla laughed derisively, arrogantly. Alberm was standing there,   
angry, red-faced and sweating. Tayla was more than ready to teach him a lesson,   
and Tayla stepped towards him deliberately, sword raised.  
  
Alberm, who was usually hailed to be a mighty warrior, found himself   
unnerved by this tiny girl, not much larger than Caline, determined to make him   
see the errors of his ways. He had fought opponents long enough to know when   
they were bluffing, and when they weren't. And Tayla was not bluffing.  
  
Reccor knew that Tayla wasn't bluffing either. "Princess Tayla,   
please, you mustn't challenge him," Reccor pleaded. "He is an important man   
here, and fighting him could bring much trouble for your family and planet."  
  
Tayla glared darkly at Reccor, but realizing that he was right, she   
decided to take his advice-for now.  
  
Tayla told Alberm coldly, her laughter dying. "You are no challenge   
to me," she told him haughtily. "You are a coward and a beast, no calling you a   
beast would be insulting real beasts, for even animals do not beat on their   
mates. Why should I waste my time fighting a coward who hits on his own wife?   
And to think, I could have been in Caline's shoes a few years from now! Well, I   
will see personally that you will never harm Caline again, and if you do, I will   
kill you whether you are an important person here or not."  
  
Caline and Reccor gasped in horror at Tayla's final sentence,   
wondering if she meant what she said. Alberm grew furious; no female of any age   
was going to threaten his life, no matter how powerful she appeared to be.  
  
"You little witch!" Alberm hissed. "How dare you threaten me? Do   
you not know whom you are speaking with? I am Lord Alberm Dunlop, owner of the   
city of Rendor, as well as twelve thousand acres of land! No female talks to me   
this way! I think that I will give you that spanking-the spanking that your   
grandmother and her husband should have given you years ago!" And with that, he   
charged after her with his sword. Tayla prepared to defend herself.  
  
"Alberm, no!" Reccor cried aloud. "You may be a mighty fighter, but   
this child is more powerful than you are-"  
  
But Alberm wouldn't listen, as he and Tayla clashed swords. Alberm   
was determined to defeat this brat who dared to stand up to him. Astorian   
females were such impertinent, disrespectful little wenches, and Alberm was   
determined to put this one in her place.  
The sword clashing continued for fifteen minutes until Alberm lunged for Tayla,   
and Tayla leapt out of his way. Alberm threw himself at Tayla, determined this   
time to truly harm her, as he aimed his sword towards her stomach, but Tayla   
successfully blocked his sword with her blade. Alberm decided to cheat then,   
and he pulled out a small dagger from a sheath on his belt with his free hand.  
  
"Stop!" Reccor cried.  
  
"Tayla, look out!" Caline cried in fear.  
  
Tayla saw the dagger coming, and she responded with a swift kick of   
her agile foot to Alberm's pudgy, soft abdomen. Alberm tried to stab her again,   
this time with his sword, but Tayla reacted by blocking his sword once again   
with hers, and this time Alberm fell over backwards onto the ground, hitting his   
head on a rock. It was not hard enough to make him unconscious.  
  
Tayla held her sword to Alberm's throbbing Adam's apple, which   
resembled the loose skin under a turkey's neck. "You will apologize to Caline   
at once, and then you will stay away from her forever! Say that you're sorry   
for your sins to her-now!"  
  
Alberm was not as fast a fighter as Tayla was, but he could be as   
cunning as she was. He used his foot to kick Tayla's ankle and knock her off of   
her feet literally. While Tayla was trying to steady herself, Alberm slid out   
from under her the point of her sword, and he touched her, paralyzing her so   
that she could not move at all.  
  
Tayla froze until she was as still as a statue, and then she toppled   
over onto the ground. Caline screamed in horror, as Tayla was the one to fall   
down and hit her head hard on a stone bench. She lay there, very still and   
quiet, with her eyes closed. Her ki was not present, and she didn't appear to   
be breathing. Caline began to tremble and shake, terrified by her champion's   
defeat.  
  
Reccor was horrified himself, as his whole cricket-like body shook.   
"Alberm, what have you done? Don't you know that was a Princess of Chloe that   
you did that to? She was just a little girl, Alberm! What will her grandmother   
say? Worst, what will Lord Frieza say if you killed her? Frieza will have both   
of our heads on his wall for this! He will blame me for this!"  
  
"Lord Frieza?" Caline gasped in horror. Caline knew who Frieza was,   
although she did not know personally what he looked like. She turned to Reccor   
and said hoarsely, "You work for Frieza too?"  
  
"Reccor, you fool!" Alberm snarled, now standing on his feet again.   
"Now my wife knows! What are we supposed to do now?"  
  
"Wait a minute, Alberm," Reccor said. "She said the word 'too'.   
She knows that you work for Frieza as well? She knows now that we are spies for   
him?"  
  
Caline's white face turned whiter than usual. Alberm turned to her,   
realizing the truth, realizing that Caline now knew of his true occupation.   
  
Caline was terrified now, for she had overheard Alberm using his   
scouter last night to contact Frieza. She had heard Frieza's voice for the   
first time, and it had been telling Alberm that Jaden (who had secretly   
contacted Frieza through her scouter when the CRP officers weren't paying   
attention) had managed to get her team arrested, and they were going to invade   
the capital of Calmag and capture Princess Tayla that way. Alberm's child bride   
had heard this after Alberm had beaten and raped her, and a bloody, battered   
Caline had escaped while Alberm was sleeping, so that she could warn Tayla of   
what was coming.  
  
Alberm walked menacingly towards Caline, his face cruel and   
murderous. "What else do you know about my work with Frieza, my dear, sweet   
little wife?" he asked coldly.  
  
"N-nothing!" Caline cried in terror, lying.  
  
Alberm smiled cruelly. "And that's what they will hear from you, my   
dear--nothing. You see, my darling, you are now a liability to me as well as a   
nuisance. I wanted you, and you refused me countless times. While it is   
exciting to force you now and then, your screams are starting to become   
annoying. I doubt that you will even be able to bear me strong children with   
your weak little body, so I shall have to find a new wife."  
  
Caline shook in her crystal gold shoes, trying to figure out what   
Alberm was truly saying. "You intend to divorce me?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Oh no, my love," Alberm purred. "I would never divorce a Calmagian   
princess. It seems to me that you have a big mouth, and that was proved when   
you dared to blab to your little girlfriend about my beating you, knowing that   
the Astorians disapprove of our disciplinary methods. I bet that you were here   
to tell Tayla about my working for Frieza, weren't you?"  
  
Caline wanted to run, but she was frozen in terror, too seized with   
fear to run away. "No, no, you are my husband; I would not betray you!"  
  
"I know you wouldn't," Alberm told her easily, coming closer to her,   
"And I know that you never will, for dead wives tell no tales." He then grabbed   
Caline's throat in his big, meaty fist and began to strangle her.  
  
Reccor was startled by Alberm's strangling his own wife, but he said   
nothing. He knew as well as Alberm that Caline was now a threat to both of   
them, if she spoke about what she knew. He was horrified that someone would   
deliberately kill his own mate, especially a child, but he neither did nor said   
nothing.  
  
"Good-bye, sweet little Caline," Alberm told his dying child wife   
silkily, as Caline began to pass out.  
  
Suddenly, someone slid a hand up the hem of his trouser leg and   
grabbed his ankle, and the hand grabbing his ankle raked its nails into his   
thick flesh, piercing him, hurting him. Alberm howled in pain, as he was forced   
to release Caline's neck. He looked down below him and into the now open eyes   
of a very angry Tayla.  
  
"P-Princess Tayla!" Alberm cried aloud. "You shouldn't have been   
able to move-"  
  
Tayla decided that she was through playing with Alberm, so she   
seized his ankle again and electrocuted him, sending a nasty wave of electricity   
throughout his fat, corpulent body. Alberm emitted a scream of pure terror, as   
the voltage ran through his quivering, sweaty form, and then he fell to the   
ground and collapsed.  
  
Caline fell back away from Alberm just before his tubby body fell   
and hit the concrete hard, hitting his head once again. Reccor quickly rushed   
to Alberm, knelt beside him, and felt for a pulse; Alberm was still   
alive-barely.  
  
Tayla quickly rose to her feet, shocked at how much damage she had   
inflicted on Caline's obese, abusive husband. She swallowed her horror at her   
actions and repressed it. A sobbing Caline fled to her heroine, and Tayla took   
her into her arms and let her cry.  
  
"H-How were y-you able to-to overcome your paralysis?" Caline   
stammered between sobs.  
  
Tayla, trying to keep her voice steady, said shakily, "I was never   
paralyzed to began with. While I was training under Kami Orchida, she helped me   
to build immunity against certain attacks, and the Calmagian paralysis attack   
was one of them. Never thought that I needed it, but I was proven wrong today.   
In other words, I faked Alberm out."  
  
Reccor began to tremble when he heard Tayla's words. That meant that Tayla   
herself now knew that he worked for Frieza. Lord Frieza was not going to like   
this.  
  
Reccor knew then he had to flee, for he was a spy, not a warrior; he   
had no chance against Tayla, if she chose to fight him. He also could not fly,   
even though he had a cricket-like body. Before he could run, however, Tayla   
released Caline and flew at him, landing on top of him and pinning him to the   
ground. Quickly, she held the point of her sword to his throat.  
  
"I'm placing you under Chloe Royalty Arrest for treason!" she told   
sharply. "Stay where you are, or you will be sorry!"  
  
Reccor froze at her words. He knew what Chloe Royalty Arrest was;   
it was an act of arrest that any Clan of Chloe warrior or healior twelve years   
or older could enact on any other Astorian, alien, or legal resident of Astoria.   
All Clan of Chloe warrior or healior twelve years or older had the authority to   
arrest anyone on Astoria whom they thought might be a threat to the lives or   
safety of others, and by law, the parties being arrested had to submit. There   
were laws and rules in place to prevent gross abuses of Chloe Royalty Arrest,   
but most of the time, they weren't necessary, for the arresting fighters almost   
always used their power judiciously.  
  
"P-Princess," he stammered nervously, afraid to talk too loud   
because of the nearness of Tayla's sword. "T-that talk about my   
w-working for Frieza; it was just a joke, a very bad joke, but nevertheless a   
joke! Please, Princess, release me; I was only kidding about working for   
Frieza!"  
  
Tayla did not believe him for a second. "That will be up to Nama   
and Dirkan to determine; until then, consider yourself under arrest. If you try   
to escape, I will be forced to hurt you, so I suggest you stay where you are."   
Her tone now was steady and confident and bold; she was carefully hiding her   
fears about Reccor's part in Frieza's empire.  
  
"Tayla! There you are!" Gracina cried, flying towards her, her gold   
hair streaming in the coming Calmagian wind.  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila cried, following behind her, as Gorna followed   
behind her grandmother and sister. All three older women gathered around her,   
where they noticed Tayla holding a sword to Reccor's throat.  
  
"Tayla, what are you doing?" Gorna gasped. "Why do you have a sword   
at Reccor's throat?"  
  
Tayla did not move an inch nor look into her relatives' eyes. She   
kept a steady, wary gaze on both Reccor and Alberm. "He is a traitor under   
arrest for treason," she told them calmly. "He works for Frieza, spying for   
him. Ask Alberm when he awakens, for he is a spy for Frieza, as well."  
  
Shalila and Gorna were horrified, for they had trusted and depended   
upon Reccor for many years, many years before Tayla's birth. Gorna had known   
Reccor since she was a young teenager. They found Tayla's words hard to   
believe, but then Tayla had never lied to them, so they knew, without a doubt,   
that she was telling the truth.  
  
But Reccor was still trying to save himself. "She-she lies, or she   
is mistaken!" Reccor cried hoarsely. "I would never betray Astoria or the Clan   
of Chloe! How can you believe her word over mine? I have been a trusted   
official for years, and she is a mere child! You both know how well children   
can lie!"  
  
Gorna carefully put her fine, red-booted toe under Reccor's chin,   
just above the point of Tayla's sword. Reccor's insect chin rested unsteadily   
upon Gorna's steel toe. "My sister does not lie," she told him evenly. "You   
dare to call her a liar, and you are the worst liar of all. My sister has made   
her mistakes in the past couple of days, but she is honorable; she has always   
told the truth, to the best of my knowledge. I may not have always treated her   
as well as I should have, but I have never had any reason to doubt her word.   
How long have you been working for Frieza?"   
  
Gorna then pulled out her own sword from a sheath resting on the   
back of her pine-green caftan. She turned to Tayla. "Tayla, your grandmother   
and I will handle matters from here; you may now step aside." Tayla did so   
meekly, amazed at Gorna defending her for the first time. She still was   
watching Gorna in astonishment, as she turned Reccor over to Gorna and backed   
away. Gorna now had her sword at Reccor's throat and began barking questions at   
him in sharp tones. Tayla drew Caline closer to her and led her over to Shalila   
and Gracina.  
  
Tayla looked into her grandmother's and her sister's eyes. "Alberm   
was going to kill Caline, who is his wife, because she had learned about their   
spying for Frieza, so I had to stop him." She looked towards the unconscious   
corpulent form of Alberm lying on the ground, barely alive. "That's why I had   
to fight him, and later electrocute him. I also had to fight him-because-"--her   
next words were harder to say-"he beat up Caline and raped her."  
  
Shalila gathered Tayla to her, and Gracina gathered Caline to her   
and looked sadly into Caline's frightened eyes. "You poor child! That   
bastard!" She smoothed a shaking Caline's wispy, pale hair. "You needn't fear   
anymore, little one; no one is going to hurt you again." Caline cried in   
Gracina's arms.  
  
Shalila pressed Tayla to her body tightly and bent down towards her,   
kissing her forehead firmly. "I am proud of you, my little dandelion."  
  
Tayla was now deeply ashamed of the way she had behaved earlier that day. She   
did not feel that she deserved her grandmother's praise. "Nama, will you   
forgive me for the way I have been acting lately? I have been foolish. I don't   
wish to marry Ridikar; am I going to have to anyway?"  
  
Shalila smiled slowly, ruffling Tayla's dark hair. "All is   
forgiven, and no, you don't have to marry anyone that you don't wish to. What   
made you change your mind?"  
  
Tayla was silent then; she did not feel like reliving the horror of   
what Ridikar had tried to do to her that day. She herself was now crying   
slowly, the slow tears soaking a spot on her grandmother's caftan.  
  
"Tayla?" Shalila asked softly. "Did Ridikar do something to upset   
you?"  
  
Tayla nodded. She mumbled against her grandmother's stomach, "He   
tried to-to do the same thing to me that Alberm did to Caline, but I escaped   
before he could succeed. I-I didn't think that he would try to rape me; I   
trusted him, Nama, I really did. I'm sorry, Nama, I feel that it was my fault   
that he tried that. I told him no, but he tried to force me anyway."  
  
"Tayla Chloe!" Shalila exclaimed, stunned. "It was not your fault   
what Ridikar tried to do! I will get him for this! You mustn't blame yourself,   
child; you told him no, and he tried to make advances on you anyway. He had no   
right to do that. Dirkan and I will settle the boy, don't you worry about that.   
Ridikar and Alberm will not trouble anyone anymore."  
  
Tayla was thankful for her grandmother's support, but she now wanted to change   
the subject. She no longer wanted to speak or think about Ridikar. "Nama, what   
are we going to do about Frieza? Frieza surely knows that we are here on   
Calmag."  
  
Caline mumbled something into Gracina's pale pink caftan and white   
sash. Gracina bent her head down closer to listen. "Caline, what did you just   
say? Speak up, child, you are safe."  
  
Caline tried to raise her voice above its normal whispery tone, but   
couldn't do so very well.  
  
"Caline?" Gracina prompted gently. "We know that you are frightened   
and have been through a horrible experience, but we need your help. You know   
about your husband's activities with Frieza. We need you to help us, dear,   
because Frieza is an enemy of all Astorians, and possibly Calmagians as well.   
Is he on his way here? Do not fear; we will protect you." Gracina held her   
firmly against her body, rubbing Caline's back. Caline calmed down a little,   
comforted by Gracina's motherly presence.  
  
"No," Caline murmured softly. "He is not coming that I know of. He   
has sent Elite people, people who allowed themselves to be arrested by the CRP,   
that's Calmagian Royal Police. I-I heard Frieza's voice last night on Alberm's   
scouter, t-telling Alberm that some people named Jaden and Zarbon managed to get   
th-their team arrested, so they could get access to the capital of Calmag." She   
swallowed nervously and continued, "But that's not mainly why they are coming."  
  
"Then why are they coming?" Gracina asked as calmly as possible.  
  
Caline cried aloud, "They are c-coming t-to take Tayla away!"   
Gracina emitted a horrified shriek, Tayla clung to Shalila, and Shalila clenched   
her fists.  
  
"Curse you, Frieza!" she hissed.  
  
*END PART THREE* 


	46. PART FOUR: ASTORIANS VS FRIEZA

PART FOUR: WAR ON CALMAG--ASTORIANS VS. FRIEZA'S MINIONS  
  
Chapter Forty-Six: Frieza's Top Elite Begins To Wreck Havoc  
  
Three hours late on the CRP cruiser where Jaden's party is being held prisoner  
  
The CRP officers were drinking beer and liquor and laughing at their   
prisoners. One of the CRP officers said that Jaden and Crystalis were two of   
the most ugly women that he had ever seen; why not even his sister-in-law was as   
hideous as them. Jaden rewarded him for his comment by crushing his foot   
beneath hers. The CRP officer howled in pain.  
  
"You two-tailed beast! Our king will surely have you executed!"   
Orcor, the injured police officer declared angrily. Jaden laughed at him   
arrogantly, and Zarbon and Chestra chuckled.  
  
"When we meet the king of Calmag, what will he do to us?" Chestra   
asked calmly.  
  
Orcor lasciviously grinned at her. She was a pretty thing, even with her   
cat-like face. Maybe he'd talk the King into giving her to him to interrogate   
personally. "King Kitchator will question all of you, and if your answers   
displease him, then all of you are done for. Except for maybe you, my dear;   
perhaps if you are nice to me, I may see that he spares you, if I declare you   
innocent of any wrong doing."  
  
Chestra, who was sitting next to Zarbon, asked quietly, "And just   
why would you do that? I am as guilty as my comrades." She would not let this   
Calmagian fool intimidate her, although he reminded her of some of her past   
masters.  
  
Orcor laughed wickedly. "My wife died a year ago, and I could use a   
replacement. I could satisfy you more than your green-haired, green-skinned   
boyfriend there. A pretty boy, he is; why I wouldn't be surprised if he turned   
out to be a female." Orcor laughed harder, and Lieutenant Balboun laughed with   
him.  
  
"I'll bet he is a female!" Balboun added. "I've known some species   
to cross dress, but he or she is ridiculous! What sort of man braids his hair   
and wears earrings?" He walked over to Zarbon and pulled his green braid.   
"Hey, if you're really a woman, you don't have to hide it! You're better   
looking than that two-tailed lizard thing that stomped on Orcor's foot earlier!"  
  
"Hey, Lieutenant, why don't we have the pretty boy-girl creature   
strip for us!" Orcor suggested loudly. "Then we could tell whether he was male   
or female for sure."  
  
Zarbon told Orcor coolly, "I doubt that you would know the   
difference, even if I was nude." Pork and Crystalis snickered.  
  
Orcor narrowed his eyes at Zarbon. "What are you suggesting?"  
  
Zarbon smirked. "That you couldn't satisfy your wife, perhaps?"   
Now it was Jaden and Chestra's turn to snicker.  
  
Orcor snarled, "Watch it, pretty green boy!" He raised his large   
fist and was preparing to punch Zarbon in the face. But before he could do so,   
a radio message interrupted his assault:  
  
"Lieutenant Balboun? Lieutenant Balboun, are you there?"  
  
Balboun picked up his radio and pressed a blue button. "Lieutenant   
Balboun speaking. Hello, Captain Qatar."  
  
"Lieutenant? Have your men arrested any aliens recently?"  
  
"Yes, Captain, we have. We have arrested five aliens, one is a   
two-tailed blue reptilian lizard woman, another is a green haired pretty boy   
wearing earrings, and a third resembles a pretty kitty with green and red hair.   
The others are a horse-creature with blue mane and tail, and the last one is   
hideous, Captain! She looks like a muddy tree with green mold on it."  
  
"Balboun, the King has spoken to me twenty minutes ago. He says   
that these creatures could be spies from Frieza. He has given us the authority   
to have them executed immediately, except for one or two of the weakest   
fighters. Those are to be held for questioning."  
  
"Without a trial or a meeting, Captain? Are you sure that's fair?"   
Balboun asked.   
  
"Don't worry about fair, Balboun. A threat from Frieza is enough   
cause for alarm. No one will miss them, except for possibly Frieza himself.   
Our suspicions are enough cause to eliminate them. Bringing them into Magan   
will only increase the threat; kill them now except for the weakest ones!"  
  
"Yes, sire!" Balboun turned to Orcor and his other men. "Execute   
the prisoners immediately, except for the blue haired boy and muddy tree girl!"  
  
The CRP officers aimed their laser guns at Zarbon, Jaden and   
Chestra, but before their guns could fire, Chestra used her mind to   
telekinetically remove the guns from the men's hands. She then used her mind   
again to fire the guns onto the CRP officers, killing most of them immediately.  
  
"What's happening?" a bleeding Balboun choked to Orcor; he was   
unaware that Orcor was now one of the dead officers. Only two other men were   
barely alive.  
  
Zarbon and the others broke free of their restraining cuffs and   
chains as easily as if they were breaking twigs. Zarbon swiftly leapt upon the   
dying Balboun and held him up in the air by his throat. "Listen to me,   
Lieutenant Baboon, you will take us into Magan, or you, and the people below us   
now will perish! Jaden and Chestra can destroy those cities with a single blast   
from each of them. We are here to take Princess Tayla Chloe of Astoria back to   
Frieza with us, and neither you nor your army will stop us! Now, am I making   
myself clear?"  
  
"D-do you intend to destroy Calmag too?" Balboun choked fearfully.   
Sweet Kai, what had he gotten himself and his men into? These creatures were   
ten times more powerful than he had expected. He realized to his growing horror   
that his prisoners had cleverly tricked him and his officers.  
  
Zarbon smiled cruelly. "That's up to you, Baboon. Play your part   
well, and maybe we will spare this pathetic planet." He, of course, had no   
intention of sparing the Calmagians, and neither did his comrades, but it   
wouldn't hurt to give the Baboon a little incentive to cooperate. "Now are you   
going to do what we tell you?"  
  
Balboun looked over at the officers still struggling for life and   
nodded slowly, deeply ashamed of what he was being forced to do. Zarbon patted   
his head condescendingly, as if Balboun was a child.  
  
"Smart man," Zarbon told him smoothly. He looked over at Balboun's   
frightened pilot and said silkily, "Good, I'm glad your pilot still lives. Have   
him take us to Magan, where Princess Tayla supposedly is. Immediately."  
  
Balboun nodded shamefacedly, as he barked orders to his pilot to   
continue their journey.  
  
  
  
  
  
Mountains of Ensley  
  
Vegeta had already left to catch up with his fellow Saiyans, leaving   
Balair's team furious and steamed. Bhodie had gone off into the mountains to a   
creek that was supposed to have good fish. Diamonique was still angry with   
Vegeta, but she decided this morning that she wasn't going to give up on him so   
easily; she'd make him her mate yet. She would make him hers. She said as much   
to Dodoria and Balair.  
  
Balair laughed at Diamonique's declaration. "Didn't you tell us   
that before after you broke up with the Prince the last two times?" he sneered,   
for he knew that this was not the first time Diamonique and Vegeta had broken   
things off between them. He, like the other Elite officers, was certain that   
this time the break was permanent; he had heard Vegeta declare as much to the   
other Saiyans.  
  
"Face it, Diamonique," Dodoria added. "Vegeta's through with you.   
You shouldn't have pushed a permanent union on him; he's a Saiyan, and he   
prefers his own kind. I wouldn't be surprised if that monkey took his own   
sister for a mate; that's probably why he won't let her take one."  
  
"Incest is best!" Balair jeered with a laugh. Diamonique glared at   
him darkly.  
  
"The best kind of love is inbred love!" Dodoria chortled, joining in   
Balair's laughter. "Just ask the Saiyans and the Astorians-two of the most   
inbred races I've ever known of!"  
  
Balair chuckled. "Except that I don't think that even the Astorians   
mate with their own siblings! Marriages between cousins are not uncommon   
however."  
  
"You both are disgusting!" Diamonique snapped. "Even Vegeta would   
not go as far as to mate with his own sister. He told me so himself."  
  
"And you believed a word that a monkey told you?" Dodoria jeered,   
chuckling. "My, my, Diamonique, you're not as bright as I thought you were!   
Please, Diamonique, you should know by now that Saiyans are primitive beasts,   
incapable of civility and manners! C'mon, Balair, let's go find some breakfast   
that will put up a fight!" He burped loudly, making Balair laugh, as he himself   
belched, trying to outdo Dodoria. Dodoria burped louder, and Balair continued   
to try to outdo him, as both men flew off into the mountains to find some prey   
to catch for breakfast.  
  
"Primitive?" Diamonique mumbled to herself after they had left.   
"Those two leather-bound apes have plenty of room to talk! I'm glad that I   
didn't have to learn table manners from Dodoria, just fighting techniques."   
Dodoria had been Diamonique's former trainer.  
  
Bhodie returned from his fishing trip, having caught a couple of   
fish, almost as large as himself. He was dragging them behind him in a net;   
Bhodie was an expert fisherman. Bhodie told Diamonique with a grin, "Here,   
babe, fry these up for me!" Bhodie was becoming as sexist as Balair.  
  
Diamonique gave him a cool, appraising look. She had once thought   
Bhodie was very handsome and a potential mate for her; they had slept together   
twice, and Bhodie had been a fine lover. Diamonique had dumped him when she   
found out that not only was Bhodie on his way to becoming a Balair clone, but an   
unimportant member of one of the weakest races in the universe. She was not   
about to take a Human for a mate.  
  
"Fry them yourself," she told him icily, turning her slender,   
perfect body away from him.  
  
Bhodie didn't know when to give up. "C'mon, Dime, please, do it for old   
Bhodie!"  
  
Diamonique turned on him and said nastily, "Do not ever call me Dime or Babe, do   
you understand me? I am not your cook or your mate! Now go away!"  
  
"Where'd Balair and Dodoria go?" Bhodie asked her, completely   
ignoring her ire.  
  
"To hell, I hope!" she snapped and leaped into the sky, flying away   
from Bhodie. She decided to start on the Calmagian mission by herself. Maybe   
she could find a decent lover or two down below in the Calmagian villages before   
she began to clear this planet.  
  
She flew gracefully in the dirty air (ugh, didn't Calmagians know   
how to clean after themselves?), careful not to breathe any more polluted air   
than necessary. She came upon a domed city below her, and she landed near the   
dome to get a closer look. She saw a sign inside the dome saying, "Welcome to   
the city of Rendor."   
  
Her blue-booted feet landed on the ground into some bushes.   
Diamonique smiled to herself; her next plan would be brilliant.  
  
She punched herself hard in the face and several places on her   
torso. She removed her armor; it would not be necessary at the moment. Then   
she pulled out a beautiful, silvery dress from her bag on her back and ripped it   
strategically in several places. As finishing touches, she ruffled her hair to   
make it look unkempt, and she pricked her finger, making purple blood come out,   
as she smeared it on her face and other places of her body. She put the torn   
dress on, and she removed her boots. Her costume completed, she ran out of the   
bushes towards the glass dome and banged on the dome, sobbing, putting on a   
perfect act of a terrified woman.  
  
"Please help me!" she cried loudly. "My ship has crashed, and I am   
the only survivor!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Journa giggled, as Raditz nibbled on her neck; they were both   
standing on top of a mountain, not too far behind the cruiser taking Jaden's   
team to Magan. The cruiser had landed temporarily in a village, and Jaden and   
Zarbon were forcing the surviving CRP officers to take them to an inn for   
something to eat.  
  
"They'll be there for a while," Raditz whispered in Journa's elfin   
ear, "so we'll have plenty of time to be alone." He playfully bit her neck,   
making her giggle again.  
  
Journa spoke between giggles, "May the Kais bless Jaden for coming up with her   
plan to get to Princess Tayla and her people! If it hadn't been for Jaden's   
brilliance and Captain Ginyu's well-timed accident, we would have never been   
alone like this now!"  
  
Raditz chuckled deep and low, as he nuzzled Journa's neck. "We'll   
have to thank them someday! Heh, heh, who would have thought that your   
brother's plan to make us follow Jaden and Zarbon's team would have such a nice   
effect on us! I see a cave over yonder, sweet thing, so why don't we spend what   
few hours that we have alone in there! If we do this right, Nappa and Vegeta   
will never find out."  
  
Journa bit Raditz's chin lightly. "I'm up for that! Let's go!"   
Raditz bit Journa's nose firmly, asserting his dominance over her. They looked   
at each other for a long time, not saying a word. Raditz allowed himself a slow   
smile; Journa had just shown her submission to him. He brushed his lips against   
hers and held her for a long time.  
  
Then finally, Raditz picked Journa up and flew into the air with   
her, carrying her to the cave.  
  
  
  
  
  
Balair and Dodoria had been chasing a herd of pink antelope-like   
creatures with long silver horns, and they had managed to blast three of them   
with small lasers. The antelopes (called telopes on Calmag) bleated like sheep   
and ran as fast as cheetahs, but they couldn't outrun Balair and Dodoria, who   
were among Frieza's fastest flyers, even with their separate bulky masses.  
  
"Breakfast should be ready!" Balair boasted. "And then once we eat,   
we'll catch up with Jaden and Zarbon's crew. We're not letting Jaden win this   
one!" Balair held no particular large grudge against Zarbon or Chestra, but he   
held a special hatred for Jaden, not only because she was of the hated Rybanese   
race (once the main enemy of the Sistrai before the Hycanese race destroyed   
them), but also because she had killed her and Balair's trainer, Sagash. Balair   
had considered Sagash his mentor and hero; Sagash had trained both him and   
Dodoria.  
  
Dodoria nodded in agreement, immediately understanding what Balair   
was thinking. "We'll avenge Sagash yet." He shared Balair's hatred of Jaden.  
  
Sagash had been a hybrid, half-Sistrai, half-Egimarian warrior, and   
a distant cousin of Balair's father. The mostly extinct Egimarian race of   
planet Egimari had resembled giant gray apes with crumbling stone-like skin and   
mean black eyes. Most of the Sistrai resembled Balair, except the scale colors   
could be red, black, yellow or green, with Balair's red color being the most   
prevalent. Sagash had an Egimarian mother who had died giving birth to him, but   
he identified more with his Sistrai side, something that Balair had admired in   
him. Sagash had resembled a red Egimarian, but he had had the Sistrai ability   
to vaporize and liquefy himself. Sagash had trained Balair, Dodoria, and Jaden   
at the same time, and he had been one of Frieza's favorites.  
  
Dodoria sneered nastily, as he and Balair swept down to the   
countryside below to pick up their dead telopes for breakfast, "She killed him   
just because he wanted to sleep with her, and she wouldn't! He already had   
screwed her twice; what would the difference have been with one more time?"  
  
Sagash had been a tough trainer for all three of his students, but   
while he had been just demanding on Dodoria and Balair, he had been excessively   
cruel to Jaden because she was a female and Rybanese. Sagash had desired Jaden,   
however, despite her Rybanese blood, and he had been furious when she had   
rebuffed his advances, although he admired her spirit. Sagash had repeatedly   
tried to break the young Rybanese girl's spirit and defiance, and while his   
extremely brutal training had made Jaden into a powerful warrior, Jaden grew to   
hate him because he had always tried to molest her. As Jaden's defiance, hatred   
and anger at Sagash (and Frieza for forcing her into that situation) grew,   
Sagash's obsession with his student and desire for her increased. He had wanted   
to take Jaden for his mate and make her bear his children, but Jaden repeatedly   
refused him, even though he had threatened to fail her. Finally, near   
the time of Jaden's final evaluation, Sagash had decided that he wasn't going to   
wait any more, and one night, he had raped her.  
  
Balair and Dodoria had thought that the incident was no big deal,   
and that Jaden had asked for the assault. They had even lied for Sagash when   
Jaden had reported Sagash to Frieza (sexual relationships were forbidden between   
trainers and recruits), and they claimed that Jaden was lying. Jaden had no one   
to back her up, and Frieza had believed Sagash, Balair and Dodoria over her.   
After Frieza had left, Jaden had sworn revenge on all three of them, and she had   
begun to do so four years later on the night that she had killed Sagash, who had   
started to fall from Frieza's grace.  
  
Balair and Dodoria had cursed the day that Jaden was given Sagash's   
Top Elite position, and they both had remembered that cruel smirk of Jaden's   
when Balair had bluntly told her that she didn't deserve it. Jaden had kept   
that nasty smile and told Balair silkily that if he and Dodoria didn't leave her   
alone, they would be the next to die, Frieza or no Frieza. Sagash's two former   
favorite students had admired and worshipped their mentor, and they had made a   
mutual vow to destroy Jaden utterly one day.  
  
They had tried to kill her several times, and other times they had   
bribed or coerced others into trying for them, but so far, Jaden had evaded all   
of their traps skillfully. The last physical fight that he and Jaden had nearly   
killed him, and he and Dodoria had both decided to back off from her for the   
time being. Nevertheless, they intended to keep their promise to avenge Sagash   
against her.  
  
Dodoria had just roasted the dead telopes with a mouth blast, and he   
was now devouring the leg of the largest one. Balair was eating the   
hindquarters of the same animal. "I hate that witch," Dodoria hissed between   
bites of telope, "I hate to think of her receiving the reward for bringing   
Princess Tayla to Frieza! I'm not going to allow her to win! Balair, I don't   
see why we can't just kill her here on Calmag; we can easily make up an excuse   
as to why we did it."  
  
Balair shook his head at Dodoria. "Not yet, Dodoria. I want her   
dead as much as you do, but right now, she's as equally powerful as we are and   
just as smart. She's currently in Frieza's favor at the moment because her   
prize pupil, Prince Vegeta, will likely become a Top Elite officer, and if we   
kill her without cause, he'll be furious. Patience, Dodoria, these things take   
time." He and Dodoria swiftly finished off the fat telope within less than   
twenty bites.  
  
Dodoria was about to argue with Balair on this topic when suddenly a   
young five-feet-tall Calmagian girl crept out of the bushes, with three baby   
telopes behind her. Balair and Dodoria watched the girl openly, lustfully, for   
she had milky-white skin and long copper-red hair with large liquid emerald eyes   
and a curvy figure. She was wearing a simple pink and white peasant's smock   
that was plain and yet alluring at the same time, for it showed off her curves   
beautifully. Balair and Dodoria were amused at her pretty face, for it was   
flushed with fury.  
  
"How dare you kill my telopes!" she cried furiously in a tone that   
was normally silvery, as she was not at all intimidated by their larger sizes   
and strange appearances. This girl was similar to a shepherdess, except that   
she tended telopes, instead of sheep. "Who do you monsters think you are?   
Those telopes belonged to my flock! You killed some of my best ones too! I   
will go to my father and brothers, and they will have you fools arrested! You   
both will be sorry! You both owe me for those animals! You owe me money!"  
  
Balair and Dodoria laughed loudly, and they then both leapt off of   
the ground and flew around her in a slow circle with sly grins on their faces.   
Balair licked his lips seductively, and the girl, recognizing Balair's look of   
lust, instantly regretted her harsh words towards these two strangers. She   
decided to forget about recuperating her losses and tried to flee, but she did   
so too late.  
  
Balair grabbed her from behind with his scaly red arm after he had   
easily landed on the ground. He pulled her slender body against his and sniffed   
her appreciatively; she smelled like the sweet musk roses of Calmag, and   
Balair's desire for her increased. He wanted her, and he was pleased to have   
something nice to add to his breakfast.  
  
The girl struggled against her captor and screamed, "Let me go! Please!"  
  
Balair nuzzled her neck; he was in an amorous mood, and he decided   
to be gentle with this one---provided that she behave herself. He licked her   
neck with his tongue and whispered softly, seductively, "You're not going to   
have me arrested, my dear. Instead you are going to make me very happy. You   
smell nice and sweet." He caressed her breast slowly, as he continued to nuzzle   
the nape of her neck. The girl froze in fear, and Balair was pleased that the   
girl's defiance and stubbornness had fled from her so quickly. It wouldn't take   
long for him to break her, and if she were obedient and submissive, he'd be nice   
to her. Her fear increased his arousal, and he loved the look of terror and   
growing realization on her pale face. He licked her ear and neck slowly and   
seductively, wanting her more by the minute.  
  
His arm tightened around her waist, as he pressed against her.   
Dodoria, who was now standing on solid ground, was grinning, hoping that Balair   
would let him "have a piece of her" later. He watched Balair bite the girl's   
snowy shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain.  
  
"Oh that didn't hurt, sweetness," Balair told the girl smoothly, as   
he stroked her fiery hair. He kissed her neck, and then he pulled her face to   
his ugly red one, crushing his lips against hers, as well as her body against   
his. The girl had now begun to cry, and Balair whispered to her, "Relax,   
sweetness, I just want to make sweet love to you. You're a beauty, and it's   
been a while since I had a woman as exquisite as you. What's your name,   
sweetness?"  
  
The girl refused to answer, fearful that this creature would come   
back after her again later. Balair grew agitated, and he squeezed her arm   
painfully hard. "Answer my question, girl! What is your name?" he hissed, his   
fury about to erupt.  
  
"Zil-Zilly Fedamare, sir," she stammered.  
  
"Zilly, what a pretty name. See, that wasn't hard to answer, was   
it?" Balair asked her silkily, his good humor now returned. He nibbled on her   
neck and licked her face repeatedly.  
  
"Hey Balair, are you going to share her, or what?" Dodoria asked a   
bit impatiently.  
  
Balair smirked, not looking at Dodoria. "Maybe I will, maybe I   
won't." He was about to remove the girl's garments when three Calmagian men,   
tall, muscular and burly, showed up.  
  
The oldest man, with graying red hair, mustache and beard, scowled   
angrily at the girl's assailants. He barked, "Release my daughter now!" He   
pulled out a laser gun and aimed it at Dodoria and Balair.  
  
The two other men were Zilly's brothers, and they both also aimed   
their guns at their sister's captors. "Release our sister now, or you both will   
die!" the older of the two ordered.  
  
Balair and Dodoria laughed loudly, and then Balair shoved Zilly in   
Dodoria's large, fat, pink arms. "Here, hold her for me." He flew at Zilly's   
family members and landed right in front of them.  
  
"Let my daughter go!" the father cried out furiously, keeping his   
gun pointed at Balair. "I'll kill you right now, if your friend doesn't release   
her! No court on this planet will convict me for doing so! She is unavailable;   
I have already arranged a marriage for her! Release her now!"  
  
Balair chuckled lightly. Lord Frieza had wanted the Calmagians   
eliminated, so the powerful Sistrai warrior figured now was as good a time as   
any to begin his sire's "ethnic cleansing" program. He took a deep breath,   
closed his eyes and began vaporizing himself, his massive form now turning into   
a red, hazy mist. Only his burning yellow eyes could be seen, and the eyes were   
not solid any longer. The red mist expanded and surrounded the three Calmagian   
rescuers, and before the men could do anything, the red mist sucked itself up   
into the nostrils of all three of them.  
  
Zilly's green eyes widened in terror, and she began to shriek when   
the bodies of her relatives began to expand and bloat like balloons. The men's   
bodies trembled and shook, their eyes bulging along with their forms. The men   
could not breathe, but they were not quite dead yet. The bodies stretched out   
until the men resembled giant, colorful balloons, and then finally the men   
exploded into thousands of bloody, fleshy pieces swirling about in the red mist,   
now once again visible.  
  
"BOOM! SPLAT!"  
  
Blood, bones, hair, and skin flew about everywhere, decorating the   
trees, the telopes, Dodoria, and Zilly. The men had popped and exploded like   
balloons after being pricked by a needle.   
  
Zilly screamed in horror. "NO!" She continued screaming and crying   
at the deaths of her father and brothers. "SOMEBODY HELP! PLEASE!" She broke   
down and sobbed wildly, still being held captive by Dodoria, who held her in a   
vise-like grip.  
  
The red mist solidified itself back into the form of Balair, who was   
laughing cruelly, pleased with himself, showing no regret or remorse for the   
lives that he had so heartlessly taken. His laughter was the most terrifying   
thing that Zilly had ever heard, next to the explosion of her family members.  
  
Dodoria cheered. "That was some show, Balair! I couldn't have done   
better myself!" His laughter mingled with Balair's. Zilly's terrified,   
grief-stricken sobs grew louder and louder, as she cried in Dodoria's arms. In   
a vain attempt to escape, she struggled to free herself from Dodoria's grip, but   
Dodoria's grip was tight. Finally, mercifully, she passed out and fainted in   
her captor's arms.  
  
"Aw, she couldn't have stayed awake for a little longer?" Dodoria   
moaned. "I wanted to try her myself, and I prefer my women to be awake."  
  
"So do I," Balair agreed. "Hold onto her for now, Dodoria; we'll   
have more fun with her later when she's awake." He heard some noises in the   
distance, the voices of many men coming. "Looks like we have more company!   
Put her down on the ground; she's not going anywhere anytime soon."  
  
Dodoria, grinning, laid the girl down on the ground unceremoniously,   
tossing her down, as if she were a sack of grain. The girl did not stir, as   
Dodoria and Balair prepared themselves for battle.  
  
The men from Zilly's village spotted Dodoria and Balair, and all of   
them aimed their guns at the invaders. The men weren't about to ask questions;   
they already suspected that Dodoria and Balair were up to no good, and their   
suspicions were all that was necessary for them to destroy the intruders. Some   
of them had also heard Zilly's screams.  
  
"Fire!" one of the men ordered, and the others did, with their guns   
shooting out bluish-white lasers at Dodoria and Balair, causing them to be   
covered in a great cloud of white smoke. The men continued shooting lasers with   
their guns until their laser guns began to run down on the nuclear batteries   
required to power them.  
  
"Stop!" the man that had ordered the firing commanded.  
  
The men did, and a boy, no older than twelve, shouted, "Hey, it   
looks like they've been roasted! No one could have survived that!" The others   
agreed with him, and they began to cheer.  
  
"They couldn't have been that strong!" a fat man boasted.  
  
"That will teach those monsters!" the boy cried out.  
  
"Hey, they've been fried to a crisp for sure!" a skinny man with   
freckles yelled happily.   
  
The cloud that the laser attacks had caused was now starting to dissipate and   
clear away. To the men's horror, Balair and Dodoria were still standing in the   
smoke, as fine as ever. The lasers had no effect on them. Balair and Dodoria   
had suffered no damage, and the evil foes were grinning widely.  
  
"It's my turn now, Balair," Dodoria declared wickedly.  
  
Balair smirked. "Be my guest," he told Dodoria graciously.  
  
Dodoria opened his mouth and fired a fiery mouth blast that hit   
almost all of the men before they could escape. The men cried in horror, as the   
flames from the mouth blast roasted them, burning them away into skeletons.   
  
Only three men survived out of the two hundred men that had come to   
confront Dodoria and Balair, and they had decided to flee. The survivors didn't   
make it far, for Balair flew after them in the air, vaporized his body again and   
caused them to explode. None of the men were alive now.  
  
Dodoria and Balair regrouped, and they slapped each other on each   
other's backs, laughing evilly. Their cruel laughter could be heard from many   
miles away, as the heinous killers went back to pick up the helpless Zilly.  
  
But when they went back to retrieve her, Zilly was gone, with only   
her shoes on the ground.  
  
"Curses!" Balair hissed. "She escaped!"  
  
Dodoria wasn't fazed. "She won't make it far. The ground is muddy,   
and I can see her footprints. Remember, Calmagians can't fly."  
  
Balair's scowl melted into a grin. "A game of tag combined with   
hide and seek! I like the idea! We'll let her run for a little bit, and then   
we'll capture her again and have our fun!"  
  
Dodoria grinned along with Balair. "Sounds like fun! Let's go!"  
  
And the two evil Top Elite officers took off in hot pursuit of   
Zilly. 


	47. The Destruction of Calmag Continues

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Destruction of Calmag Continues  
  
Ginyu, his men, and his Girls were hungry, so the Ginyu Force   
decided to raid a nearby city in search of some food. They saw two domed cities   
in the distance, and after Mahogany had treated everyone's injuries, they had   
decided to go to one of the domed cities for food. The Girls began to set up   
camp on the island a few miles away from the shore while the Ginyu Force went   
for food. Nappa and Eclipse remained behind; Eclipse wanted to be alone with   
Nappa, and Nappa did not want to be associating with the Ginyu Force anymore   
than necessary.  
  
Eclipse was resting contentedly in Nappa's arms, with Nappa   
reassuring her that she was now safe, especially with him. Eclipse snuggled   
closer to Nappa, her turquoise hair brushing against his tough, muscular skin.   
Nappa's large hands stroked Eclipse's back.  
  
"I could kill Ginyu for putting you and the other girls in danger   
like that!" Nappa declared angrily. "In fact, I should have gone on and done so   
right then and there!"  
  
"Don't, Nappa, please," Eclipse pleaded, running her slender fingers   
along his face. "Captain Ginyu didn't mean any harm, honestly. You know how he   
gets caught up in his work sometimes. He would never allow any of us Girls to   
be hurt deliberately; I hold no grudge against him." It was a hard thing for   
even Eclipse to say that, considering that most of her Girls were now dead.  
  
"I don't blame your cousin, Mahogany, for being angry with him,"   
Nappa told her. "I'm surprised that you girls didn't quit the Ginyu Girls on   
the spot! I would have, if I had been you. Captain Ginyu is nothing but a   
fool! If he ever does anything that stupid again, I'll-"  
  
"Nappa, please," Eclipse said tearfully, for she had just remembered   
her dead Ginyu Girls. She began to cry, and Nappa pulled her against him and   
held her.  
  
Nappa was trying to think of a way to comfort her when Vegeta showed   
up. "Nappa, what are you doing here?" Vegeta hissed. "Why aren't you following   
Jaden's team? And where are Journa and Raditz?"  
  
Nappa forced himself back to reality, and he looked at his young   
prince shamefacedly. "Um, Prince, the Ginyu Force ship exploded and six Ginyu   
Girls are dead. And-"  
  
"What does that have to do with following Jaden's team?" Vegeta   
roared, caring very little about the Ginyu Girls and even less about the Ginyu   
Force. "Why have you not followed them, Nappa? And why has my sister been left   
alone with Raditz? Do you have any idea of what those two could be doing with   
each other at this moment?" He looked angrily at Eclipse. "Woman, do you mind   
leaving us alone? Go away until I am through with him," he told her rudely.  
  
Nappa told Eclipse quietly, "Go wait for me by that tree over   
there." He pointed to a coniferous tree in the distance, and Eclipse nodded and   
left Nappa and his Prince alone, leaving them behind.  
  
Nappa had a fairly good idea of what the Saiyan couple was up to,   
and he secretly pitied Raditz and Journa. Nappa and Raditz did not always get   
along with each other, but they were friends of sorts when Raditz did not anger   
Vegeta. He knew that Vegeta would have preferred that he, Nappa, be Journa's   
mate, but he felt nothing for Princess Journa except for friendship and respect   
for her station as an Elite class Saiyan princess. He didn't see how Vegeta   
thought he was going to keep Raditz and Journa apart, outside of killing Raditz;   
Raditz and Journa had already formed a strong bond between them, and only death   
could break it. Everyone else could see that Raditz and Journa were meant for   
each other.   
  
Nappa began slowly, "You know, Vegeta, maybe it wouldn't be such a   
bad idea to allow them to become mates. Raditz and I are the only Saiyan males   
left besides you, unless you count the Sastorian males, and I know you don't   
want Journa to mate with anyone with Astorian blood."  
  
Vegeta scowled darkly at Nappa. "Have you lost what little mind   
that you had? I don't like Raditz one bit, and I like the idea of my sister   
being with him even less! I don't care if my father did give Raditz elite class   
status; he is the son of a low-level!"  
  
Nappa said hesitantly, "Prince, I happen to know personally that   
your father gave the consent for your sister to marry Raditz, if she wished, and   
-"  
  
Vegeta sneered. "That arrangement was only to be honored if Meat,   
Kanassa, and Astoria had been cleared; remember that you told me that yourself.   
Astoria still has not been cleared, and my sister could do better than Raditz.   
I don't understand why you and her don't become mates."  
  
Nappa flushed slightly. "Prince, I like your sister very much, but   
I don't have that bond with her needed to be mates with her. And besides, there   
is someone else-" he looked far away at Eclipse and smiled sheepishly.  
  
Vegeta snorted contemptuously, "Her?"  
  
Nappa grinned uncomfortably. "Who else? You said before that we   
needed to continue the Saiyan race, and since Journa had bonded with Raditz,   
then-"  
  
Vegeta growled, "Oh, I don't care, Nappa! I may as well let those   
fools be mates, but there better not be any brats between them until I destroy   
Frieza! That goes for you and your little Ginyu Girl Squad Leader as well! If   
we are to continue our race, we can't have Frieza threatening to destroy our   
descendants." He glared darkly at Eclipse standing near the far away tree. "I   
never thought it would come down to this: us Saiyans being forced to take women   
of other species as mates. Journa and Raditz have bonded, much to my eternal   
dissatisfaction, but at least she prefers a Saiyan mate. That leaves you and I   
left to take women of other species as mates, and frankly, I can't myself ever   
taking a woman of another species as a permanent mate. I don't understand what   
you see in Eclipse other than her beauty; she's not even a warrior, but even you   
have to satisfy your urges sometime, I suppose."  
  
Nappa was grateful that Vegeta wasn't going to interfere with his   
plans to ask Eclipse to become his permanent mate. He hoped that Eclipse would   
agree; he was thankful that Eclipse's contract as a Ginyu Girl would expire in   
another month.   
  
Vegeta smirked at Nappa. "You better hope, however, that Frieza has   
not become too attached to Eclipse; he won't be happy if Eclipse mates with you   
exclusively. You'll be angering much of the Elite males also."  
  
Nappa chuckled wickedly. "I don't fear the other Elite officers!"  
  
Vegeta grinned. He didn't care for Eclipse, but it could have been   
worst; Nappa could have picked an Astorian woman, and then Vegeta would have had   
to blast him for his foolishness.  
  
"After Frieza is eliminated," Vegeta said sternly, "you better   
ensure that this woman can produce strong sons. There is no point taking a   
mate, if she cannot give you children who can become strong warriors."  
  
"When are we going to destroy Frieza?" Nappa asked.  
  
Vegeta smiled slowly. "In time, Nappa, in time. We must ensure   
that we are at our peak levels before we attempt to destroy him. I want to   
become a Super Saiyan, and when I do, I will easily eradicate Frieza. He will   
pay for my parents' deaths, especially my father's."  
  
Nappa gasped in horror. "Frieza killed your father himself?"  
  
Vegeta hissed, "Of course he did! I found out that nasty fact   
overhearing a conversation between Balair and Dodoria. Oh, I also intend to   
eradicate Dodoria as well; I have not forgotten that he killed my mother.   
Frieza cares nothing for us; he is merely using us for his own purposes, but   
that is alright, for we are using him as well."  
  
Nappa was puzzled. "Using him for what?"  
  
Vegeta chuckled. "To become stronger of course; we could not have   
done so without the resources he's provided for us. I intend one day to test my   
full strength against him, and he will be destroyed. Then I will take over his   
empire and rule the universe myself! Well, it's time to go, Nappa! Kiss your   
little Ginyu Girl goodbye; we have work to do; Jaden's team had probably already   
beaten us to the capital of Calmag by now."   
  
After seeing that Eclipse would be okay, Nappa and Vegeta flew into   
the sky to find Raditz and Journa and Jaden's team.  
  
  
  
  
  
Rendor  
  
The ship containing Frieza's low-levels had arrived on Calmagian   
soil, and their ship had landed near Rendor, the city that belonged to Lord   
Alberm Dunlop. There were ten of them, and all of them were Upper Low-Levels,   
the best of Frieza's low-level fighters.   
  
Their leader was a Sistrai warrior named Taguar (rhymes with   
jaguar), Balair's cousin who was a good potential for the Elite forces. Taguar   
was yellow with red eyes, and he had been training hard and extensively for two   
years to make it out of the low-level forces. Balair had trained Taguar   
himself, and he had been disappointed in his cousin when Taguar had wound up in   
the low-level forces. Taguar had begged Balair for a second chance, and Balair   
had reluctantly, grudgingly agreed to do so. Even Balair, who had essentially   
given up on his cousin once Taguar had not made the Elite forces, had finally   
begun to believe in him again. Taguar was determined to make Balair, someone he   
looked up to and admired, proud of him.  
  
Taguar was the assigned leader of the Upper Low-Levels ordered to go   
to Calmag. Frieza had assigned Taguar's team specifically to destroy the   
Calmagians, and they were not to worry about capturing Princess Tayla unless one   
of them happened to come across her. Taguar was the best low-level soldier that   
Frieza had at the moment, and Frieza admired the young Sistrai warrior because   
Taguar didn't waste any time. Taguar wanted to destroy the Calmagians and clear   
the planet as quickly as possible.  
  
The Upper Low-Levels, the crème de la crème of the low-level forces,   
were all considered potentials for Elite status, and all of them were hoping to   
succeed so that they could make it into the Elite forces. Taguar looked around   
at the other Upper Low-Levels proudly; he had selected them himself, ten out of   
the forty Upper Low-Levels altogether in Frieza's low-level forces. There was   
Towanda, an Egimarian woman who had been distantly related to Sagash, and Flame,   
a Gemstarian woman from the Leaden Tribe who happened to be Scout's younger   
sister. They were the two strongest females in Frieza's low-level forces, and   
Taguar was pleased to have them on his side; he was not as sexist as Balair and   
most of the other Sistrai warriors were. Towanda and Flame were the only   
females on Taguar's team.  
  
Three of the other seven Upper Low-Levels were Dartmouth, another   
Egimarian and Towanda's brother, Hapak, a Hycanese warrior with yellow skin and   
bright green hair, and Druce, a Gemstarian male warrior of the Bronzen Tribe, a   
tribe ranking just above the Leaden Tribe. The other four members were Bru, a   
half-Reznakian, half-Hycanese hybrid who resembled a one-tailed pink Jaden,   
Zaggan, and Holt, both Drydakians, and Zurch, a Rezdakian like Skale.  
Taguar and Towanda wasted no time breaking the dome above Rendor with ki blasts,   
and the strong fiberglass dome shattered into thousands of pieces, falling above   
the people of Rendor. The low-levels quickly invaded the city, but as soon as   
they entered, they realized that someone had already beaten them to most of the   
people of Rendor.  
  
Many of the Rendor citizens had been turned into diamond statues,   
and the living residents were screaming and shrieking in agony, as they wriggled   
on the ground, in terror because their vital organs had been frozen. The   
survivors were dying slow, horrible deaths. Other residents were already dead,   
and those dead bodies had claw marks on them, the marks of a woman raking her   
nails on someone.  
  
Diamonique appeared out of a bakery, dragging an elderly Calmagian   
man by his long, gray hair. The Upper Low-Levels watched in amazement, as   
Diamonique asked the man smoothly how he would like to die. Before the man   
could reply, Diamonique stabbed his neck with one of her nails, and the man   
began to die slowly in her arms, as purple blotches and boils began to pop up on   
his skin immediately. His skin turned blue, and his eyes bulged and exploded,   
spraying amber blood on Diamonique. The heartless Gemstarian woman kicked the   
dying old man away, and she blasted him into ashes with a powerful ki blast.   
  
Diamonique continued to blast the few healthy Rendor citizens with   
ki blasts, causing their hearts to stop immediately, as their organs froze   
quickly into solid ice. In a few minutes, before the Upper Low-Levels could   
even kill anyone, Diamonique had successfully and swiftly killed all of the   
citizens of Rendor single-handedly.  
  
Taguar stared at Diamonique in shock, and Diamonique smiled wickedly   
at him and the other Upper Low-Levels. "Aren't you all a little late?" she   
purred. "There are other cities to destroy, you know."  
  
Taguar turned to the others. "She's right; let's go on to the next   
city and trash that!" The other Upper Low-Levels turned their attention to the   
next domed city, this one called Hensley. Towanda blasted the dome over   
Hensley, and she and her comrades swiftly invaded the city, chasing out the   
horrified Calmagians.  
  
Diamonique decided it was time for her to leave; Taguar and his   
fighters could handle that city by themselves, and she had more important   
matters to attend to.  
  
One of the dying citizens of Rendor had chokingly confessed to   
Diamonique that the Astorians were visiting the King and Queen of Calmag in the   
city of Magan, Calmag's capital. Diamonique had stolen his electronic map from   
him after she had killed him with her deadly nails. She had laughed when the   
victim had declared that the Astorian visitors would destroy her for her crimes,   
especially Shalila Chloe.   
  
She found a small cruiser that resembled a sky-blue car without   
wheels, and she climbed into the front seat. Hiding in the back seat was a   
living teenage boy, and Diamonique swiftly seized the boy by his white throat.  
  
"Take me to Magan," she hissed in a deadly voice. "Immediately. If   
you take me there quickly, I may spare your life."   
  
The boy nodded, having seen many deaths by Diamonique's cruel hands. The skinny   
lad quickly climbed into the front seat of the car after Diamonique had moved   
over into the passenger seat. The boy was scrawny, about the same age as   
Prince Vegeta, but Diamonique decided that he was attractive with brown eyes and   
red, curly hair.  
  
The boy pressed a few buttons, and the car's rocket engines fired   
up. The car launched itself into the air, and the car was flying in the air   
before he and Diamonique knew it.  
  
She wrapped her slender arm companionably around his neck and leaned her head on   
his shoulder. "You're a handsome lad," she purred silkily. "I may keep   
you as my lover when this planet is cleared. You should feel honored that I   
have taken such an interest in you to allow you to live." She tousled his hair   
seductively, and the boy grew uncomfortable, as he began driving his captor to   
Magan. He tossed a frightened look at Diamonique, this beautiful, but evil   
woman. Diamonique tasted his fear and relished it. She bit his shoulder with   
her blue, crystal teeth, hard enough to make him yelp.  
  
"That is a mark of favor, boy," she told him smoothly. She laughed   
lightly in his ear, as the terrified boy drove the deadly beauty away from   
Rendor.  
  
The boy, named Dollan, forced himself not to watch the horror of the   
neighboring city of Hensley going down in flames and terror. He could hear the   
terrified screams of the dying citizens of Rendor's sister city. Dollan grew   
paler than usual, and he tried hard not to cry.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Balair and Dodoria were frustrated that they could not find the girl   
named Zilly; how could a weakling girl outwit them so easily? They were unaware   
that Zilly had went underground through a tunnel, making her way through   
Calmag's famous labyrinths that wended their way all around below Calmag's   
surface. In times of war or bad weather above, the Calmagians used these   
labyrinths to hide from trouble above, and Zilly had closed the door to the   
entrance to the labyrinths.  
  
Balair and Dodoria were unaware of the labyrinths, and finally they   
were forced to give up their pursuit of the girl. They decided to start   
destroying the Calmagian citizens on their way to Magan, the capital of Calmag.   
Balair and Dodoria blasted away three domed villages with single, powerful ki   
blasts; the Calmagians living in those places never had a chance to fight back   
or flee. Within an hour, approximately twenty thousand Calmagians were dead in   
all three villages.  
  
When they came to the domed city of Halston, they were surprised to   
find the Ginyu Force below the dome posing merrily for the citizens of Halston,   
who were a captive audience. Captain Ginyu and his men had demanded that the   
citizens grant them access to their city, feed them, and then watch them perform   
their fighting poses. In exchange, the Halstonians would be allowed to live-for   
now anyway.  
  
Captain Ginyu was forcing some of the citizens to practice some new   
poses that he wanted his men to try out later. The Calmagians being forced to   
pose looked like amateur circus clowns, foolishly stumbling and tumbling trying   
to please Captain Ginyu, so that he and his men would go away and leave them in   
peace. Balair and Dodoria levitated in the air and watched the entire scene   
with disgust and contempt.  
  
"What is Ginyu doing?" Balair roared. "He and his men could have   
decimated that city by now! What does he think this is-a traveling show?"   
  
Dodoria sneered, "You know Ginyu; he and his men always have to show   
off for somebody, whether it's their Girls, or newcomers. C'mon Balair, let's   
blow these people away since Ginyu obviously isn't going to himself anytime   
soon."  
  
Balair grinned, and he blasted the dome open with a single ki blast.   
The party that Captain Ginyu had forced upon the Halstonians stopped when he   
and the others felt the shattered fiberglass crash down upon them. The   
horrified citizens scattered in all directions, but the police force of that   
village fired their laser guns at Balair and Dodoria, who just laughed at their   
feeble attempts. Balair quickly descended into the city, and he turned into a   
red mist once more. The vaporized Balair spread himself throughout the city,   
and his misty form entered the lungs of one quarter of the Halstonians, forcing   
them to expand and explode within minutes. Dodoria used his powerful mouth   
blasts to burn away many more citizens.  
  
Ginyu was furious, not because the people were dying, but because   
his impromptu party had been rudely interrupted. "What do you guys think you're   
doing?" he shouted at Dodoria, who had just burned away a whole street of steel   
houses with his mouth blast.  
  
"Doing what should have been your job!" Dodoria hissed back at   
Ginyu, and with that, he blasted away another street of houses.  
  
Jeice watched Balair and Dodoria in action, and he turned to Ginyu.   
"What do we do now, Captain?"  
  
Ginyu sighed. "C'mon, you guys. Let's join them. Lord Frieza will   
expect this place to be destroyed anyway."  
  
The men showed off their fighting poses before they joined Balair   
and Dodoria in their destruction of Halston. Guido and Ginyu flew to the remote   
part of Halston that had not been destroyed, and Guido took a deep breath,   
causing time to stop in the area. Ginyu, who was one of the few creatures not   
affected by Guido's ability to stop time, blew away that part of the city with   
powerful ki blasts while the helpless citizens stood there like statues, unable   
to move so much as an eyelid.  
  
Within hours, Halston had fallen to Frieza's men, with the exception   
of a girl, a boy, and their small sister, who were fleeing Halston towards the   
wilderness. The girl had flowing brown hair and dark blue eyes, and her little   
sister resembled her. The boy, the middle child, had black hair and green eyes.   
They were almost out of Halston when Balair and Dodoria caught up with them, as   
they flew in the air. Balair swooped down from the air and seized the oldest   
girl from the ground, like a hawk picking up a rabbit. The girl screamed in   
terror, and the boy helpless to save her, grabbed their small sister, picked her   
up, and continued to run, but Dodoria flew down from the air and punched the boy   
hard in the back of his head, forcing him to drop the child. The boy fell   
facedown to the ground, and the little girl, no more than five years old,   
watched in frozen horror, as Dodoria landed on top of the boy's back and cruelly   
broke his spine with one foot. Dodoria then crushed the boy's neck with that   
same foot, effectively killing the poor lad. The tiny girl screamed in terror,   
too scared to run away. Her small, plump legs would not allow her to run.  
  
Balair landed next to Dodoria, holding his captive tightly in his   
arms. "This one's not as pretty as that Zilly girl was, but she'll do. What do   
you think we should do about that brat?" he asked, looking at the small crying   
child with contempt.  
  
The older girl, no more than fifteen years old, cried out loud.   
"Don't hurt her, please! I'll do anything you want; just spare her life!"  
  
Balair grinned at the girl, with a lascivious, malicious grin that   
sent cold shivers down the girl's spine. "Anything we want, eh? Well, guess   
what, sweetness, you've been elected to entertain my buddy and I on the way to   
where the Astorians are. You're going to make us both very happy, love. It's   
been a while since I had a woman."  
  
Dodoria looked at the girl contemptuously. He didn't think that the   
girl was that great a beauty, and he said to Balair, "Too plain for me; you may   
have her for yourself."  
  
Balair laughed. "Well, that leaves more of her for me, doesn't it?"   
Dodoria laughed along with him, as he approached the scared little girl,   
grinning cruelly.   
  
"Quillina! Help me; I'm scared!" the child screamed.  
  
"Leave her alone!" Quillina exclaimed, crying. She turned her brown   
head to Balair. "Don't let him hurt her, please! You can do what you want with   
me; just leave her alone!"  
  
Dodoria sneered at Quillina, hating her cowardice. "Do you know   
where the capital of Calmag is? Is that where the Astorians are staying at?" he   
asked her sharply.  
  
Quillina trembled and nodded. The tears were flowing freely down   
her pale cheeks.  
  
Balair told Dodoria, "Dodoria grab the brat and keep her alive;   
she'll be an incentive for my new plaything here to behave herself." He turned   
to Quillina and whispered, "If you're real nice to me, and you take us to the   
capital of your planet, we may spare you and the brat. Understand? Do not even   
think of fighting me."  
  
The scared girl nodded quickly, and then Balair bit her shoulder   
hard to claim her, as Dodoria seized the little girl by her hair. He flew up   
into the air, carrying the child by her hair.  
  
"Quillina!" the child screamed.  
  
"Julep!" Quillina cried. She shouted to Dodoria, "Don't carry her   
like that, please!"  
  
Balair told his friend, "Carry the brat by her waist!" He told   
Quillina, "Tell the whelp to stop screaming and crying, for she's getting on our   
nerves!"  
  
Dodoria had Julep by her waist then, and Quillina told her sister in   
as soothing a voice as possible, "Julep, sweetie, please don't cry, please?   
We'll be okay, I promise, just don't cry or scream. They'll let us go, if we   
obey them."  
  
Dodoria shook his large, pink, spiky head in disbelief. He and   
Balair had no true intention of sparing the girls' lives. The best that the   
girl named Quillina could hope for was to become Balair's new whore in his small   
harem that he kept on the Frieza planet where he was stationed. Nevertheless, a   
little false hope wouldn't hurt them for now.  
  
Balair and Dodoria flew off into the Calmagian sky, carrying their   
new captives. 


	48. Making Amends

Chapter Forty-Eight: Making Amends  
  
That night, Dirkan and Shalila's room.  
  
Tayla was sitting in Dirkan's lap; she had shamefacedly asked him   
for forgiveness, and Dirkan had held her close and told her that it was all   
right. He also asked for her forgiveness in being so rash that first time when   
she and Ridikar had been alone together. The old Namek warrior was trying to   
remain calm, even after Shalila had told him what Ridikar had tried to do to   
Tayla. Dirkan swore that he would gut Ridikar from stem to sternum with his   
sword for what he had done to Tayla.  
  
Tayla had apologized to Bajal, Gorna, and Cletos for the way she had   
spoken to them earlier. Bajal had ruffled the girl's hair and told her not to   
worry about it, and Alora, who had been with him, said she had to admire anyone   
who had the nerve to stand up to her husband like that. Bajal laughed in the   
end, and told his youngest sister that he admired her spirit. (Tayla, on   
Shalila's orders, had wisely not told him yet about Ridikar's trying to rape   
her, both females fearing that Bajal would murder the Calmagian heir before   
Ridikar was brought to justice.)  
  
Gorna had quietly forgiven her, and she had said to Tayla that she   
was as much to blame. She told her youngest sibling that she wanted to speak to   
her further later, and for the first time in the twelve years that she had been   
living, Tayla did not dread being alone in a conversation with her imposing   
elder sister.  
  
As for Cletos, he had morosely forgiven her, but he was in such a   
reflective, depressed mood that Gorna had advised Tayla that it was best to   
leave him alone for now. Gorna privately thought that Tayla's shouting at   
Cletos about neglecting his children was exactly what their brother had needed.   
Gorna had been seriously thinking of taking Petalia and Dedron away from Cletos;   
she thought that Dedron needed a good dose of discipline.  
  
"I didn't mean to cause so much trouble," Tayla told them again for   
the tenth time.  
  
Dirkan smoothed the girl's hair. "We know, sweetheart, we know.   
Ridikar will not get away with what he tried to do to you, I promise you that.   
Leading you on like he did, every time I think about it, I just want to turn him   
into rubble!"  
  
"I-I trusted him, Dirkan, he seemed so nice and charming," Tayla   
whispered.  
  
Shalila smoothed Tayla's hair. "Heavy hangs the head that last   
night wore the crown," she quoted quietly from an Earth expression. "My dear,   
don't let this experience discourage you from having suitors later on when   
you're older. Most young men are not like Ridikar."  
  
Tayla looked up at Nama. "How's Caline doing? May I go see her, please, before   
I go to bed?"  
  
Shalila patted Tayla's shoulder. "For about an hour will be fine.   
Caline is with Gracina and Gorna on the balcony of the conservatory, dandelion.   
Lektron is out patrolling the corridors with Bajal." Most of the Astorians and   
Calmagians in the castle were awake and patrolling the castle and surrounding   
area for any signs of Frieza's men.  
  
"Is Alberm going to be punished for what he did to Caline?" Tayla   
asked softly. Alberm and Reccor had been arrested for treason, and both of them   
were in the dungeons of the Magan castle. If they were found to be guilty, both   
of them would be executed, and Shalila would not speak for Reccor. Reccor's   
treachery was too hard to bear for all of the older Astorians, who has trusted   
him fully, and none of them would speak for Reccor either, not even the normally   
peaceful Raakon. Shalila, Dirkan, and Gorna were ashamed and embarrassed for   
not knowing or even being aware of Reccor's connection to Frieza.   
  
Shalila said slowly, "He will be punished for treason, and for   
trying to murder Caline, but there have been no other charges." She chewed on   
her lower lip.  
  
"He won't be punished for beating and raping her?" Tayla asked.  
  
Shalila looked ashamed. "He has not been charged with that, child,   
although her grandfather does know about it. Sadly, raping or beating your wife   
is not considered a crime under Calmagian law." She drew Tayla's head to her   
and continued, trying to brighten her voice, "But Dirkan and I are working to   
obtain Caline a divorce from her husband; your Uncle Kitchator may allow it, not   
wanting his granddaughter to be married to a traitor like Alberm."  
  
"I hate Alberm for what he did to Caline!" Tayla suddenly cried   
passionately. "I almost wish I had killed him!" Both Shalila and Dirkan were   
surprised by this outburst, for Tayla was not normally violent by nature.  
  
Shalila looked into her granddaughter's angry dark eyes. "No,   
Tayla, you must always try to prevent killing whenever possible, and let justice   
do its work. True warriors are fighters, dandelion, not executioners or   
killers. Alberm deserves to pay heavily for what he has done, yes, but it would   
have been wrong to kill him without at least a trial. I understand your anger   
at him, but killing him in cold blood would not have made you any better than   
him. You did the right thing by just fighting to protect Caline. Killing is   
the last resort for the true warrior, believe it or not. It is too easy to   
become addicted to bloodshed, and it must never happen to you. I know that is   
not like you, Tayla. Dirkan and I have been in your shoes before, and there   
have been times when we had let our anger get so out of control that we had both   
killed unnecessarily. It is not something that we are proud of."  
  
"Maybe I truly didn't want to kill him," Tayla admitted, "but I   
don't think that he could ever suffer enough for what he did to Caline."  
  
"I agree with that statement," Dirkan said quietly. He turned to   
Tayla and gently guided her off his lap. "Tayla, if you want to see Caline   
before you go to bed, better do so now; you've already been up too late as it   
is."  
  
"Yes, Dirkan," Tayla responded. She kissed both him and her Nama on   
their cheeks and whispered goodnight to each of them. They kissed her back, and   
Tayla left their room.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan finally allowed themselves to worry about   
Frieza's minions coming for Tayla. They had deliberately stayed on the topic of   
Caline and Alberm, so that Tayla would not dwell on the Elite minions from   
Frieza coming to take her away. "Why doesn't Frieza leave us alone?" Shalila   
asked, a bit despairingly.  
  
Dirkan said tiredly, "Frieza won't give up until our people are   
destroyed. It amazes me that he is still after Tayla. Reccor must have told   
him about Tayla's abilities as a warrior. First those Saiyan brats, and now   
Frieza's other Elite officers. You and I have fought against Jaden and Zarbon   
before, and we had a hard time defeating them the last time. I still can   
remember Jaden turning some of our fighters into glass. If we had not distracted   
her long enough for Kami Orchida and Toria to reverse the attack, those fighters   
would have perished. And that time when Zarbon had turned into that hideous   
green monster-ugh! I saw him in my nightmares for weeks after he had fled   
Chloe."  
  
"And yet, Jaden had freed the Meatians; that puzzles me, for I   
thought that she was completely heartless. Yet, she can't be entirely cruel, if   
she allowed Steak and his children to escape without an ulterior motive. I wish   
there was some way to reason with her and this friend of hers, Chestra," Shalila   
spoke, trying to press on this last bit of hope.  
  
"We can't trust anyone who works for Frieza," Dirkan told his wife sternly.   
  
"Jaden could have been peeved at Frieza for something and just released the   
Meatians to spite him. We can't be sure of her or anyone who works with her.   
We must do all we can to protect our people and Tayla, even if it means   
destroying her and her comrades. Speaking of which, the CRP officers who took   
them prisoner probably had them executed by now."  
  
"I hope so--almost," Shalila said sadly. "It's such a pity that   
someone like Jaden would choose to work for Frieza, but it can't be helped. We   
better go train then, Dirkan."  
  
But Dirkan noticed how tired his mate was, and he insisted that they   
both get a few hours of sleep, and Shalila reluctantly acquiesced.   
  
  
  
  
  
The balcony of the castle conservatory  
  
Gracina and Gorna were having tea in the red and white conservatory   
after a few hours of intense training and conditioning with each other. It had   
been an interesting sparring match because the two sisters did not spar with   
each other often, and the match had come out even. Caline was sleeping, with   
her fair head in Gracina's lap. Gracina and Gorna were tired as well, but they   
insisted to each other that they would stay awake and patrol the castle.  
  
Tayla crept into the conservatory. Gracina smiled slowly at her.   
"Tayla, you don't have to sneak in here, you know, although you probably should   
be in bed by now." Tayla sat down next to Gracina on the green couch where her   
sister and Caline were. Gracina put her slender arm around Tayla, as she looked   
down at Caline.  
  
Tayla looked at Caline, peacefully sleeping. "Will she be okay? Do   
you think we can take her back home with us?"  
  
Gracina looked down fondly at Caline again. "I wish we could,   
Tayla, but she already has a family here."  
  
"They are not taking care of her like they should, especially if   
they made her marry a bastard like Alberm," Tayla declared vociferously.  
  
"Tayla!" Gracina and Gorna both exclaimed at Tayla's using a   
forbidden word. They both secretly agreed with her, however.  
  
"Well, he is one," Tayla insisted, "Gorna said so herself."  
  
"Tayla, I am-" Gorna was about to say that she was an adult, and   
that she could say whatever she pleased, but she decided then and there that she   
would not tell Tayla to do something that she would not do herself. "Never   
mind, Tayla, but don't use that word around anyone else, understand?"  
  
Tayla nodded, still in shock that Gorna was behaving decently   
towards her. She was still uncertain how to deal with this new side of Gorna;   
at least with the old Gorna, she had known exactly what to expect. But since   
Gorna was extending the olive branch towards her of her own accord, Tayla would   
accept it.  
  
Gracina gathered Caline in her arms. "I better put her to bed.   
Lektron will be up for hours still, so I will put her to bed with me until he   
returns. She'll feel safer there than in her own quarters."  
  
"Don't become too attached to her," Gorna warned her blond sister.   
"Remember that she is not your child. She still has a father."   
  
Gracina was about to say what she thought about Prince Amitar,   
Caline and Ridikar's father, but decided against it. She was too tired to say   
something about the indifferent way Amitar had reacted to the news of Alberm   
beating and raping Caline. Amitar did think that Alberm went too far in   
attempting to kill his daughter, but he said nothing to comfort his daughter, or   
even promise to protect her. The cold, indifferent prince merely said that he   
would find Caline a new husband, and he shushed Caline's protests about not   
wanting a new spouse. Gracina hid her fury at Caline's father, although by the   
time Amitar had left, both she and Lektron, who had been with her, had wanted to   
strangle him. Neither one of them thought highly of the future king of Calmag.   
Gracina pitied Caline and the other women that had to live on Calmag.  
  
She kissed Tayla goodnight and nodded to Gorna, and then she left the room   
carrying Caline in her arms. Tayla had wished that Gracina could have stayed   
longer, but Gracina had looked like she could use some sleep. She was now alone   
with Gorna.  
  
Gorna was struggling for words, which was unusual for her, since she   
was one of the most outspoken princesses in the Clan of Chloe. What did you say   
to a sister that you had cruelly neglected for so long? How did you say that   
you're sorry? How did you ask for forgiveness? Tayla watched Gorna's mouth   
twitch nervously, as she herself was trying to think of words to say to her   
elder sister.  
  
Finally Gorna said some of the hardest words that she ever had to   
say, "T-Tayla, will you ever forgive me for the way that I have treated you all   
this time? I was wrong; I admit that I was wrong about you. You never gave me   
cause for how I behaved towards you. If you ever fought back with me, I   
probably deserved it."  
  
Tayla herself was now wrestling for words. She too, was one of the   
most outspoken princesses in the Clan of Chloe, but not as much as Gorna. "I   
never wanted to hurt you, Gorna, truly I didn't," she began slowly. "I just   
wanted you to love me, and I never understood why you seemed so cold towards   
me."  
  
"I was jealous of you," Gorna admitted quietly. "I've had to fight   
all of my life to make people love and respect me, and you seem to do it so   
effortlessly. Everyone is always saying how sweet and kind and brave you are,   
while they regard me with contempt behind my back. There were times when I had   
disliked you, but I had never truly hated you; I realize that now. No one had   
ever petted me or adored me the way that they do you, except for Granpappa; he   
always doted on me. But that is not your fault, Tayla, and you must not feel   
bad about the way that others and I have viewed me. You deserve all the love   
and affection that others give you; you seem to have such a way with people.   
Don't feel guilty about the good things that come to you, just don't ever take   
it for granted."  
  
Tayla was quiet for a few moments, taking time to digest Gorna's   
words. She knew that Gorna was not lying to her, for all Gorna's faults, she   
was no liar. Finally, lacking the right words at her young age, she walked up   
to Gorna and hugged her for the first time ever in their lives. She pressed her   
cheek against Gorna's shoulder, hoping that Gorna would not reject her or push   
her away.   
  
Gorna was shocked that Tayla would embrace her of her own accord,   
but she overcame it and put her arms around her youngest sibling. They held   
each other like that for what seemed to be hours, and then finally Gorna kissed   
her forehead gravely and said silently, "You should go to bed now. Goodnight,   
Tayla." Before she released her sister, she whispered, "Thanken" which was   
Astorian for "thank you."  
  
"Welcomen," Tayla whispered back solemnly, saying the Astorian word   
for "you're welcome".  
  
She brought Gorna's hand to her dark hair, which was not only could be a gesture   
of trust, but one of forgiveness as well. She and Gorna no longer needed words   
to tell each other that all was now forgiven, and that a new relationship would   
form. She kissed Gorna's cheek, whispered goodnight, and she left the   
conservatory. Gorna sat there in the room alone for a few minutes, quiet,   
reflective, and grateful.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning in the castle control room.  
  
Captain Qatar had word from Lieutenant Balboun that the prisoners   
had been executed, and for the safety of the Calmagians, all of them had been   
destroyed. Qatar told Balboun that was fine, and he was sure the king would be   
pleased to know that Frieza's minions under the CRP care had been destroyed.  
  
The control room was space age, with many computers, gadgets,   
screens and radars. A message crackled on the intercom now, "Captain Qatar?   
This is Lieutenant Saychelle."  
  
"Qatar speaking."  
  
"Captain, Calmag has been invaded! I repeat Calmag has been   
invaded! In the Southern hemisphere, the cities and villages of Rendor,   
Halston, Kaldor, Javalon, Hensley, and Squaremon have had their citizens all   
brutally murdered! The entire planet is almost under attack, Captain!   
Casualties are high, sir, and they continue to climb rapidly. I have three   
fighter jets following the invaders now. One of the invaders has been described   
as a Sistrai warrior, and the other is a large pink, spiky-headed monster of an   
unknown species. They have been blasting our cities and villages from the sky,   
sir, with ki blasts. In Rendor, sir, many of the citizens have been turned into   
diamond statues, and the dead citizens have seemed to die of some sort of   
poisoning. My men are scouting that city for survivors, sir. I have a young   
girl with me, sir, and her name is Zilly Fedamare. She says that the same   
invaders had molested her and killed her father and brothers. Her village of   
Javalon seems to have been utterly destroyed."  
  
At that moment, a short, massive man with black hair and green eyes   
entered the room. All of the soldiers in the room stood up and saluted him, for   
he was the most important man of the CRP officers, General Norbrook.  
  
"General," Captain Qatar spoke up quickly. "Frieza's forces have   
invaded Calmag in the Southern hemisphere."  
  
General Norbrook cursed loudly. This was just what he wanted for   
breakfast. 


	49. Ridikar Won't Give Up Yet

Chapter Forty-Nine: Ridikar Won't Give Up Yet  
Five days later.  
  
Nikon, Tila and Tayka were disappointed to learn that Tayla was not   
getting married (they were unaware of what had happened between Tayla and   
Ridikar, and Gracina and Lektron had decided that they were too young to know   
the full truth). Arlon, Lukan, Bendros, and Riccan were greatly relieved, and   
when the three older lads had learned the entire story of what Ridikar had tried   
to do to Tayla, they were ready to murder the boy, Calmagian royal heir or not.  
  
The three young men were standing on the balcony of the meeting hall   
at the moment, watching the Calmagian fighter jets, war pods, and other warring   
planes take off into the sky to fight the invaders from Frieza. Arlon, Lukan,   
and Bendros had been sparring and training to go fight Frieza's minions   
themselves should the Calmagian mission to destroy them fail. Riccan had been   
training with them, even though Gracina had refused to allow him to fight.   
Riccan had been furious and had declared angrily that Frieza and his minions   
would probably be dead by the time he was old enough to help fight them.  
  
"Let's pray to Orchida that happens!" Gracina had told her sulky son   
fervently. Riccan had stormed away from his mother, and Lektron had told his   
wife to let their son calm down.  
  
"It's not fair! Tayla got to fight when she was only seven years   
old, and I'm older than that, and Mamma still won't let me fight! I'll never   
get to be a warrior!" Riccan cried angrily, as he sparred with his uncles on the   
balcony. He was already a fierce little fighter for his age, and his uncles and   
Bendros were impressed by the boy's stamina and strength.  
  
"Calm down, Riccan," Arlon soothed. "The only reason Tayla had to   
fight that one time was because she didn't really have a choice. You do, and   
your mother is only looking out for you. She just doesn't want you to get hurt,   
that's all."  
  
"Will Tayla be allowed to fight with us?" Lukan asked his brother,   
as he threw a punch at Arlon's stomach. Arlon easily blocked Lukan's fist.  
  
"Nama hasn't decided yet; I can tell she doesn't want Tayla involved   
in this anymore than necessary, but we really do need her. I hope Nama   
consents, even though I'm worried about our little sister fighting myself,"   
Arlon admitted, as he landed a powerful roundhouse kick on Lukan's shoulder.   
Lukan responded with a punch to Arlon's ribs, a fast punch that Arlon had been   
unable to block.  
  
"Dirkan has been training her just in case," Bendros told Tayla's   
brothers, who had been hitting Riccan with light punches, even though Riccan had   
kept bugging him to fight at full strength. "She was able to fight the Saiyans   
away from Astoria."  
  
"Yeah, but remember these guys coming from Frieza are supposed to be   
stronger than those Saiyan boys that we had fought five years ago," Lukan   
ordered, successfully dodging Arlon's punch to his head.  
  
"I fought against Saiyans during my few years with   
Intergalacticpol," Bendros told him, as he blocked one of Riccan's quick kicks   
with his hand. "I was in space with Prince Gohan's officers at the time you   
guys fought against the Saiyans. We barely managed to defeat them and escape   
with our lives intact. This will be the first time that I will actually be   
facing other of Frieza's minions. I don't know whether to look forward to it,   
or be afraid."  
  
"They can't be that much tougher than the Saiyans!" Riccan declared   
confidently. "You guys are lucky! I sure wish I could fight with you all!"  
  
"Maybe in a few years from now," Bendros assured him. "I can   
remember being your age and wanting to go into battle myself. Don't take it too   
much to heart, Riccan; there are plenty of young men who are older who wish they   
didn't have to fight." Riccan successfully, playfully punched him in his   
stomach, and Bendros gasped aloud. "Good job, little fellow!"  
Riccan grinned devilishly.  
  
"Tayla's had her Awakening," Arlon said hopefully. "Some of us had   
not even come that far, except for you, Bendros, for you told us that you had   
yours during your Intergalacticpol years. Those Astorians who have had their   
Awakenings are stronger than the average Astorian. I sure wish that I could   
somehow obtain mine. Maybe I will during this war with Frieza's forces."  
  
Lukan was hoping the same thing. Then he grew worried. "Maybe Nama   
is right to be worried about letting Tayla fight with us. It is Tayla that   
Frieza's forces are after; shouldn't we keep her out of sight? If Tayla fights   
with us, then she will be an easier target for Frieza's followers to capture.   
Maybe we try to talk Nama out of letting Tayla fight; she'll be placed in more   
danger."  
  
"Tayla will want to fight with us," Arlon argued. "I understand   
your concern, but she is considered old enough to fight with us now, and she has   
the strength to do so."  
  
"Lukan does have a point," Bendros admitted, grabbing Riccan in a   
headlock, just tight enough not to cause Riccan any pain. "Having Tayla out   
with us in open combat will place her in peril."  
  
"They won't know which of the girls is Tayla," Arlon disputed,   
sweeping his feet beneath Lukan and nearly tripping him. Lukan dodged Arlon's   
foot.  
  
"The Saiyans will be able to tell them," Lukan pointed out to his   
brother, as he landed a punch on Arlon's shoulder.  
  
"Tayla won't get captured again!" Riccan sided with Arlon. "She   
should be allowed to fight! She beat the Saiyans before, and she can surely   
beat Frieza's minions! There's no way that she can lose!" Riccan struggled to   
break free of Bendros' headlock, but he couldn't.  
Arlon suggested, "Couldn't we disguise Tayla, and have her hide her ki?"  
Bendros shook his head, finally releasing Riccan's head. "We could disguise   
her, but if Tayla fully hides her ki, how will she be able to use ki blasts?   
She can repress it, making her enemies think that she's weaker than she really   
is."  
  
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Lukan reluctantly agreed. Then he   
grew more worried than before. "We just don't need to lose her, that's all.   
What if we can't really protect her? What will become of her-and us?"  
  
The young men grew silent then, and all sparring stopped. Lukan's   
peers allowed themselves to digest his words, and they all prayed silently that   
Tayla would not be taken from them. Even the normally rowdy Riccan was subdued,   
for he was also wondering for the first time what would happen if Tayla was   
taken captive. Not even Great-Nama had been able to kill Frieza, and Frieza was   
as alive and well as ever.  
  
They wondered if Kami Orchida could watch over them from so far   
away.  
  
  
  
  
Prince Amitar's Bedroom  
  
"Father, we need to talk."  
  
Crown Prince Amitar was stretching, training to eventually go fight Frieza's   
forces. He noticed Ridikar entering his room, and he stopped for a few moments   
for time with his favorite child. "What is it, son?" Amitar and Ridikar sat   
down in the dark green chairs in Amitar's green and gold bedroom.  
  
"Father, remember the note that I had left you about Tayla agreeing   
to marry me?"  
  
Amitar scratched his gray head. "Yes, son."  
  
"She is trying to break our engagement; I have told her that she   
could not do that, but she will not listen, and her family is backing her up."  
  
"What?" Amitar cried, outraged. "Who does she think she is? Just   
because she is an Astorian-does she know that only the man may break off the   
engagement in Calmagian law? She is on Calmagian soil, and she must follow our   
laws!"  
  
"I still want her, Father, even though she behaved horribly last   
week. Why, Father, all I did was try to consummate our union, and she rejected   
me, claiming that she did not want me to take her."  
  
Amitar looked at his son skeptically. "Son, are you certain that   
you wish to marry this girl? She sounds as if she could be more disobedient and   
stubborn than your sister, Caline."  
  
Ridikar nodded. "I can manage her, Father, trust me. I still want   
her, and no girl is going to refuse me. She is mine, and I will have her!   
Isn't there anything you and Grandfather can do to ensure that she will become   
my wife? She cannot break our engagement, can she?"  
  
Amitar told his son firmly, "If she was a Calmagian girl, your   
grandfather and I could force her to marry you, but she is not a citizen of our   
planet, which makes things more complicated. The Astorians do not arrange   
marriages the same way that we do. However, there is one thing that I can do."  
  
"What's that, Father?"  
  
"I can refuse to sign the alliance agreements between Astoria and   
Calmag until Tayla agrees to marry you. I am certain that I can convince your   
grandfather to do the same thing, if I put this story to him right. If I refuse   
to sign, he will surely believe that I have good cause not to do so; my father   
trusts my judgment. To put it bluntly: no marriage for you, no alliance between   
Astoria and Calmag. Then Tayla's family will force her to keep her end of the   
engagement agreement, and you will have your little Astorian bride."  
  
Ridikar smiled for the first time in days. He shook his father's   
hand solemnly. "Thank you, Father, for I will always be grateful for this."  
  
Amitar allowed himself a grin on his normally solemn face. "Good   
luck, my son. I promise you that Tayla will eventually get over this silly   
little spat between you two and realize that she cannot leave you so easily.   
You must fight for her, my son, if you truly want her, and make her see that you   
are the one in charge and the only one for her. Leave the next part to me, for   
it is about time that you settled down and had some sons of your own."  
  
Ridikar nodded, thanked his father again, and walked out of the room, happier   
than he had been in a while. Princess Tayla Chloe would be his bride yet!  
  
"Tayla, you are mine!" he whispered under his breath.  
  
  
  
  
Two hours later.  
  
"What?" King Kitchator exclaimed in an uproar. "Why are you not   
signing the alliance agreement, Amitar? Have you lost your mind? We need the   
Astorians as our allies!"  
  
"Father," Amitar told him calmly, "would you want to ally with a   
race that produces daughters that back out of perfectly honorable engagement   
agreements?"  
  
"What engagement agreement?" Kitchator asked. "I have heard nothing   
about an engagement between a Calmagian and an Astorian."  
  
"Princess Tayla Chloe, your niece-by-marriage, has verbally agreed   
to marry my son, Ridikar, and because of a silly little fight between them, she   
has broken off the engagement. We must not tolerate that, Father, even if   
Princess Tayla is not a Calmagian. What if other women or girls here decided to   
follow her lead? I am not so sure that the Astorian women are such a good   
influence on the Calmagian women anyway. My daughter, Caline, is spending an   
unnecessary amount of time in the company of Princess Tayla and her sister,   
Princess Gracina. Who knows what strange and forbidding ideas she could learn   
from them? Princess Tayla is still young enough, however, to learn Calmagian   
ways and laws, and I will not allow her to reject my son, who would be a good   
husband for her. My son, Ridikar, desires her, and only he should be allowed to   
break off the engagement."   
  
"Father, I am urging you to refuse to sign the alliance treaties   
between Astoria and Calmag until Princess Tayla agrees to marry Ridikar. A   
marriage between them would further unify our planets, once the Astorians are   
made to see reason. In fact, Father, we should refuse to sign the treaties   
until Princess Tayla is actually married to Ridikar, and I can have them wed   
within a week's time."  
  
"Son, we have no time to be planning weddings!" Kitchator declared   
vociferously. "Don't you realize that we are at war? Do you realize that   
Frieza's forces could destroy our entire planet at any time? I agree with you   
that Princess Tayla should honor the betrothal agreement, but this is no time to   
blackmail potential allies! We have bigger things to worry about that Ridikar's   
marriage plans, but if and when we drive Frieza's forces off of our planet, then   
we can address this issue. I have to deal with the fact that one of my most   
trusted men, Alberm Dunlop of Rendor is a traitor, and our people are dying   
around us, and without the Astorians' help, we are probably helpless. This will   
have to wait, Amitar."  
  
"Father, I understand, in a way, how you feel, but no wench is going   
to refuse to marry my son when she has agreed to do so before. I am sorry, but   
I will have to refuse to sign the treaties until Ridikar and Princess Tayla are   
wed, or at the very least, betrothed once more. You know that if I refuse to   
sign, the treaties will be null and void after your death, and even you will not   
live forever. Ridikar also has to sign the treaties since he rules Calmag after   
my death. Father, Ridikar will soon be populating the planet with illegitimate   
children, and we don't need any of them rising to seize the throne from the   
rightful heirs. My son needs a wife! A marriage between my son and a Princess   
of Chloe would cement the alliance between Calmag and Astoria. Father, we must   
make this marriage happen before the Astorians go back home! Ridikar and I want   
an alliance with Astoria as much as you do, but neither one of us will sign the   
treaties until Ridikar gets the bride he wants."  
  
Kitchator growled furiously, his long, white beard shaking with his   
anger. He hated being blackmailed by his own son, but he also felt that Amitar   
was right. "You blackmail me, but I will give in! Very well, we will not sign   
any treaties with Astoria until Ridikar gets Tayla as his bride."  
  
Amitar smiled, pleased. 


	50. Caline And The Astorians Take A Stand

Chapter Fifty: Caline And The Astorians Take A Stand  
  
Three hours later in the meeting hall.  
  
"WHAT????" the Astorians and their companions exclaimed.  
  
"I can't believe the nerve of those three men!" Dirkan, who was   
sitting next to Shalila at the meeting hall table, hissed. "Refusing to ally   
with us just because Tayla has changed her mind about marrying that Calmagian   
upstart! Queen Kildara, please tell us that this is a bad joke!"  
  
Queen Kildara held her regal head down in shame. She had already   
been distressed since her people had arrived on Calmag and informed of her   
beloved sister, Tika's death twelve years ago. Kildara had spent much of her   
time during her family's visit mourning her dead youngest sister, despite the   
best efforts of her sisters, Homina and Toria, to console her. Kitchator had   
insisted that his now submissive wife deliver the bad news to the Astorian   
people. The Clan of Chloe visitors, their servants, and their friends were now   
gathered in the meeting hall.  
  
"It is true," she told her family gravely. "My husband, his son,   
and his grandson are the only ones who can sign the treaty here. It is out of   
my hands, I am sorry."  
  
Tayla was sitting between Shalila and Gracina, with Caline sitting   
between Gracina and Lektron. Caline had grown very close and attached to   
Gracina and Lektron in the past few days. She thought of them as a new set of   
parents. Gracina and Lektron had grown to love her, and they wished that they   
could take her back home with them. Caline's fear of Alberm had thankfully not   
expanded to all men, and she looked up to Lektron, who was touched by her   
growing filial adoration for him. She spent as much time with Gracina, Lektron   
and their children as possible. Bajal and Alora were sitting next to them.   
Alora was feeding their daughter, Rina, a chocolate sugarplum.   
  
Tayla whispered ashamedly to Shalila, "This is all my fault, isn't   
it? I should have never agreed to marry Ridikar in the first place."  
  
Shalila patted Tayla's shoulder, trying to remain calm. She was   
furious at Ridikar and his family for acting the way they were. Tayla was only   
a child; they should have known better. "Don't blame yourself,   
dandelion," she told her gently, "Ridikar must have started this; he's acting   
like a spoiled little boy who has been denied a favorite toy. You had no idea   
that things could go this far, and neither did we. Do not let this concern you;   
we will handle it. You are not going to be forced to marry anyone."  
  
Bajal hissed, "The nerve of that little bastard! Trying to   
blackmail my sister to marry him! If he thinks we are giving in to this   
blackmail, he and his father are sadly mistaken! Nama, I insist that you allow   
me to challenge that brat, Ridikar! I'll show him who's-"  
  
"No, Bajal," Shalila said sternly. "We are not going to create   
additional problems. Solving problems does not always require a fist, a ki   
blast, or a sword. I will speak to Kitchator and Kildara alone; this is   
ridiculous, allowing a sixteen-year-old boy who is not even king yet to run   
things around here. I will nip things in the bud."  
  
"A fist, a ki blast, or a sword may not always solve problems, but   
it can solve them faster," Alora argued, backing up her husband. "I'd like to   
be alone with that teenage brat myself! Who in the hell does he think he is?   
Tayla is only twelve, barely old enough to go fight in battle, let alone marry   
someone. What does anyone know of romantic love and marriage at that age? King   
Kitchator and Prince Amitar have no common sense, insisting that a child be   
forced to marry a boy who acts less maturely than her."  
  
Rina, who was only three, swallowed the last bit of chocolate that   
she had and said to her mother, "Why Mamma and Pappa mad?" Rina resembled her   
mother, and she had a tail as long as her small body. She watched her mother's   
tail bristle with indignation, as it tightened around her waist.  
  
"Mamma and Pappa feel like beating someone up, and neither one of   
them are allowed to do it," Alora told her daughter, as she gave her another   
sugarplum to distract her.  
  
"I wish that I hadn't started this," Tayla said, feeling miserable.  
  
"Tayla, don't worry about it, I said," Shalila told her firmly.   
"Engagement agreements are not meant to be written in stone. No contracts were   
signed, and you are still a child. No one should have to marry anyone against   
his or her will, and it won't happen to you. You were within your rights to   
back out of marrying Ridikar."  
  
Queen Kildara approached Shalila and Dirkan. "Aunt Shalila, Uncle   
Dirkan, would it really be so bad for Tayla to marry Ridikar? We do need you as   
our allies, and Tayla would become a Queen, like myself. She would be well   
cared for here-"  
  
"Do you call Ridikar's trying to rape her taking well care of her?"   
Dirkan roared, his voice suddenly a few decibels higher than before. "Queen   
Kildara, your grandson tried to force himself on her a few days ago. No girl   
should have to endure that. He is no better than that cretin, Alberm!"   
Everyone turned around to stare at Dirkan just then. Shalila and Tayla were   
embarrassed, but they said nothing.  
  
"Kildara," Shalila told her niece-by-marriage-to-Bajal quietly, "You   
are Astorian yourself, and you know what your husband, stepson, and his son are   
doing is not right. What has happened here is one of the many reasons why I   
outlawed arranged marriages without consent of both bride and groom. Ridikar   
trying to force Tayla to marry him is no different then when the Saiyans of our   
time forced Astorian women to be their concubines. Ridikar tried to rape my   
granddaughter, who is also your niece and Tika's daughter."  
  
"Ridikar surely wouldn't have done that," Kildara protested feebly,   
not liking to be caught in the middle of this cold war between the rulers of   
Calmag and the rulers of Astoria. "Perhaps he made a normal advance, and   
Tayla mistook it for something else. I can consult him on it, if you wish.   
Ridikar has always been a good lad, as far as I know-"  
  
"Well, he's not!" Dirkan hissed at her. "Tear the blinders from   
your eyes, Kildara!" he roared, deliberately not addressing her as Queen.   
"Calmag has been invaded, and your men seem more worried about a twelve-year-old   
girl now refusing to marry a sixteen-year-old boy who has less sense and   
scruples than she does than they do about saving this planet! Tayla is not   
going to be forced to marry anyone that she does not wish to. Ridikar is not   
worthy of her, especially after what he tried to do to her, and you know it! I   
know rape or attempted rape is not considered a serious crime on this planet,   
but that does not make what Ridikar tried to do to Tayla right!"  
  
Caline left her chair next to Gracina, and she walked over to her   
grandmother and took her arm. "Grandmamma, please don't force Tayla to marry   
Ridikar. I'm afraid he's going to hurt her the same way that Alberm hurt me."   
Her large electric-blue eyes looked up pleadingly into the similar blue eyes of   
her grandmother. Those lovely eyes began to cloud over with tears, as she   
continued, "Grandmamma, I never wanted to marry Alberm, but Father made me, and   
you and Granpappa stood by and did nothing. Alberm beat me up and raped me, and   
I tried to tell Father and Ridikar, but they ignored me, saying that I had must   
have displeased him in some way."   
  
She looked over at Gracina and Lektron, who looked back at her with   
understanding and parental love in their eyes. Then she looked at Tayla, who   
was smiling at her encouragingly. Caline smiled back at all of them gratefully;   
she had learned so much from Tayla and her family in the past couple of weeks.   
She was slowly learning from them that she was someone to be respected and   
cherished, not a piece of property to be used and abused at will. Gracina and   
Lektron had constantly reassured her that no one had a right to beat on her,   
talk down to her, or rape her, and that Alberm was the one who was bad, not her.   
Their words were slowly beginning to sink in. Caline had been watching the   
kind, tender way that Lektron treated Gracina, and the way that the Astorian   
parents considered their daughters equal to their sons. Caline had never been   
around people like the Astorians before, and she never allowed herself to think   
of the day when they would leave Calmag to go home to Astoria. She was afraid   
to ask them if she could go with them, for fear that they would have to tell her   
no.  
  
The little Calmagian princess went on with her speech, "Many times,   
I begged Alberm not to hurt me or force himself on me, but he did so anyway. I   
cried out for help, but no one heard me or cared until Tayla and her family came   
along. Tayla was the first person to ever stand up for me and tell me what   
Alberm was doing was wrong." Caline's tears begin to cascade down her   
milk-white face, and she did not brush them away. The little girl looked around   
the room, seeing if everyone was paying attention to her, and she discovered   
that they were. The entire room was silent now, listening to Caline's speech.   
Never in her eleven years of life, had an entire crowd of people pay attention   
to her as they were doing now.  
  
Caline looked at Tayla gratefully. "Some say that it was wrong for   
Tayla to agree to marry my brother and then refuse, but I don't. I want to look   
up to Ridikar and love him as my brother and future ruler, but I can't. I know   
what Ridikar is like, and Tayla is not the first girl that he's tried to hurt.   
He's done things like that before, and sometimes he has succeeded. Ridikar has   
Alberm's attitude about females, although he has hidden it better than my   
husband has. Tayla will not be happy with Ridikar, if she is forced to marry   
him. No one should have to marry someone that they don't love or who would   
treat them poorly."  
  
She turned to a stunned Kildara, who had never heard her normally   
quiet, shy, passive granddaughter say so many words at once in her life. Caline   
raised her pale head and said bravely, "I don't support my father or my   
brother's actions in this matter. Tayla does not deserve to suffer the same   
fate that I have. She has only changed her mind, and changing your mind is not   
a crime, nor is refusing to marry someone that you don't wish to. Tayla has   
saved me, in more ways than one, and no matter what happens to me in the future,   
I will always be grateful for her friendship and protection. Tayla has spoken   
up for me, and now it is time that I started to speak up for myself. She, and   
her family, has taught me that there are those who will stand up for others and   
for what is right, no matter what it costs them."  
  
She turned from her grandmother, and the eleven-year-old Calmagian   
princess addressed Shalila directly, "Superior Gran Shalila, you are very   
fortunate to have Princess Tayla Chloe as your granddaughter. I am sorry for   
the trouble that has happened between our families, and I hope that the men in   
my family will see reason and agree to ally Calmag with Astoria, but even if   
they don't, I will always think fondly and lovingly of your family, especially   
Tayla, Gracina, and Lektron." She walked over and leaned closer to Shalila and   
whispered softly, yet loudly enough for those near Shalila to hear, "And Tayla   
is very fortunate to have you for a grandmother, for you have raised her; it is   
from you surely that she has learned what she has. Don't give in to my family's   
blackmail; please don't make Tayla marry my brother, if she does not wish it.   
This is harsh for me to say, I know, but he is not worthy of her. No alliance   
treaty is worth giving up someone that you love. The Astorians are strong   
enough to be on their own, if they need to be."  
  
Caline closed her eyes briefly, and after opening them again, she   
leaned in between Shalila and Tayla and hugged Tayla fiercely. "Thank you," she   
whispered to her, as Tayla hugged her back.   
  
She went down to sit between Gracina and Lektron once more. Gracina   
hugged her close and whispered some private things in her ear that made Caline   
smile shyly and blush. Lektron ruffled the girl's white-blond hair, as if she   
was one of his children. They, Tayla and the others were amazed by how much   
Caline had already grown up; this self-assured, confident, new Caline was not   
same frightened girl that had nearly died at Alberm's hands. She was no longer   
the same little child bride who had begged Tayla not to intervene in her marital   
problems. She was not the same repressed, terrified little girl that had cried   
in Gracina's arms when Gracina had first comforted her. Caline had discovered   
something important: that she was a worthy person who had the right to love and   
be loved, and that she was a survivor. She would find a way, her own way, to   
overcome what Alberm and the men in her family had forced on her; she would go   
on, and she would survive. Caline was not afraid anymore, at least not as much   
as she used to be.  
  
Shalila drew Tayla close to her and hugged her, and Tayla hugged her   
back. Tayla whispered in her Nama's ear, "She's right, Nama. I am fortunate to   
have you for my grandmother, and I wouldn't want anyone else."  
  
"I consider myself fortunate to have you, my dear," Shalila   
whispered back with a smile. Dirkan squeezed her hand, and she squeezed his   
hand back.  
  
Tayla whispered softly, "Caline sure has changed much, hasn't she?   
She seems, I don't know, stronger, happier?"  
  
Shalila said gently, "She's growing up, and so are you, my little   
dandelion. Caline will be okay; she will grow and survive."  
  
"She'd grow and survive best in our family," Tayla told her firmly.   
"Couldn't we take her home with us, Nama?"  
  
Shalila grew quiet then. She and Dirkan looked at each other,   
afraid to answer Tayla's question. Finally she said, "We'll see, dandelion, no   
promises, not a word to anyone."  
  
"Yes, Nama," Tayla said, looking over at a calmer, serene Caline.  
  
Shalila released Tayla and arose from the meeting hall table to   
address Kildara. Dirkan arose with her. "Kildara, we request a meeting with   
your husband, your stepson and Ridikar-immediately," Shalila told her firmly.  
  
Immediately came much sooner than Shalila and Dirkan expected, for   
Kitchator, Amitar and Ridikar entered the room. Kitchator addressed Shalila and   
Dirkan directly, "Well, what is your decision?"  
  
Dirkan told him severely, "Tayla is not marrying Ridikar."  
  
Shalila added sternly, "I am not going to allow my granddaughter, or   
my people to be blackmailed, Kitchator." She deliberately did not address him   
as king. "Tayla is not going to marry anyone that she does not wish to marry.   
Your grandson tried to rape her six days ago, and I will not allow her to marry   
someone who would treat her with such disrespect. If you refuse to ally with   
us, fine, but if you do, there will be no point in us remaining here on your   
planet. I will take my people off of your planet within two days, instead of   
two weeks like Dirkan and I had planned. I am hoping that it will not come down   
to that, for Frieza's minions are now on your planet, and you will need our   
help, whether you think so or not. Do you want any more of your people to die,   
Kitchator, because of your spoiled grandson not having his way? Your people are   
dying more and more every day. My people are willing to fight with you, since   
Frieza is our enemy also, but I am not going to put them in danger for those who   
would try to blackmail or abuse us. We need to be fighting alongside each   
other, Kitchator, not against each other."  
  
Kitchator had been thinking the same thing, but before he could   
speak, Amitar interrupted rashly, "We Calmagians are a strong people, and we can   
fight Frieza's forces alone, if we had to!"  
  
"That's right!" Ridikar declared, agreeing fully and foolishly with   
his father.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan shook their heads, and most of the Astorians   
groaned and grumbled. Bajal mumbled something about Calmagian royal idiots, and   
Alora glared at Amitar and Ridikar in disbelief.  
  
Amitar then noticed his daughter, Caline, sitting between Gracina   
and Lektron at the meeting hall table. "Caline," he told her decisively, "It is   
time for you to go with us. You have spent more than enough time with the   
Astorian people. As soon as I have your marriage to Alberm dissolved, which   
will be in a matter of days, I will have a new husband for you shortly   
afterwards. His name is Filcor Sedemeyer, and he will be a good match for you.   
He is only twenty years older than you, and he has three cities, four wealthy   
businesses, and almost a million acres of land. He is also a strong warrior as   
well. He is much richer and stronger than Alberm ever was. I will admit that I   
made a mistake in marrying you to a would-be-murderer and traitor, but this new   
marriage will more than make up for it."  
  
Caline gasped in horror, her new self-confidence and peace fading   
away at the prospect of being married again to someone that she didn't love.   
She knew Filcor Sedemeyer well, and she thought him no better than Alberm.   
Filcor was loyal to her father and grandfather, but he was a tyrant, greedy and   
gluttony and just as abusive as Alberm. Filcor and Alberm had been once been   
close friends and business associates before Caline and Alberm's marriage, and   
Filcor himself had once asked Amitar for Caline's hand-in-marriage. Amitar had   
refused Filcor because Filcor did not have the diplomatic or close connections   
to the royal family like Alberm had once had. Caline remembered having to dodge   
Filcor's advances a year ago when Filcor had tried to pull her on his lap and   
kiss her.  
  
She swallowed the terror rising up in her throat and told her   
father, in a mixture of fear and defiance, "No, Father, I refuse."  
  
"What?" Amitar roared. "Caline, we are not going through the same   
thing that we did with Alberm; you gave me a hard time about that marriage too.   
You will marry Filcor; he is a fine match for you. Don't be a foolish girl   
now!'  
  
Gracina put her arm around Caline to give her support, as Caline   
told her angry father, "Father, I love you, but I am not going to marry   
someone just to please you. My next husband, if I choose to have one, will be   
of my own choosing, my own choice. If Tayla is too young to get married, then   
so am I, for I am a year younger than she is. I am only eleven-years-old, far   
too young really to have a mate."  
  
Ridikar barked at Caline, "You will do what Father says! If he says   
you will marry Filcor, then you will do so!"  
  
Caline looked into her brother's eyes and said calmly, "No, I   
won't."  
  
Ridikar and Amitar were stunned; Caline had never openly defied them   
like this before. Amitar then decided that the Astorians were definitely a bad   
influence on Caline, and he knew one way to end that influence. He unbuckled   
his brown belt and slipped out of the belt loops. He folded the belt in half   
and brandished it like a whip. Amitar was furious; he was going to put Caline   
in her place.  
  
Caline's eyes widened in fear at the familiar belt that had been   
used on her several times in her life. The last time that her father had   
whipped her with a belt was when Caline had ran away from home in order to get   
out of marrying Alberm. Caline had been found and brought back home to face the   
brutal belt that Amitar was once again wielding.  
  
Amitar pushed past several Astorians to leap across the table at   
Caline with his belt. Amitar knocked over mugs and glasses, causing hot tea and   
chocolate to fall upon the Astorian occupants. He tried to seize Caline's arm   
to pull her across the table, but Lektron grabbed his arm that held the belt   
before Amitar had a chance to take Caline.  
  
"How dare you?" Amitar roared at Lektron. "She is my daughter, not   
yours!" Amitar rudely shoved Lektron to the floor, and then he managed to grab   
Caline by her arm before Gracina could stop him. Gracina then grabbed him by   
his collar to force him to release Caline. Not entirely realizing what he was   
doing, Amitar shoved Gracina's chest with his fist, pushing her to the floor   
next to Lektron. Gracina reached for her sword that was on her side, but Amitar   
kicked at her hand before she could pull it out. Caline grabbed her father's   
arm and begged him to stop.  
  
"Father, please!" Caline cried. "You don't need to do this!" She   
tried to pull her father away from Gracina, and Amitar used that opportunity to   
whip her side with his belt.  
  
Tayla jumped up in outrage. "Hey! How dare you!" she shouted, not   
caring if Amitar was Caline's father or not. But before Tayla could intervene,   
Lektron had flung himself onto Amitar from the floor, and he pulled Amitar away   
from Caline. Lektron punched Amitar in his jaw hard, cracking it. Shalila   
pulled Tayla back down into her seat and made her stay still.  
  
"That one was for my wife! No one hits my wife!" Lektron roared at   
Amitar, as he landed his other fist into Amitar's stomach. "And that one was   
for Caline! Who the hell do you think you are, beating your own child like   
that?"   
  
"How dare you intervene in my family matters?" Amitar hissed,   
crashing his fist into Lektron's ribs. Lektron seized Amitar by his collar then   
with his free hand and threw him into a wall, causing Amitar to crash into it,   
breaking bricks and bones. Amitar recovered quickly enough, and he threw   
himself at Lektron, who punched him in his stomach. Amitar then shoved Lektron   
to the floor and leapt upon him. He and Lektron began wrestling each other,   
punching and kicking.  
  
"Amitar, stop!" Kitchator ordered.  
  
"Amitar, please stop this!" Kildara cried in horror.  
  
The Astorians debated amongst themselves whether to break up the   
fight, or let Lektron continue to give Amitar what he probably deserved.   
Finally, when Dirkan realized that Lektron was going to win this skirmish-and   
likely kill Amitar in the process-he ordered Bajal, Raakon, and Cletos to help   
him break things up. The four men from Astoria ran over to the two fighting   
men, and they began to pull Lektron off of Amitar. Lektron struggled against   
his cousins and Dirkan, demanding to be allowed to finish his fight, but the   
four men held firm.  
  
"That's enough, Lektron!" Dirkan ordered him loudly. "You'll kill   
him, if you fight him anymore!" Amitar was now lying still, barely breathing   
and very bloody.  
  
"Good, he deserves it!" Lektron roared, fighting to free himself   
from his captors. "No one will miss him!"  
  
"Lektron, that's enough, Dirkan's right," Raakon scolded, as he held   
one of Lektron's powerful legs. "Beating him to death will only make things   
worst between Astoria and Calmag. He's not worth it."  
  
"Take some deep breaths, allow yourself to calm down," Cletos told   
him. Lektron finally obeyed, and the other men guided him to a chair against   
the wall, and they all stood around him to ensure that he would not attack   
Amitar again. Lektron sat down, finally allowing himself to catch his breath.   
Gracina and Caline ran to him to make sure that he was okay. Gracina pulled out   
her healior's kit, and she began retrieving medicines and ointments to treat his   
many wounds.  
  
"Oh, Lektron," she whispered fervently, "Are you okay?" She wiped   
his bloody mouth with her handkerchief.  
  
Lektron grinned saucily at her. "Sure! I won, didn't I?" he   
chuckled. The group attending to him, except for Bajal, groaned, for they knew   
that they would hear Lektron brag about this fight for days. Bajal chuckled   
along with him, and he slapped Lektron's back companionably.  
  
"No Calmagian can ever beat an Astorian! Astorians are still the   
best of the lot in this galaxy!" he boasted, and he and Lektron laughed. Dirkan   
cuffed both men, only he didn't cuff Lektron as hard because he was already   
injured enough. Gracina sighed and tended to her husband's wounds. When his   
wounds had been treated, Gracina pulled Caline away from the men, and felt the   
girl for wounds. She looked under Caline's dress, and she finally determined   
that Caline would just have a nasty bruise. Caline hugged her gratefully, and   
then she went back to Lektron and put her arms around him carefully, so that she   
would not hurt him.  
  
Kitchator, Kildara, and Ridikar ran to Amitar, and Ridikar ordered   
some guards to get the family doctor to tend to his father's injuries. Ridikar   
hissed at Lektron, "You'll pay for what you did to my father! I will challenge   
you myself when your wounds heal!"  
  
Bajal abruptly rushed over to Ridikar and declared angrily, "Why   
don't you challenge me instead? I've been wanting to finish that beating on you   
that I started for some time! You'll pay for what you did to my little sister!"   
He balled up his fists, preparing to make mincemeat out of his sister's   
suitor/assailant.   
  
"I will marry your sister yet!" Ridikar told him defiantly. "There   
will be no alliance, I will see to that, if she does not agree!" Ridikar stood   
up and prepared to fight Bajal. Bajal was more than ready to satisfy him when   
Dirkan put himself between the two of them.  
  
"There will be no more fights today!" the Namek ordered severely.   
"At least not until we meet up with Frieza's fighters! Bajal, you will go sit   
down on the floor, next to Lektron, now!" Bajal sulked, but he went away to do   
Dirkan's bidding. Dirkan then turned to Ridikar, and before Ridikar knew it,   
Dirkan had him in the air by his collar.  
  
"I am not going to give you the beating of you life like you   
deserve-at least not today," Dirkan told Ridikar harshly. "But if you ever, I   
mean ever do anything to Tayla, or even come near her again, I myself will send   
you to an early grave, understand? I will be willing to risk arrest and death   
to ensure that you will not touch Tayla!" And with that, he flung Ridikar to   
the floor next to his father. Ridikar gasped for air.  
  
"There will be no alliance!" Amitar choked, and Ridikar spat out in   
agreement. Amitar said to his father, Kitchator, hoarsely, "We will not be   
signing anything."  
  
Kitchator was stunned into silence; he was debating what to do or   
say next when Ridikar addressed Tayla directly, for Ridikar still had much nerve   
left:  
  
"Tayla," Ridikar said evenly, "I know that we had our silly little   
differences, but we can get past them. I want you to be my bride and my queen.   
I won't touch you until the wedding night, if you insist, but I will not give up   
trying to make you my wife. It would be best for both of our planets, if you   
and I were to wed. Can't you give up your resistance and agree to be my wife   
again?"  
  
Tayla shook her head. "No, Ridikar, I won't. I don't love you, and   
in fact, I don't even like you anymore. You tried to rape me, even though I   
told you no. You don't respect me or care for me, admit it. My family was   
right about you; there is nothing worthy in you. After we leave this planet, I   
want to forget that you ever existed," she told him quietly. She turned to   
Shalila and asked, "Nama, may I be pleased be excused? I am suddenly very   
tired."  
  
Shalila nodded, and she allowed Tayla to leave the meeting hall.   
The rest of her family slowly began to leave, following her behind. Dirkan   
ordered Bajal and Lektron to go with them, fearing that the two men would lose   
their heads again and come after Ridikar and Amitar. Caline left with Gracina   
and a wounded Lektron. In a few minutes, only Shalila, Dirkan, Gorna, and   
Kitchator's family were left.  
  
Shalila told Kitchator sternly, "King Kitchator, if you do not agree   
to stop this nonsense about forcing my granddaughter to marry your grandson, we   
Astorians will not help your planet against Frieza. From the looks of things   
now, your people do not stand a chance without us. You better consider which is   
more important: your family pride, or your people's lives." And with that, she,   
Dirkan, and Gorna left the meeting hall. 


	51. The Time To Stand Is Drawing Near

Chapter Fifty-One: The Time To Stand Is Drawing Near  
  
Toria, Marya, and Arlina had sequestered themselves in an unused   
closet in the Calmagian castle, praying fervently to Orchida and the ancestors   
to protect their people in battle. The other Astorians had left them food   
outside of the closet, for them to eat at certain times of the day, but other   
than taking those meals, and coming out to use the lavatories nearby, the three   
Priestesses would not come out of the closet. The Astorians did not disturb   
them, nor did they allow anyone else to either. They knew that the three holy   
women would come out when they felt that they were ready to.  
  
All of the Astorian men and women who had been trained to fight were   
training and sparring to build up their skills in the short time that they had   
before they would have to eventually face down Frieza's fighters. The Calmagian   
men were training hard also to fight Frieza's forces. The Calmagian army and   
police force trained separately from the Astorians, who had taken over the back   
fields and several low mountains under the dome as their training grounds.  
  
Rojal and Dedron were titillated that they were finally going to be   
in their first real battle, and if they were afraid, they did not show it.   
Rojal and Dedron trained intensively with each other for many hours on end,   
hoping to eventually have their "Awakenings", so that they could increase their   
strength fivefold. On a few days, they had stayed in one of the gravity rooms   
from sundown to sunset, not even stopping to eat. Rojal was handsome now, an   
attractive muscular version of his mother; he had her brown hair and his   
father's green eyes. Many of the Clan of Chloe females and female servants   
found him attractive, and they were all paying court to him, but Rojal   
acknowledged none of them. His main focus was becoming the mightiest, strongest   
warrior in the Clan of Chloe and Astoria.  
  
Dedron was blond like his mother, but he had his father's dark blue   
eyes, and he was heftier than Rojal, but the same height as him. Dedron had   
shaved all of his blond hair off, deciding that his hair would get in his way.   
Most of the Clan of Chloe females avoided him, fearing his monstrous temper and   
nasty attitude. Tayka especially held him in fear after his throwing her off of   
a bathhouse roof, and Tila empathized with her, so both sisters gave Dedron a   
wide berth. Dedron loved to give the younger, smaller, weaker children a hard   
time, particularly Tayla, Riccan, and Riccan's siblings. Well, he used to give   
Tayla and Riccan a hard time, but lately even Riccan had been able to stand up   
to Dedron and force him to leave him alone. And as for Tayla, Dedron despised   
her, but he no longer dared to tangle with her until he was certain that he was   
strong enough to do so. He was twice Tayla's size, but he only had a little   
over half of her power. Dedron now reserved his bullying these days to the   
other young children when the adults weren't around to keep him in line. Dedron   
did as he pleased; the only things that he truly cared about was training and   
becoming stronger.   
  
He rarely acknowledged Petalia these days, but he never harassed   
her, seeing that she was his sister and fellow hater of their adulteress mother,   
Farla, who had abandoned them. Dedron was not only angry with Farla, for   
abandoning them, but at Cletos for not seeming to care whether he and Petalia   
lived or died.  
  
Petalia was watching him and Rojal admiringly from a bench, as the   
two young men fought fiercely. Dedron suspected that Petalia had come out to   
watch Rojal more than him, but that was all right; perhaps if she and Rojal were   
to ever marry, Dedron would have a more secure position in the governing of   
Astoria. Dedron briefly and indifferently wondered if Rojal knew of Petalia's   
interest in him, and then he shrugged it off. He had more important things to   
worry about.  
  
Like proving himself in battle.  
  
  
  
  
The courtyard.  
  
Tayla and Riccan had been sparring for a good two hours now, and   
Tayla could see that Riccan's strength and stamina was almost catching up with   
hers. Riccan, like Tayla, didn't tire easily, and he was a good match for her   
as a sparring and training partner. Tayla taught Riccan a few new punches and   
kicks she had learned while she was at Kami Orchida's, and Riccan was thrilled.   
He envied Tayla, for surely she would be allowed to fight. He said as much to   
Tayla, after successfully dodging one of her punches.  
  
"That's up to Nama," Tayla told him, as she blocked one of his kicks   
with her small hand. "She still hasn't made a decision yet, but Dirkan has been   
training me anyway."  
  
"Are you scared, Tayla?" Riccan asked sincerely.  
  
"A little," Tayla admitted; she was still disturbed that Frieza   
would still be after her. She was just a young girl, but Frieza already wanted   
her as a fighter? The thought of being forced to leave her family and work for   
Frieza had given her several nightmares. She could now pick up on the ki, the   
strange strong ki of several of Frieza's minions. Tayla had been alarmed   
yesterday, when she had detected Vegeta's ki; that meant Vegeta and his comrades   
were after her as well. Tayla did not feel up to fighting Vegeta again, but she   
would, if she had to. Vegeta and the others were still hundreds of miles away   
from Magan, but that did not make Tayla and her family any less worried. They   
could arrive in Magan in less than a week.  
  
"I wish I was allowed to fight," Riccan declared fiercely. "It   
seems that I'll never get old enough to fight! Why does Mamma have to treat me   
like a baby?"  
  
"She just wants you to be safe, and you are still considered to be   
too young," Tayla told him gently, with the air of an older sister. "I'm sure   
that you'll get your chance to fight in a few years. Until then, you should   
just enjoy being a child."  
  
"I'm tired of being a child," Riccan snapped, "I want to be a man   
and fight and win over my enemies the way that you and the others have. I want   
to be strong like you; you said that I could be as strong as you, and I hate   
being only nine-years-old! I hate that Mamma and Pappa won't let me fight, and   
I hate that Great-Nama won't make them change their minds!" Riccan took his   
anger out on an ornamental tree, and he blasted it into splinters with a small   
ki blast.  
  
"Easy, Riccan," Tayla told him calmly.  
  
"I want to fight!" Riccan cried at her in frustration, and Tayla   
noticed the tears of aggravation forming in the corners of his eyes. Tayla   
noticed how much he looked like his father, for Riccan had the same golden hair   
and dark green eyes of his father. He looked at Tayla with despair in his eyes.  
  
"Tayla, can't you talk to Great-Nama and get her to let me fight?"   
Riccan pleaded. "I'm strong enough now; I know I am! I won't get in the way; I   
just want to help! Nama will listen to you: I know that she will! She can make   
Mamma and Pappa let me fight! How am I ever going to get to be a warrior, if no   
one lets me fight?"  
  
Tayla was quiet; she herself thought that Riccan was a fine fighter   
already, but she also agreed with Gracina that he was too young to put himself   
in danger. Frieza's minions that were coming to Calmag had already proven to be   
stronger and more troublesome than even Vegeta and the other Saiyans.  
  
"Please? Promise me Seven Moons Oath?"  
  
Tayla sighed. She looked sadly at Riccan and said, "I can't promise   
Seven Moons Oath on that Riccan, but I will mention it to Nama. I don't even   
know if I will be allowed to fight them myself; Nama and Dirkan haven't decided   
yet. Maybe you can demonstrate in front of her or something. No promises   
though, Riccan, okay?"  
  
Riccan nodded, grateful that someone would at least try to help him.   
He tried to stand up tall and proud for his height; he was already as tall as   
Tayla, and it would be likely that he would become taller and broader than her   
someday. Riccan still had much growing to do. Tayla herself was still not very   
tall; she was only four-feet, seven inches tall, and the healers said that she   
probably would not grow any higher than five feet or so. Tayla and Riccan   
didn't like that they were still short, especially since most of their peers   
were already five-feet tall or more. Rojal and Dedron always taunted them about   
their small sizes, even though Dirkan had assured both her and Riccan that size   
didn't always matter. Tayla then wondered if her small size was the real reason   
why Nama was debating about letting her fight.  
  
She took Riccan's hand, and told him to follow her to Nama and   
Dirkan's room, and Riccan reluctantly followed her, hoping that Tayla would have   
some influence with his Great-Nama.  
  
  
"Father, is Mamma going to be happy with you fighting again?" Kekron   
asked his father, who had been practicing in the training room of the Roccon,   
the Astorian ship that the Astorians had come to Calmag in. Raakon had not yet   
told Natala that he was planning to fight with his family; he just hoped that   
she would understand why he was once again going into battle. Raakon could not   
practice on as high a gravity level as he would have liked, for Kekron was in   
the gravity room with him. Kekron was relieved that he was not a warrior; he   
was no coward, but he did not like fighting at all.  
  
Raakon sighed, "I haven't exactly told her yet, son; I hope that she will   
understand."  
  
Kekron told him, "She's coming here now to bring you some lunch.   
Don't worry, I didn't tell her that you were training yet."  
  
Raakon nodded, noticing his stomach growl. "Thanks son. It will be alright;   
your mother and I will work things out."  
  
At that moment, Natala's silvery voice echoed throughout the ship.   
"Raakon? Kekron?"  
  
Raakon turned off the gravity, and he and Kekron left the room to meet with her.   
Natala's happy expression grew solemn when she noticed that Raakon had on his   
old uniform and armor. Then her lovely face grew resigned, and she smiled   
sadly. "You're going to be fighting with the others, aren't you," she said as a   
statement, not a question.  
  
Raakon tried to look his wife that he had been married to for sixteen years, but   
it was hard for him to. Finally he looked at her and nodded, shamefacedly.  
  
Natala grew wistful. "I suspected as much," she told him quietly.  
  
Raakon told her calmly, "I can't refuse to go, my dear. Our family   
needs me, Tayla needs me, and they all need me to fight. Natala, you know that   
we can't afford not to fight against Frieza's minions. We're fighting for our   
lives, the Calmagian lives, Tayla's welfare and safety, and our right to live in   
peace." He looked at her sadly, pleadingly. "Natala, I know that I swore to   
you and Mamma Seven Moons Oath that I would live a life of peace, but I've   
realized that because I value life so much, that I have to fight to protect it.   
Almost twenty years ago, I didn't think that I could ever take lives or fight   
again; I thought that I couldn't live with myself if I fought and took lives.   
Now I don't think that I could live with myself, if I didn't fight for what I   
thought was right. Our Clan is depending on every one with fighting abilities   
to help them, and I can't abandon them."  
  
He took Natala's hands in his, his eyes begging her to understand.   
His next words were going to be difficult to say, but he knew that they would   
have to be said. He had quietly made this decision, and he had already   
discussed it with his grandmother and Dirkan, and they had been pleased. Nama   
had asked him what Natala was going to think, and he told her and Dirkan that he   
would definitely have to discuss it with Natala before he made a final decision.  
  
"Natala," he told her quietly, "I went to Nama and Dirkan yesterday,   
and I already talked about this with them, but I told them that I would talk to   
you about what I was thinking before I made a final decision."  
  
Natala was afraid of what Raakon was going to say next, but she had   
vowed many years ago to support him, no matter what he chose to do. "What are   
you about to do?"  
  
Raakon said slowly, "Natala, I have to go fight with the others for   
this battle, but this next decision you will have a say in. If you don't want   
me to do this next thing, then I won't, but I hope that you will understand and   
support me." He took a deep breath and said, "I want to become a healior again,   
a warrior as well as a healer. I can't afford the luxury of sitting on the   
sidelines any longer while my family fights."  
  
Natala was quiet for several minutes, wrestling with Raakon's words.   
She didn't like the idea of Raakon fighting and killing again and Raakon knew   
it, but Natala also knew that her husband was a fine warrior. She didn't want   
him to fight again, and she didn't want to lose him, but she couldn't ignore   
what he was saying, or the voice of her conscience.  
  
She threw her arms around him and wept into his neck.   
"Raakon," she whispered, "I don't want to lose you." Raakon embraced her   
tightly, holding her close.  
  
"But," she said finally, "if you feel that you have to go back to   
being a healior, a warrior as well as a healer, I will support you. If you feel   
that you have to fight again, I will stand behind you. I just want you to come   
back to me; I don't want to lose you."  
  
Raakon smiled slowly at her. "You don't object?"  
  
Natala said with a sob, "I still would rather not have you fight,   
but I think that I knew deep down in my heart that you would one day have to   
again. I still would rather you stay out of warring, but I will go along with   
whatever you feel that you have to do. Just don't die, okay? Don't let me lose   
you."  
  
Raakon smiled wider then, as he drew her to him and kissed her.   
"I'll do everything within my power to come home to you, my love." He then   
whispered in her ear, "Thanken fro understanden," he said, telling her, "Thank   
you for understanding," in Astorian.  
  
"Welcomen," she told him softly, "Comen backi tomen." (Come back to   
me.)  
  
Raakon kissed her softly, gently, with a relieved Kekron standing   
there watching them. He discreetly crept out of the ship and went outside.  
  
  
  
  
  
Two hours later in the back fields behind the castle.  
  
Cletos had been training with Bajal and Lektron for an hour now, as   
the three men waited for Raakon to join them. They were pleased to learn that   
Raakon would be joining them in fighting Frieza's minions. Cletos could not   
seem to keep up with Bajal and Lektron today, for Tayla's harsh words to him on   
the day that he and the others had caught her with Ridikar echoed in his mind:  
  
Who is protecting and looking after your children? Dedron almost   
hates you, and he's mean to everyone, and Petalia thinks that you don't love her   
anymore! You are hurting them; it's not their fault Farla left! They think   
that it's their fault, and you haven't convinced them otherwise!  
  
Cletos could not fully focus on training for thoughts of his teenage   
children kept popping in his mind. He thought of them when they had been small   
children, of chubby little Dedron first practicing with a sword, of cute little   
Petalia just learning to fly. Cletos at one time had a soft spot in his heart   
for Petalia, for Petalia had resembled his beautiful Farla, and then Farla   
had-had-no, he couldn't think of it. Why had Farla left him like this, all   
alone with two nearly grown children that he barely acknowledged? Four or five   
years from now they both would probably be married, well Petalia probably would   
be anyway; Dedron was too acrimonious and nasty for any girl to come near right   
now. Cletos wondered briefly why Dedron was the way he was towards everyone; he   
had never been that nasty and cruel towards him, had he?  
  
Cletos then noticed a handkerchief that fell out of his pocket, a   
silken cloth embroidered with the Clan of Chloe rose crest. He then remembered   
that Petalia had made it for him; she always seemed to look after him, even   
though he had never really thanked her for her efforts. He then moved away   
from Bajal and Lektron, who were too busy in their own sparring match to pay him   
much notice, and leaned over to pick up the handkerchief. He noticed some   
strange writing embroidered on the back of the cloth, words that he had never   
read before now; when Petalia had given the handkerchief to him, he just nodded   
a thank you and stuffed it in his pocket. He now read the words:  
  
From your Petals, who will always love you.  
  
Cletos smiled briefly, remembering that he had used to call his   
daughter Petals when Petalia had been a little girl. Then Tayla's words once   
again came back to haunt him…  
  
They think they you don't love them anymore…  
  
Cletos was near tears once again. Then, he brushed the forming   
tears away and politely excused himself from Bajal and Lektron.  
  
"What's the excuse?" Lektron asked.  
  
Cletos sighed resignedly, "I have to do something important,   
something that I should have done years ago."  
  
Bajal was puzzled. "What's that?"  
  
"Let my children know that I love them."  
  
  
  
  
The dungeons of the Calmagian castle  
  
"You're much cleverer than I gave you credit for."  
  
"Why thank you, I appreciate compliments."  
  
"I appreciate that we are going to escape from this sinkhole they   
call a dungeon. I never thought that I, Alberm Dunlop of Rendor, would be   
imprisoned here. Stupid Caline and Tayla; this is their entire fault! I'll get   
both of them, if it's the last thing I do!"  
  
"If I can't get us out of here, it may not be the last thing that   
you do because you will have been executed," Reccor told him sharply. "If my   
plan doesn't work, then we are both done for, but to tell you the truth, I'd   
rather face that Calmagian firing squad than I would Lord Frieza. We have to   
get out of here and warn him that the Astorians now know of his minions'   
arrival."  
  
"He will have our heads," Alberm pouted, as he stomped around the   
dirty, web-encrusted cell that he and Reccor had been imprisoned in. Reccor had   
discovered that several bars on their prison cell door were loose, and he and   
Alberm had been working fervently for an hour to remove some of them, so that   
they could escape. Unfortunately, the bars had held firmer than they thought,   
so Reccor had come up with a backup plan.  
  
He remembered Alberm telling him about the labyrinths below the   
planet's surface, so he and Alberm had managed to dig a hole, using their dinner   
spoons into the dirt floor of the prison cell. When one of the spoons hit   
metal, Alberm rejoiced, for he knew that he had hit a roof above the labyrinths.   
Reccor cleverly had managed to steal a laser gun from one of the guards who had   
been standing near the cell. The Arlian spy had done it so quickly and subtlety   
that the guard had not noticed his weapon missing until he went upstairs for   
dinner.  
  
When they were certain that they were alone in their cell, without the guards   
around, Reccor blasted a hole in the bottom of the cell, using the laser gun.   
The gun caused a small explosion, creating the giant hole that busted open the   
labyrinth roof and dirt floor, a hole wide enough for Reccor and Alberm to   
escape to. Both men were thankful that the current prison guards under the   
King's employ weren't too bright. Reccor and Alberm jumped down into the hole,   
and they would have to flee quickly before the guards came to investigate.  
  
Alberm knew the labyrinths and catacombs under the castle well, so   
Reccor followed him through the underground stone maze that would lead them to   
freedom.  
  
  
  
  
Caline's Bedroom, three hours later, 8PM (Calmagian Royal Northern Time)  
  
Caline was looking for a clean nightgown to take to the room where   
Tayla and her friends were staying. She either slept with Gracina these days,   
or when Lektron would go to bed early, she would go share Tayla's bed with her.   
Caline no longer felt safe in the bedroom that had once belonged to both her and   
Alberm whenever they stayed with Caline's family. Caline was much happier   
knowing that Alberm wouldn't harm her anymore.   
  
Petalia was with her, waiting to walk with Caline to that same room.   
Petalia was wearing an ivory caftan with a pale green sash, the green bringing   
out the highlights in Petalia's golden hair. Petalia, who was becoming much   
kinder these days, was talking quietly with Caline while they were gathering her   
things.  
  
Then suddenly, she noticed a creaking sound under her bed. Caline,   
who was again wearing Tayla's purple caftan and lavender sash, peeked under the   
bed, and then two hands grabbed both of her wrists, one Calmagian and one   
Arlian.  
  
"So my little traitorous wife still comes to this room, eh?" Alberm   
purred. Caline tried to scream, but Alberm clapped his restraining hand over   
her small mouth.  
  
Reccor overturned the bed with his free hand, and Petalia when she   
saw Alberm as well. Caline tried to run, but Alberm hit her in the back of her   
head with the laser gun, knocking the poor little child wife unconscious.  
  
"Somebody help us!" Petalia cried, grabbing a vase. She yelled at   
Alberm and Reccor, who were now coming towards her. "You get out of here! Stay   
away from us!"  
  
Reccor grinned slyly, as Alberm threw Caline into his arms. Alberm   
then quickly threw himself onto Petalia before Petalia had a chance to run, and   
he paralyzed her. Petalia emitted a final shriek before her body stiffened.   
The vase that Petalia was going to use as a weapon crashed to the floor and   
shattered into a thousand fragments. Alberm picked up a terrified Petalia, and   
he and Reccor both carried their captives down under the bed with them, into the   
labyrinths.  
  
  
  
  
An empty field behind the courtyard  
  
Shalila and Dirkan felt the ki signatures of Tayla and Riccan, as   
they trained with each other. The two rulers had been training intensively for   
hours on end, and perhaps now it was time for them to test Tayla's skills again.   
Dirkan cleared his throat and quietly asked Shalila a crucial question, as he   
took her hand in his.  
  
Shalila bit her lower lip, and she and Dirkan had discussed this   
matter for several days, and with fear, hope, and pride mixed in her heart,   
Shalila finally gave Dirkan an answer, one that she would eventually give Tayla:  
  
"Yes, I will allow Tayla to fight with us." 


	52. Alberm Pays The Ultimate Price

Chapter Fifty-Two: Alberm Pays The Ultimate Price  
  
One hundred miles outside of Magan, six hours later.  
  
"Alberm, are you certain that this device can contact Lord Frieza?   
I still don't think it's as good as a scouter."  
  
"Reccor, will you just let me do what I have to do? I had to bribe   
that CRP officer into giving me this device and keeping his mouth shut about our   
destination. Thankfully, I gave him enough money to last him a year; I'm   
thankful my assets weren't frozen yet. He was also kind enough to give us a   
vehicle to escape Magan unnoticed. It pays to know the right people." Alberm   
pulled out a silver device resembling a personal data assistant, and he pressed   
a few buttons on it. Alberm's businesses involved electronics and technology,   
so Alberm had some experience in that area, although his employees knew more   
than he did about it. The device was called an ICA-Intergalactic Communication   
Assistant.  
  
Reccor and Alberm had escaped Magan in a black skycar that Alberm's   
CRP officer friend had kindly disabled the tracer on, so that they could not be   
detected on any Calmagian radars. Reccor was driving the skycar while Alberm   
was fiddling with the gadget, trying to signal Frieza. Petalia and Caline were   
tied up in the back seat of the skycar, and both young girls were gagged in   
their mouths. Caline had been crying for hours; she was certain that Alberm was   
going to kill her, and Petalia was angry with the two men. How dare they do   
this to her?  
  
"Alberm, may I ask you something?" Reccor asked. "Why did we take   
the girls with us? You know that the Astorians are going to come after us to   
rescue Princess Petalia once they find out that she is missing. And they may   
come for your wife as well."  
  
Petalia, who had been struggling with her gag for half an hour,   
finally managed to push the gag out of her mouth with her tongue, just enough so   
that she could speak. "Where are you taking us?" she demanded to know, angry   
and scared at the same time.  
  
"How did you get that gag out of your mouth?" Alberm hissed.  
  
"You better let us go!" Petalia declared angrily. "Do you know who   
I am? I am Princess Petalia Chloe, a Princess of Chloe, and a person of great   
importance! I am eighth in line to inherit the Astorian throne! No one does   
this to a Princess of Chloe and her friends! You two are nothing more than   
traitors and brutes, especially you Alberm, you wife beater! Reccor, my   
great-grandmother and father will have your head for what you did to me! It's   
bad enough that you betrayed our people to Frieza! My great-grandmother will   
blast you into fragments! Don't you know that she's Shalila Chloe, stronger   
than both of you put together? My whole Clan will have you both charbroiled   
when they catch up with you two fools! And furthermore, I-"  
  
Alberm reached over to the back seat of the skycar and stuffed Petalia's gag back into her mouth. "A mouthy wench," he growled, "more mouthy than my own wife. I'm thankful I didn't marry her! It's bad enough that I married that fragile doll back there! But that's alright; she's going to make it up to me, aren't you, Caline?"   
  
Caline mumbled something into her gag, as the tears continued to   
roll down her face. Alberm pulled the gag out of her mouth and smiled cruelly   
at her. "Did you say something, little wife?"  
  
"Please let us go back, Alberm," Caline pleaded, her voice still   
full of sobs. "Petalia and I won't say a word about where you two are going.   
We don't even know. You don't need to take us away like this!"  
  
Alberm smoothed Caline's pale angel hair with his meaty hand, and he   
nuzzled her cheek. "Oh yes, I do, little one. You see, Caline, I have decided   
to give you a second chance; you are going to become a proper wife to me. I   
could have murdered you on sight, but I didn't. I can give your friend to one   
of Frieza's men; I'm sure one of them will be happy to have an Astorian to   
torture and play with." Petalia's face paled at this thought, as Alberm   
continued, "Yes, Caline, I do work for Frieza, and I am no longer ashamed to   
admit it. When this planet is cleared of most of its inhabitants, Frieza will   
allow me to rule over those that are left. I will be the next King of Calmag,   
and you, my dear, if you behave yourself, will be my queen, an obedient,   
well-behaved one."  
  
Caline gasped in horror, "How can you betray our people like this,   
Alberm, especially my family? My father and grandfather trusted you, admired   
you, and looked to you. Why would you turn against us and the other Calmagians   
like this? You're Calmagian yourself."  
  
Alberm smirked, his hand still in Caline's hair. "I'm looking on to   
bigger and better things, my dear, and I'm a realist. I know that Frieza will   
eventually rule this entire universe, with everyone subject to him, and I am   
just protecting myself, and those who will serve me as the new king. I knew   
that Frieza would eventually have this planet taken over, and I just thought   
that I would side with the winner."  
  
He looked over at a horrified Petalia, who was trying again to get   
the gag out of her mouth with her tongue. "Your people, the Astorians don't   
stand a chance, even if they are Clan of Chloe. I should have taken Princess   
Tayla with us, but we couldn't find her in time." He leaned closer to Petalia   
and whispered, as Reccor continued to drive the skycar, "Your young aunt is   
strong, Princess Petalia; I will say that. That is why Frieza wants her, and   
soon the soldiers that he's sent to Calmag will take her away. No Astorian   
besides her will be left. Any comments?" He then took the gag out of Petalia's   
mouth to hear her replies.  
  
"My people are the strongest race in the universe!" Petalia cried in   
anguish. "Especially Tayla! Tayla helped to save our planet from the Saiyans;   
she's the strongest one we have, or she will be! She was able to put you in   
your place for what you did to your poor wife! I wish I could have been there   
that day to witness your humiliation! I wish she had killed you then and there!   
You deserved whatever Tayla gave you and more!"  
  
Alberm's face turned red and ugly then, and he slapped Petalia hard   
in her face. Caline shrieked, and Petalia was stunned. Alberm shoved the gag   
back into her mouth, and he turned once again to Caline, propping her small chin   
on his thick fingers.  
  
He looked deeply into her electric-blue eyes. "You will make amends   
for your treachery against me, little wife. You will not be associating with   
the Astorians anymore, and Petalia is the last living Astorian that you will   
ever see. Furthermore, you will-" Alberm was going to say more, but than he   
heard a tiny beep on his device. He pressed a gold button on the machine,   
hoping against hope that it was Frieza. His wish was granted.  
  
"Sire, Lord Frieza, this is Alberm. Is that you?"  
  
Frieza's voice echoed back through the ICA. "What is it, Alberm?"   
he asked impatiently. "I have not heard from you and Reccor in days; I thought   
that you two had died, or had been caught."  
  
"We are fine," Alberm lied easily. "We are coming to find Zarbon   
now. Do you know his location, sire?"  
  
Frieza's voice said, "He and the others hijacked the CRP ship that   
they had been prisoners on. I will contact them at once. Where are you and   
Reccor at now? What is the terrain like? Are there any people around?"  
  
"We are in the desert, one hundred miles from Magan," Alberm   
replied. "Reccor and I can park near those mountain caves, just ten miles from   
us. There are mountains in this desert area, sire."  
  
"I will send Zarbon and his team to your location," Frieza told the   
Calmagian spy. "Do not leave the area until they arrive."  
  
"Sire, we have some bad news," Alberm told his liege. "The   
Astorians know that your minions are coming. They are preparing to fight now."  
  
"WHAT?" Frieza roared, his voice screaming through the ICA speaker.  
  
"Somehow they found out that your fighters were coming to take Tayla   
away," Reccor added nervously. "Don't forget sire, that Astorians can sense ki   
unaided, without scouters. Perhaps, some of the more advanced of them picked up   
on some of the ki levels of your fighters."  
  
Frieza was furious-and nervous now, for he had been counting on the element of   
surprise. "Any ideas on how they found out?" he wanted to know.  
  
"Wish I knew, sire," Reccor told him quickly. "They are not people   
that you want to underestimate, sire, but we have everything under control,   
trust me."  
  
"I automatically distrust anyone who says the words 'trust me',"   
Frieza told the Arlian edgily. "Reccor, Alberm, you make sure to inform Zarbon   
of this development when he comes to meet you. I have another question though:   
my radars sensed that your method of communication was not from the scouters;   
why was that? What device are you using?"  
  
"It's called an ICA-Intergalactic Communication Assistant," Alberm   
told him proudly. "It was made within my own company. I just thought that I   
would try it out, and it seems to have worked wonders, wouldn't you agree?"   
Alberm did not mention that the CRP officers took his and Reccor's scouters away   
from them when they had been formally arrested.  
  
"I suppose," Frieza told him icily. "I will send Zarbon and the   
others to your location. You two stay out of sight and out of mind. Do not   
botch this up; I am so close to my goals now that I can taste it, and now the   
Astorians know we're coming. But that's all right; either way we will destroy   
them! Down with Shalila Chloe and her people! Long live me!"  
  
"Long live Lord Frieza!" Alberm and Reccor echoed, relieved that   
Frieza did not know yet of their part in the Astorians finding out about   
Frieza's minions coming.  
  
  
  
  
6AM (Frieza Stellar Time), 8AM (Astorian Galactic Time), 10AM (Calmagian Royal   
Northern Time) in the desert caves of the Camellia Desert   
  
"THE ASTORIANS KNOW THAT WE ARE COMING?" Zarbon and Jaden exclaimed.   
Jaden turned to Alberm and Reccor, and she promptly seized Alberm's fat throat   
in her meaty, scaly fist. She dangled Alberm in mid-air. "How in the hell did   
they find out?" Jaden roared.  
  
Alberm was stunned speechless. He looked over to where the CRP   
cruiser had landed, and to the small group of captives sitting on the sand in   
front of the CRP cruiser outside of the desert cave of the Camellia Desert.   
Only Lieutenant Balboun and the pilot were still alive; the other two officers   
had died slowly. The two CRP officers were tied to Petalia and Caline. Pork   
and Crystalis were guarding them.  
  
Chestra was pacing nervously back and forth, as she flew, watching   
the skies for anyone who might pass by in the desert and discover them. Zarbon   
now had Reccor's throat in his slender hand. Zarbon and Jaden were furious,   
especially Jaden, for now her brilliant plan had been exposed.  
  
"Curse you two fools!" Zarbon hissed at Reccor. "You both will be   
reported to Frieza when this is over, unless he knows already."  
  
"He does," Reccor stammered, barely able to talk with Zarbon's hand   
on his throat.  
  
Jaden was still furious. "How did the Astorians find out that we   
were coming?" She squeezed Alberm's throat tighter.  
  
"We-we don't know," Alberm lied quickly, but for all of his   
smoothness, he was a poor liar, and Jaden saw it right away. Jaden could smell   
a lie from hundreds of miles away. She hated it whenever anyone lied to her,   
whether it was friend or foe.  
  
"Yes, you do!" Jaden roared. "How did the Astorians know that we   
were coming?"  
  
Alberm squeaked, "They just did!"  
  
"HOW?" Jaden demanded. "Do you want to die tonight, fat man? How   
did they know?"  
  
Zarbon addressed Reccor, "How did they know?"  
  
Reccor stammered, "Somehow his wife found out, and she told the   
Astorians."  
  
"His wife?" Jaden asked, surprised. "This glob of lard has a wife?   
Who in the hell would want to marry him? His wife must have very poor taste."  
  
"Where is this wife?" Zarbon asked Reccor.  
  
Reccor pointed to where Caline was tied up with the others. "It is   
the smallest girl that is his wife, the Princess Caline of Calmag."  
  
Jaden looked over at Caline. She threw Alberm to the ground hard,   
and she flew over to where Alberm's child bride was. She leaned down towards   
the captives and yanked the gag out of Caline's mouth. "How did you find out   
about us?"  
  
Caline began to cry, scared by this giant alligator-woman with two   
tails. "I didn't want to, believe me. It was by accident."  
  
"You're a liability," Jaden told her coldly, "but I don't always   
kill kids, not directly anyway. You're just a baby; how did you wind up falling   
in love with that fat glob quivering in the sand? You have poor taste in   
husbands, kid, I'm sorry."  
  
"I was forced to marry him," Caline admitted. "My father made me."  
  
Jaden shook her head. "I'd normally kill anyone who exposed us the   
way you did, but I figure you've been punished enough, having that Calmagian   
blob for a mate. Your father probably has no more brains than him. Anyway, it   
doesn't really matter now; what matters is that the Astorians know that we are   
coming."  
  
"Please don't hurt them," Caline pleaded, "and please don't take   
Tayla away from her family! She's my friend, and she saved my life. What have   
the Astorians done to you?"  
  
"I have nothing personal against the Astorians," Jaden told her   
stiffly. "I am merely following orders. Lord Frieza has promised a big reward   
to whoever captures Tayla first and clears Calmag, and we intend to get it."  
  
"The Astorians are good people," Caline told her pleadingly. "They   
have taught me so much, and they have been so good to me. Tayla showed me that   
I do not have to put up with someone like Alberm. She kept telling me that   
Alberm beating and raping me was wrong, and after the last time that my husband   
harmed me, she challenged him and won. I owe her my life. And she has a   
sister, Gracina, who has been like the mother that I lost. Do you really have   
to kill Tayla's people and take Tayla from them? Why are you taking Tayla away   
anyway?"  
  
"You're full of questions," Jaden said stonily, "but to answer your   
last one, Frieza wants Tayla as a fighter for him."  
  
"Tayla does not want to fight for Frieza," Caline told her, trying to reason   
with this imposing reptilian warrior. "She wants to help others and do what is   
good and right. She is even willing to fight for us and with us. What do you   
have against Astorians and Calmagians?"  
  
"I said it was nothing personal," Jaden snapped, "nothing against   
either race. I am simply doing what Lord Frieza tells me to do. I am nothing   
more than his lackey, but that's the way it is. If you don't give us any grief,   
I will spare you, but I can't speak for the other teams. The other teams are   
destroying your people, as we speak."  
  
"What do you plan to do with us?" Caline asked the Rybanese warrior.  
  
Jaden grumbled, for she honestly didn't know what she and the others   
were going to do with the captives. The sensible thing would be to kill them   
all; Jaden was furious that those two idiotic spies brought the two girls along.   
What was she supposed to do with them?  
  
"Zarbon," she called to the other leader of their team, "what in the   
hell are we supposed to do with these brats? Why did Alberm and Reccor have to   
bring these kids here?"  
  
Zarbon, who had thrown Reccor into the sand, was trying to think of   
that himself; he and the other fighters had enough to worry about without   
captives. Alberm stammered, "I simply wanted my wife back, and the other girl   
was a witness, another liability."  
  
Reccor added, "The other girl might be useful, Commander Jaden.   
She's Princess Petalia Chloe, Tayla's niece and great-granddaughter of Shalila   
Chloe. We could keep her as a hostage and exchange her for Tayla."  
  
Jaden snorted at this idea. "This girl can't be as valuable; she's   
not even a warrior, is she?"  
  
"She's an Artisan," Reccor replied, "a singer."  
  
Zarbon grumbled, "Reccor, you don't have an ounce of sense, but then   
that's typical of your race. If you had to take a hostage in exchange for   
Tayla, you could have at least taken someone that the Astorians would actually   
want back."  
  
Crystalis was talking to Chestra just then. "Couldn't we let the   
children go, at least? They have done no harm."  
  
Chestra was thinking the same thing, and she pitied the young girls,   
but it was not her call to make. "That's up to Jaden and Zarbon." She turned   
to the children. "I am going to take the gags out of your mouths, girls, if you   
promise not to scream or cry for help. If you behave yourselves, it will   
increase your chances of leaving us alive," she told them in a soft, kind tone.  
  
Caline and Petalia nodded quickly in agreement, and then Chestra   
removed the gags from their mouths. Petalia asked her, "What's going to happen   
to us?"  
  
Chestra couldn't answer her, and she told Petalia that she honestly   
didn't know. She said to Pork, "Pork, give me your canteen, so I can give these   
girls some water. Whatever their fate turns out to be, we don't need them   
dehydrated." Pork obeyed her, and the girls were thankful for the water.  
  
Caline pleaded, "Please, miss, if you will just drop us off in the   
nearest city, Petalia and I can find our way back home. We won't tell anyone,   
we promise. We just want to live."  
  
Chestra smiled sadly at her. "There is nothing left for you to   
tell, little one. The Astorians already know that we are coming for Tayla. Now   
we have to come up with a backup plan. I will try to have your lives spared,   
just do what you are told and behave yourselves. Alberm and Reccor are fools;   
they should not have brought you into this mess, but since they did, we can't   
let you two go right away."  
  
"Don't make them false promises, Chestra," Jaden warned her. "I   
don't want to kill a couple of helpless brats anymore than you do, but someone   
else will probably do so in our place."  
  
"They are of no use to us," Chestra pointed out to her. "Can't we   
just release them in the nearest city, as this little one is asking us to do?"  
  
Jaden sighed, "Chestra, I know how you feel about children; you've   
always had too soft a heart for them. No matter where we drop them off at, they   
will likely be killed. The other teams are destroying Calmag, as we speak.   
These two could die two seconds after we free them, and you know that Balair's   
team, Ginyu's team, and the Saiyans will show no mercy. Ideally, it would be   
kinder to kill them where they sit-"  
  
Caline and Petalia emitted horrified shrieks.  
  
"Stop screaming, you two!" Jaden hissed. "I didn't say you were   
going to die right now. I'm going to give you brats both a reality check: we   
were sent to capture Princess Tayla and clear almost all life off of Calmag.   
That is what Lord Frieza sent us here to do. Calmag is going to fall, and the   
Calmagians will, for the most part, cease to exist, if he has his way. We are   
on our way to Magan to take Tayla away. No matter what we decide to do with you   
two, your lives are doomed. If we kill you two, it will be an act of mercy, for   
the other teams attacking this planet won't be as quick or as kind killing you   
as we would."  
  
"Why do you have to do this?" Petalia asked. "We have done nothing   
to you. We may be doomed, but couldn't we spend our last days being free as   
possible? My people already know you are coming, and they will fight you, no   
matter what, you know that. What do you have left to lose? There is nothing   
more about you and the others that my people don't know. There is no point   
holding us captive; please let us go. Caline has already endured enough with   
Alberm, and she doesn't need any more of his abuse-"  
  
"Alberm," Jaden told her stiffly, "is no longer her captor. We are   
in charge now."  
  
"What?" Alberm exclaimed. "Caline is my wife! You can do what you   
want with Petalia, but Caline is my wife! I am taking her away with me; she   
belongs to me, she is my property."  
Caline shook her pale head wildly, and she looked pleadingly at   
Chestra and Jaden. "Please," she begged, "I would rather stay here than go with   
him. If I can't be free, I'd feel safer here than with him. He is so cruel-"  
  
"Caline," Alberm told her icily, "you are my wife, and you will   
learn to obey me, if I have to beat you black and blue every day to do so."  
  
"You won't touch her again!" Petalia screamed angrily. Petalia   
looked to Jaden, for she sensed that Jaden was the one with the most authority   
next to Zarbon. "Don't let Alberm take her with him, please! Alberm beats and   
rapes her, and he tried to kill her the last time that they were together. If   
you can't release us, we would rather take our chances with you than him and   
Reccor."  
  
Jaden and Chestra looked at Zarbon, and Zarbon said resignedly, "I   
will leave it up to you two, but the girls will be your worry."  
  
Jaden and Chestra noticed the terror in Caline's blue eyes, and they   
both recognized it. Alberm continued talking to his child wife, "You are my   
wife, my property, and no one will take you from me, whether it is them, the   
Astorians, or your family. No one will stop me from making you mine. You   
belong to me, Caline, and you will learn to obey and be mine. I control whether   
you live or die, what you do, when you do it, what you say, how you say it. I   
can do whatever I want with you-"  
  
Chestra was silently fuming at Alberm's words and the cold way he   
was treating his own wife. Jaden closed her eyes to think, and her large, tall   
alligator-like body began to shake. Jaden began to sweat and shake, as she   
heard Alberm's words, for his cruel speech stirred up some words from long ago,   
words that she had so wanted to forget:  
  
"You are my property. No one will stop me from making you mine.   
You belong to me, Jaden, and you will learn to obey and be mine. I control   
whether you live or die, what you do, when you do it, what you say, how you say   
it. I can do whatever I want with you...when I say 'jump', you ask how high.   
When I say 'kiss me', you do it, when I say 'crawl', your belly should be   
touching the floor. You're going to be my woman, as well as my student. You're   
mine, baby..."  
  
Jaden lost control of her emotions then and there, something that   
she rarely did. Painful memories began to erupt inside her, forcing her hidden   
anger and hurt to the surface. Before she knew it, she had seized Alberm by his   
neck, and she punched him hard in his stomach. The others watched in shock, as   
Jaden threw Alberm to the ground hard. Alberm tried to paralyze her, but Jaden   
was immune to his attack, and before everyone knew it, Jaden sent a quick ki   
blast through Alberm's heart, causing it to explode. Alberm died instantly.  
  
Caline screamed in terror; she feared Alberm, but she hadn't   
necessarily wanted him dead. Petalia was also shaken, but she tried to speak   
consolingly to Caline the best she could. Caline began to cry, not from grief   
for her dead husband, but from terror and shock.  
  
Chestra ordered Pork to bring the canteen again, and Pork did. Chestra urged   
Caline and Petalia to take the water and calm down, as she poured the water into   
their mouths. Chestra told Crystalis to try to calm the girls down, if she   
could. She then walked over to Jaden, who was staring down at the corpulent   
corpse of Alberm's body.  
  
Zarbon looked down at Alberm's corpse as well. He said dryly to   
Jaden, "Was that really necessary? He was one of Lord Frieza's favorite spies;   
you know Lord Frieza isn't going to like this."  
  
"He'll live," Jaden told him edgily, "Lord Frieza will anyway."   
Jaden was calmer now, although she was now realizing what she had done in haste.  
  
Chestra put a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "What happened? What made   
you do it? Not that Alberm is that huge of a loss, but what drove you to kill   
one of Lord Frieza's spies?"  
  
Jaden held her reptilian head up, proud, cold and stiff. She was   
repressing the tears that so badly wanted to flow. "Sagash," she whispered   
privately to Chestra. "Sagash said almost the exact same words to me over   
twenty years ago that Alberm said to Caline just now. He said those words just   
before the first time that he-he-forced himself on me."  
  
"The bastard," Chestra whispered back, "I don't begrudge you for   
killing that beast, even though I never met him. I don't begrudge you for   
killing Alberm either; he's not worth his wife's tears."  
  
"I doubt Caline is crying for that blob," Jaden said quietly.   
"She's in shock; I even cried after I killed Sagash, although I never mourned   
that beast. I don't feel sorry for killing either one."  
  
She looked at Caline and Petalia, and she said to the others, "Pack up the   
cruiser and let's go. No one says a word about Alberm's death until this is   
over. We'll spare the girls, but we can't release them just yet. Crystalis,   
Pork, get them in the cruiser; we'll decide what to do about them later."  
  
Zarbon and Chestra followed behind Jaden, as they all walked back to   
the cruiser. Reccor was trembling with fear, and Zarbon said icily to him,   
"Keep your mouth shut and yourself in line, or the same will happen to you."  
  
Reccor shakily nodded, still in shock over Alberm's untimely demise.   
He dared not say a word out of fear of being the next one to perish. 


	53. The Other Minions Catch Up

Chapter Fifty-Three: The Other Minions Catch Up  
  
Forty miles outside of Magan, in the suburb village of Pendulum  
  
Diamonique decided that she needed a break before going into Magan to capture Princess Tayla and to destroy everyone in Magan. She made Dollan drive her to a small inn in a tiny village, where she would get a shower, food, and water. The innkeeper tried to charge her an enormous price for the stay, but she quickly threatened to kill him if he charged her, and to prove it, she killed one of his maids with a small ki blast. The innkeeper treated Diamonique much better after that, and he insisted that his frightened employees do everything that they could to make Diamonique and her "guest", Dollan, comfortable.  
  
Diamonique had enjoyed the bubble bath in a Jacuzzi-style tub, and even more so because Dollan had joined her. Actually Dollan didn't want to be naked in a hot bath with her, even if she was one of the most beautiful women that he set his eyes on, but Diamonique had insisted. Dollan was too frightened of her to notice her beauty, and all he wanted to do was to escape from her. Diamonique insisted that Dollan join her in the bath, and she sweetly reminded him of how she had killed his fellow citizens.  
  
They were now standing nude in the pink and mauve private bathroom of the best room that the innkeeper had available. Dollan started to put his tattered clothing back on (he had been one of the poorest boys in his village, and the car that he had, he had borrowed from a friend), but Diamonique swiftly seized his hands, forcing him to drop his clothes.  
  
"Not yet, darling," she told him wickedly. "I have plans for you, plans that include me. I believe that we have a little time to kill before I destroy the Astorians and capture their little Princess Tayla. You're very handsome, although a bit thin. If you please me, I could fatten you up well; I have a few servants on the planet where I am stationed." She then pulled out a small, squat syringe from a leather satchel that she had been carrying. Dollan looked at it fearfully, and before he knew it, Diamonique had stabbed his arm with the needle, causing him to yelp.  
  
"It's just a needle," Diamonique purred, "and you should be thankful, for the contents of my syringe will protect you from my poisonous nails. It's a small courtesy that I throw in for my lovers, for I love to sink my nails into a nice muscular back." She ran her nails along the skin of Dollan's bare back with one hand, as she seductively tousled his hair with her free hand.  
  
"I-I don't want to do this," Dollan pleaded, as Diamonique forced him to sit down on a bidet. She pushed her perfect, naked body onto his lap, facing him. She kissed him seductively, pressing her blue lips firmly against his trembling pale pink ones. Dollan tried to push her away, but Diamonique seized his hair and pulled hard.  
  
"Now listen to me, boy," Diamonique hissed, the smoothness temporarily leaving her voice, "you should consider fortunate that I have chosen you to please me; I could have just killed you. Either do as you are told and satisfy me, or you will perish." Her voice instantly switched back to its velvety lilt, as she cooed, "I like you, my darling, and I don't want to have to kill you, so make me very happy, hmm?" She began to caress his naked chest and back gently, as she started trailing kisses from his lips down his chin and throat, along his chest, and then finally down to his stomach. She rubbed slow circles on his chest, kissing his stomach repeatedly. She pulled his hands to her bare breasts and purred, "Touch me."  
  
"No!" Dollan said as forcefully as he could, yanking his hands away from her perfect, medium-sized bosom.   
  
Diamonique quickly grew impatient, as she yanked his large hands back to her breasts. "I said touch me, and I mean it. I want you to enjoy this as much as I do, and you will, if you will just relax and enjoy this. Do you know how many young men would want to be in your boots right now, having a beautiful woman insist on seducing them? Caress me, love me, and make me shake with desire. I want you, boy, and I know that you want me!"  
  
"No, I don't," Dollan screamed, his terror rising. "Let me go!" He tried to push Diamonique off of him, but Diamonique wrapped her slender, peach-blue legs around his middle, holding him in place. She pressed herself against him, and she quickly crushed her lips against hers. Dollan was considerably weaker than his female captor, and he could not fight her off. Diamonique forced him to put his arms around her body by digging her sharp nails into his flesh. She made him kiss her lips repeatedly by pushing his head towards her face.  
  
"Stop trying to resist me, boy, for it will only get you hurt. I am way stronger than you will ever be; resistance is futile. No man can resist my charms, and I don't allow them to," Diamonique told her captive lover sternly. "You're mine for the time being, boy, and-" She was suddenly interrupted by a terrified girl's scream.  
  
"Let me go!"  
  
"Stop resisting me! You're going to make me angry!" Diamonique recognized Balair's voice.  
  
She heard Dodoria's wicked chuckles in the background, and a girl-child, crying, begging Balair to let her sister go.  
  
Diamonique was annoyed, not only because her lovemaking had been interrupted, but also because Balair and Dodoria were here. Their presence now put a cloud on her fun. She shot Dollan a deadly glare and said severely, "Stay there and don't move until I get back; I mean it." She put on a fluffy, pink velvety robe, and she stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom suite, where she saw a young Calmagian girl struggling with Balair. Balair was embracing her tightly, as his hands roamed all over her scantily clothed body. The girl could no longer scream, for Balair's mouth was covering hers, forcing repeated kisses on her body. Dodoria was sitting on the large bed, holding his huge pink hand over the tiny mouth of a little girl.  
  
"What the hell are you two brutes doing in MY room?" Diamonique hissed. "I had this room reserved exclusively for me and my new boy toy!"  
  
Dodoria smirked. "Well, it looks like you two are moving out then, for the innkeeper so kindly gave this room to us." Or the innkeeper did after Dodoria had roasted away two of his menservants with his mouth blast. The innkeeper decided to let the three fight it out over the room, and when Dodoria and Balair had taken the girls upstairs, the innkeeper and his surviving employees had quickly fled the small building, abandoning the guests to the intruders.  
  
Suddenly, before the three Top Elite officers could begin to quarrel about the ownership of the room, they heard small explosions outside of the inn, of laser guns firing and ki blasts flying.   
  
"Dodoria, find out what's going on outside!" Balair ordered, still holding Quillina in his strong arms. Dodoria dragged Julep with him, as he did Balair's bidding. Dodoria peeked out of the large picture window in the room.  
  
"Curses!" Dodoria roared. "Bad news; the monkeys have caught up with us! Vegeta and his cronies are clearing this town, as we speak!"  
  
Balair threw Quillina over his shoulder, carrying her with him, as he went to join Dodoria at the window. Diamonique scurried over to the window and she levitated herself in the air, to see over the heads of Balair and Dodoria.   
  
She saw the Calmagian CRP soldiers fire laser guns at the four flying Saiyan warriors, to no avail. One of the laser guns had hit Vegeta in his chest, and for that, Vegeta had burned away one quarter of the village with a Big Bang attack. Nappa was having a grand time, as he unceremoniously fired strong ki blasts at the hapless CRP officers, who had now wisely decided to retreat. Journa and Raditz were firing smaller ki blasts at the few brave, but foolish CRP officers who had decided to stay and fight. Then all of the Saiyans grew bored, and they decided to fight the remaining CRP officers in hand-to-hand combat, which Vegeta considered to be much more fun anyway. Fists and feet were flying rapidly, as the CRP officers continued to endure lacerations, bruises and broken bones.  
  
During the fighting outside and the Top Elite officers watching it, Dollan silently crept out of the bathroom, and when he was a few feet outside of the bedroom, he quickly ran downstairs to flee the inn. He felt sorry for the two girl captives, but he could not save them; he was powerless to help them, and he knew it, so he scurried out of the inn and into the street where his skycar was waiting. He opened the door, climbed into the front seat, and he turned on the ignition with the small diamond-shaped key that he used for doing so. But before he could do so, a strong meaty finger tapped him on his shoulder.  
  
"Going somewhere?" Nappa asked wickedly, as he rose from the backseat to confront Dollan. "Not without us, you're not." He called out the front door window to Vegeta, "Hey, Prince, here's a kid who can surely take us to Princess Tayla! How about a rest? This ship is just the thing!"  
  
Vegeta, Raditz and Journa stopped their killing temporarily (there were very few left to kill in the village anyway), as they flew down to where Dollan's car was. Vegeta swiftly opened the car door and grabbed Dollan's throat, and he hissed in Dollan's ear:  
  
"Take us to Magan, now!"  
  
Dollan tried to speak, but he was too traumatized to do so. Just then, Diamonique gracefully flew out the second-story window of the two-floor building. She landed on her feet right next to Dollan's skycar, and she glared darkly at the Saiyan intruders.  
  
"Leave my new lover alone!" she ordered them angrily. "He's mine, and now I will have to punish him for being a naughty boy and running away. Come here, Dollan darling!"  
  
Dollan wanted to run, but Nappa was still holding him. Vegeta turned away from the frightened boy, and he said archly to Diamonique, "So, I see that you've replaced me already, and with what, this little coward? Your taste in men is starting to become poor, Diamonique."  
  
Diamonique said triumphantly, "He's pleased me so far, and he's a far better lover than you, aren't you, Dollan? You could run circles around this Saiyan prince!" She smiled boldly at her former lover and said evilly, "He's so good that he makes you seem like an inexperienced virgin that can barely tell the difference between a man and a woman!"  
  
Raditz snickered and Nappa chuckled before they could restrain themselves. Vegeta shot them both with a fatal glare, and the two other Saiyans quieted immediately. Journa had to turn away to hide her amusement from her younger brother.  
  
Vegeta scowled and turned away from Diamonique, sneering, "I have no time to bother with you anyway. This boy has disgusting taste, if he chooses you for his first woman. As for me, I have more important things to worry about than who you decide to jump into bed with to replace me." He ordered Nappa to release Dollan, and then he told Dollan to start up the car.  
  
"Take us to Magan, or you will die," Vegeta told the boy coldly, as he, Raditz, and Journa climbed into the car. Raditz sat in the backseat next to Nappa, with Journa on his lap (much to her pleasure and Vegeta's chagrin). Vegeta sat up front with Dollan.  
  
Diamonique was furious, and she snapped at the Saiyans, "You are not taking him anywhere! He is mine, and he is my chauffeur as well as my lover. Get out of the car, all of you!"  
  
Vegeta told Dollan, "I am your new boss now, not her. Do as I say and drive us to the capital of Calmag immediately."  
  
Diamonique shouted, "Dollan, you are not driving them anywhere! Get out of the car and come with me!"  
  
Dollan was uncertain what to do, and Vegeta seized his neck with his right hand. "I am more powerful than she is! If you wish not to die at my hands, take us to Magan now!"  
  
At that moment, Balair and Dodoria showed up, still holding Quillina and Julep captive. "What's going on here?" Balair roared angrily, for he had heard some of the previous conversations as he and Dodoria had flown out the second-story window. "We have to go-now! You Saiyan monkeys get out of the car and stop squabbling over the boy! He is taking us to Calmag, and we need these girls as navigators."  
  
Vegeta smiled coldly at Balair from the car, as he released his grip on Dollan. "You will just have to get your own vehicle. This foolish boy is taking us to Magan."  
  
Dollan spoke up quickly, "I'll tell you all what: why don't you all take my car and go on to Magan without me? This car has an electronic map, and it already has its course set for Magan. You can take it and all of its contents; just please let me go!" Dollan tried to get out of the car, but Diamonique blocked his path, as soon as he opened the car door.  
  
"You are not going anywhere, boy, unless it's with me; I'm not through with you yet," Diamonique told him coolly. Just after she spoke, Bhodie Lett flew out of the air on a hover bike that he had stolen from one of his victims. He had finally caught up with his teammates.  
"Sorry, I'm late," Bhodie told them smoothly. "I just wrecked a couple of cities on the way here; I never thought that I would catch up with you guys."  
  
"Better late than never," Balair told him. "Here, make yourself useful and hold this girl for me; my arms are getting tired, and I'll need them later." He shoved Quillina into Bhodie's arms. A frightened Quillina took that opportunity to step hard on Bhodie's right foot. Bhodie howled in pain, but he did not release his captive until she bit his hand that was holding her arm. Bhodie cried out, and he was forced to release her.   
  
Julep, inspired by her older sister's courage, sank her tiny teeth into Dodoria's fat pink arm, but it did not help. Dodoria pounded her back hard with his mighty fist, but it did not stop the little girl from kicking him hard in his stomach. She tried to paralyze him, but of course it did not work.  
  
Quillina fled from Bhodie and Balair, and she found a laser gun left on the ground by one of the CRP officers. She pointed it at Dodoria and said, "Let my sister go, now!"  
  
Dodoria laughed at her.  
  
"Bhodie, grab her!" Balair ordered.  
  
Bhodie did, but before he could do so, Quillina shot him in his chest with the laser gun. The laser blast did not kill Bhodie, but it crippled him, barely missing his heart. He fell to the ground, clutching at his chest. She then aimed the gun towards Dodoria and shouted, "Release my sister now!"  
  
Dodoria laughed evilly. He was tired of the brat, anyway. "Sure," he told Quillina smoothly, "I'll release her-into the next dimension!" And with that, he threw Julep up into the air, as if he was throwing a ball, and he roasted her instantly with his mouth blast. When Julep came down, she was nothing but a skeleton. Quillina screamed in horror, realizing then what her rash rebellion had cost her--the life of her beloved sister.  
  
"NO!!!" she screamed, as she fired the laser gun at Dodoria, shooting him immediately. The lasers bounced harmlessly off of the pink warrior, and Dodoria rewarded her for her efforts by shooting her with a hand blast that burned her away. When the ki blast had faded, Quillina was lying on the ground, a hole in her chest where her heart had once been.  
  
Balair was furious. "Dodoria, what the hell did you do that for? We needed those two, and I needed her to satisfy my urges! I had plans for the older girl!"  
  
Dodoria snarled, "She and the brat deserved it, and we would have killed them sooner or later anyway! You can easily find yourself another whore! Now let's quit wasting any more time and get to Magan! I'm through playing around!"  
  
Balair growled, "You're going to find me a new playmate when this is over, Dodoria, do you understand me!"  
  
"Fine," Dodoria snapped, "let's just go! We better get Bhodie; what are we supposed to do with him now, Balair? He's useless to us now!"  
  
"Leave him be! " Balair ordered, forcing himself to forget about Quillina. "I saw a small hospice in this town. Let's get him there, and see if there's anyone left alive that can treat his wounds." He turned to Diamonique. "Woman, that's your new job; take Bhodie to the hospice immediately and have him treated."  
  
"Do it yourself, Balair," Diamonique told him, not caring about Bhodie in the least. "I have other plans." She looked at Dollan meaningfully, and Dollan shook, suddenly remembering that he had no clothes on. He had fled the inn naked.  
  
"If I can't have my playmate, neither can you," Balair snarled at her. "I am in charge of this team here, and I said to take him to the hospice now!"  
  
"Make me," Diamonique told him curtly, like an impertinent little girl.  
  
"I'll make you alright," Balair told her. "Don't make me blow you up, woman!"  
  
"And don't make me turn you into a diamond statue!"  
  
"Stop squabbling, you two!" Dodoria hissed, "Bhodie is dying by the second!"  
  
Bhodie groaned, "Somebody help me, please!"  
  
Vegeta snapped, "This is getting ridiculous!" He quickly grabbed the nude Dollan and forced him back into the car. Journa reached over from the back and shut the door before Diamonique could prevent her from doing so. He said angrily to Dollan, "Drive us to Magan, now!"  
  
"Yes, sir!" Dollan said shakily, as he turned the ignition in the car, and before Balair's team knew it, Dollan had launched the skycar into the air and drove away with the Saiyan team before anyone could stop them. The skycar flew away into the sky at one hundred miles per hour.  
  
"Curses!" Balair roared. "Those monkeys have nerve!"  
  
"Forget them for now, Balair," Dodoria told him. "Let's just get Bhodie to the hospice. I'll take him myself."  
  
"How dare they take my boy?" Diamonique cried angrily. "Oh curses, let's just go! My day's already been ruined as it is!"  
  
"Oh, shut up, Diamonique, and stop acting like a spoiled brat!" Dodoria snapped at her, as he picked up Bhodie in his arms. "Let's get this guy treated, so we can take down the Astorians and Princess Tayla and get our reward!" He flung Bhodie over his broad shoulder, and the three healthy Top Elite officers flew off to the nearby hospice. 


	54. Time Is Almost Up

Chapter Fifty-Four: Time Is Almost Up  
  
The next day in the back fields behind the castle.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan watched Tayla and Riccan spar; Riccan had wanted so badly to fight, but his parents, particularly Gracina, were against it because he was so young. Tayla begged Shalila and Dirkan to at least allow Riccan to demonstrate his fighting abilities, and the two old warriors reluctantly conceded, as Riccan was showing them what he could do.  
  
Riccan was almost as strong and as fast as Tayla, but not quite. However, he was the strongest nine-year-old at the moment, and even some of the older fighters, both Astorian and Calmagian, paled in comparison to him. His feet and fists were swift, and his sword fighting skills were sharp. Shalila and Dirkan quietly observed him, and so far they were impressed.  
  
As they were watching Riccan and Tayla, Lektron, Gracina and Cletos approached them, and they were frantic and worried. "Nama, Dirkan!" Gracina cried. "Have you seen Caline or Petalia?"  
  
Cletos moaned worriedly, "I can't find my daughter anywhere! Not even Rojal or Dedron know where she is! She seems to have dropped off of the face of the planet! No one has seen her since last afternoon!"  
  
Gracina added, "King Kitchator has everyone in the palace searching for them now! No one has seen or heard from them since Petalia and Caline went to Caline's room, and Caline's room was searched! Nothing! Everything was in place!"  
  
(What Gracina and the others didn't know was that Alberm had quickly returned after abducting Caline and Petalia to straighten the room and put it back exactly the way it had been.)  
  
Gracina continued worriedly, "I am worried about those poor girls! Where could they be?"  
  
Dirkan shouted at Tayla and Riccan to halt their sparring match, and they did. "Tayla, Riccan! Have you two seen Petalia or Caline today?"  
  
"No, we haven't," Tayla told him. "I looked for Caline today to talk to her, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Neither could Riccan. Finally, we both figured that Caline was probably with Gracina or Lektron."  
  
"We didn't speak to Petalia since the day before yesterday," Riccan added.  
  
"She wasn't with Lektron, or me" Gracina told her. "I haven't seen her since yesterday morning, and Petalia seems to have vanished too. Did either one of them mention going anywhere in the last few days to you two?"  
  
Riccan and Tayla both told her no, and now they were worried as well.  
  
"No one has sensed Caline's ki or Petalia's ki?" Dirkan asked.  
  
"No," Lektron told him worriedly, "and we know that Caline does not know how to conceal hers. Gracina and I just taught her two days ago on how to sense ki, but she doesn't know how to hide it yet."  
  
Marya joined them at that moment, landing gracefully out of the air. "I just had a vision!" she told them frantically, "and it concerns Caline and Petalia!"  
  
"What did you see, Marya?" Shalila asked the High Priestess of Chloe.  
  
Marya took a deep breath and said, "I had a vision of Petalia and Caline in Caline and Alberm's room. I even went into that room to touch any objects that Caline may have handled, and I saw them in there, in my mind. I saw Alberm entering his and Caline's room, and Reccor too. They were grabbing the girls and pulling them under the bed-"  
  
"Under the bed?" Lektron exclaimed. "How can that be?"  
  
"Quiet, let her finish!" Dirkan ordered.  
  
"They pulled the girls under the bed, and they dragged them down into the labyrinths beneath Calmag's surface…. I saw them leaving Magan, and now I no longer feel Alberm at all. One of my last visions was seeing the lizard-warrior called Jaden slaughter Alberm with a single ki blast. Alberm is gone, I can feel it, but the others still live."  
  
Good riddance to bad rubbish, as Nama would say, Lektron thought silently.  
  
"Alberm is definitely gone," Shalila said quietly, "for Marya has never been wrong when she senses that someone has died." She turned to her granddaughter. "Marya, do you see anything now?"  
  
Marya nodded, and she sat down, meditated, and closed her eyes. "I can see something, but it's very blurry," she said in a low tone of voice. "I see Caline and Petalia on a cruiser heading towards here…and the ones called Zarbon and Jaden are holding them captive, but they have not harmed them. Jaden does not seem to want to harm the girls, and her friend doesn't want them harmed either. She is a strange humanoid woman with a cat's face and red and green hair. She is very pretty, a hard, fierce warrior, but with a soft spot for children. Oh, my stars!" Her voice rose to a shriek.  
  
"What is it?" everyone asked.  
  
Marya gasped for air and cried, "There is a Meatian with them! He has blue hair and eyes! Jaden has just addressed him as Pork!" She opened her blue eyes and turned her head to Shalila. "Didn't Steak lose a son, a son named Pork?"  
  
Shalila exclaimed aloud, "Yes! Steak's lost son is alive!"  
  
Dirkan was grim. "But now he works for Frieza."  
  
"That poor boy!" Gracina cried.  
  
Marya continued, forgetting Pork for now, "They are close, so close to here, less than thirty miles away! And the Saiyans are not too far behind them! Why they could come here as soon as tomorrow!"  
  
The Astorians grew disturbed and panicked. Shalila tried to remain calm. She turned to Gracina and Lektron. "Gracina, Lektron, summon all of our people to here immediately. Our time is up."  
  
"But what about Caline and Petalia?" Gracina cried worriedly.  
  
Shalila's face was grim. "We will find a way to save them, no matter what. Do not worry about them yet, for if Jaden and Zarbon had wanted them dead, they would have killed them by now. For now, summon all of our fighters, and Dirkan, I will need you to warn the King."  
  
"We're going to war now, aren't we?" Tayla asked her quietly.  
  
Shalila put her hand on Tayla's shoulder. "Yes, Tayla, it is time to fight. Our time to prepare is now up."  
  
"Will I get to fight?" Riccan wanted to know immediately.  
  
"No!" Gracina told him sharply.  
  
Dirkan spoke up, "Gracina, I know that you will throttle me for this, but I believe that he is ready."  
  
Gracina let out a small shriek, and Shalila gasped. "Dirkan, are you sure about that?" Shalila asked him concernedly.  
  
Dirkan, with his arms crossed, gave one firm nod, and Gracina shook her head wildly. "He is only nine years old, far too young! He is still a child."  
  
"I am not much older, Gracina," Tayla protested calmly, "and Nama is allowing me to fight."  
  
Gracina's sudden grim expression told Tayla that she had not been happy about that decision either. She privately thought that for Tayla's safety, Tayla should be kept out of the coming war. She turned to her grandmother. "Nama, please don't let him fight!"  
  
Shalila rested her free hand on Gracina's arm. "Gracina, I know that you are scared for him, and he is so young, but in this case, I have to agree with Dirkan."  
  
"Yay! I get to fight!" Riccan exclaimed happily, completely unaware of what he was getting into.  
  
"What?" Gracina protested in fear. "Nama, you surely don't mean that! You are sending two children out to fight! Tayla should be kept out of the war as well; it is her they are after. Nama, I can't agree with this decision. I am worried about what could happen to Riccan; aren't you worried about what could happen to Tayla?"  
  
"Very much so," Shalila told her as steadily as possible. "Dirkan and I had been discussing for days whether to let Tayla fight, or to hide her. At first, I was leaning towards not letting her fight at all because, as you said, it is her that Frieza's minions are after. But then, I realized how much we need her out there; after all we wouldn't have been able to defeat the Saiyans years ago without her help." She turned to Tayla and drew her to her body.  
  
"Tayla," she told her calmly, "you know there is a risk in you fighting with us, right? You are aware that it is you that Frieza's subordinates are after, right?"  
  
Tayla nodded solemnly. "Yes, Nama."  
  
"Tayla," Shalila continued quietly, "This is serious. There is a good possibility that you could be captured, and that we could lose this battle and all of our lives. These soldiers are very strong, especially the Saiyans. I know that the ones called Jaden and Zarbon are strong, fierce fighters, for we fought against them many years before you were born. I am certain that a Sistrai warrior named Balair will be joining them-"  
  
"What's a Sistrai warrior?" Riccan asked, interrupting.  
  
"A Sistrai warrior comes from planet Sistra," Shalila told him, "Sistrai warriors resemble tall lizards who can turn themselves into gas and liquid, but that is off the subject. Riccan, I want you to pay attention to what I am about to say as well, for although no one is coming to capture you, you are in as much danger as Tayla."  
  
"Yes, Great-Nama," Riccan told her.  
  
"Tayla," Shalila addressed her, although she meant her words for Riccan as well. "Balair, Jaden, and Zarbon are extremely dangerous fighters, much more powerful than even the Saiyan boys. I am certain that they are among the ones coming to take you to Frieza. There is also a fat, pink warrior named Dodoria, and a strange warrior named Ginyu, and I am certain that they are still alive as well. They are among Frieza's Elite forces, and when Frieza starts sending his best out of his Elite, it means that he is almost out of options, other than facing us himself."  
  
"I want you to understand that we may die, and Calmag might still yet fall to Frieza's forces. King Kitchator has sent out his best men at the moment to surround Magan to defend the city, but the Calmagians seem to be little help against Frieza's minions. Some of Frieza's fighters coming here have enough power to blow up this planet by themselves. I want you also to understand, Tayla, and these next words will be the hardest for me to say, but…we may not be able to protect you, if Frieza's Elite fighters overtake us. They don't want you dead, Tayla, but there are some fates that are worst than death, and being forced to work for Frieza is one of them. If Frieza's Elite minions manage to triumph over us and destroy us, you may be left on your own."  
  
Shalila took a deep breath, as she gravely tousled Tayla's hair. She continued, "Tayla, if you wish to back out of the fighting, we will understand, and we will do our best to hide you and protect you as long as we can. The choice will be yours; I understand that it is you they are after, and that you are still very young to be fighting all out."  
  
Tayla was quiet for a few moments, and then she spoke into her Nama's fighting uniform, saying as bravely as possible, "I know the risks, Nama, and I accept them. They won't give up until they find me, and they will kill everyone to get to me, I know. Frieza's fighters won't show any mercy, so I don't really have a choice, Nama. I can't back out; I don't want to. I must fight, for I would rather die fighting for my freedom and everyone's lives than wait until Frieza's fighters destroy everyone in order to get to me. If I die, at least I will die free. Anything is better than working for Frieza."  
  
Shalila was impressed and awestruck, and so was everyone else. Tayla was not even thirteen yet, and she was already entering her second battle. In a few minutes, she had fully grasped the concept of her entire situation. And she was right.  
  
"Then you will fight then," Shalila said as a statement, not a question.  
  
Tayla nodded; she was scared, and Shalila knew it, but Tayla was willing to take the chance.  
  
Riccan had been paying full attention to his great-grandmother's words. Shalila turned to her great-grandson, and she asked him, "Riccan, do you still wish to fight, knowing that you might die?"  
  
Riccan nodded solemnly, digesting her words. Up until now, fighting and sparring had been a game, a fun game in preparation for the real thing someday.  
  
"Riccan," Shalila told him, "what is coming up is not a mere sparring match. This is real war, Riccan, the real thing. The enemies that we are about to face will not show any mercy towards you just because you are a child. They will fight to kill, and you must be prepared to do the same. In warring, you will wind up taking lives, making them die. Are you prepared to do that? Are you prepared to cause others to die and possibly to do so yourself?"  
  
Riccan was hesitant now, with the full impact of what was about to happen occurring to him. He was not as mature or as experienced as Tayla was, but he now understood what could happen.  
  
He said slowly, "Yes, Nama."  
  
Shalila nodded, and Gracina paled. "Nama," she began worriedly. She then turned to Riccan and drew him to her bosom, looking at Lektron anxiously. "Lektron, shouldn't we say something? Shouldn't we protest?"  
  
Lektron was grim. He wasn't too enthusiastic about letting his nine-year-old son going into battle either, but he could understand how Riccan felt. But Lektron had some hand in Riccan's training, and he knew that the boy now was almost as strong as him, or would be in a few more years.  
  
"Gracina," he told her calmly, "in a way, we will all have to fight for our lives. No one can really run or hide anymore. I'm sure that Riccan would want a chance to fight for his life and freedom than just stand around, possibly waiting to perish, right, son?" Riccan nodded.  
  
Gracina's expression was full of pain and worry, not only for her son, but also for everyone else. She looked at her oldest child and whispered, "Riccan, you be careful. You be strong and do what you are told. You take care of yourself. I won't be too far away from you."  
  
"We'll be nearby son," Lektron told him.  
  
Riccan hugged his mother tightly. "Don't worry, Mamma, Pappa," he told her with his father's confidence. "I'm going to fight good and hard and kill lots of bad guys!"  
  
The adults didn't know whether to cheer at Riccan's self-assurance, or groan because he was acting just like Lektron just before he went into battle.  
  
  
  
  
  
The CRP officers and soldiers in the Calmagian Army surrounded the city of Magan, prepared with cannons, tanks, laser guns, missiles, and other deadly weapons. These men were among the best of the Calmagian fighters, and King Kitchator and Prince Amitar were confident that they could easily eradicate Frieza's fighters coming into Magan.  
  
General Norbrook was standing inside in his private luxury army tank with Prince Amitar. Amitar was watching the skies from the tank's periscope, watching for signs of the intruders from Frieza. Filcor Sedemeyer, Norbrook's favorite lieutenant general, was with them, fuming because Alberm had kidnapped Caline, whom Amitar had promised to Filcor, after Amitar had finalized Alberm and Caline's divorce.  
  
Amitar was an experienced warrior, and he was worried about his sons (he had two younger ones besides Ridikar, who were fourteen and thirteen), but especially Ridikar. This was the first real battle for all three of Amitar's sons, even Ridikar, who despite his earlier boasts to Tayla, had never seen a real Saiyan or Hycanese in his life. Amitar had worked for Intergalacticpol before he settled down and married his wife, whom Caline had been the spitting image of. Amitar had five children all together, with two married daughters older than Ridikar. Caline had been the youngest out of all his children.  
  
The general spoke up, "Prince, I am sorry about your daughter's disappearance."  
  
Before Amitar could speak, Filcor spoke, "Well, so I am I! Curse that Alberm, running off with the girl that I was supposed to marry! I suppose he and his little wife made up!" Filcor was just as fat as Alberm, but more powerful, with large muscles, black hair and black eyes, and about five-feet, seven inches tall.  
  
"I will get my daughter back, Filcor," Amitar said as calmly as possible, "and you two will be married. I haven't forgotten all that you have done for me."  
  
"Prince, with all due respect, you should have married Caline to me instead of Alberm Dunlop. Alberm turned out to be a traitor to our planet, and because of him, we may perish-"  
  
"Silence, Sedemeyer!" Norbrook commanded. "I will execute that traitor myself when my men and I find him. The Prince has given us his blessing to do so, and it will be my personal pleasure to eliminate any traitors to Calmag."  
  
"Norbrook," Amitar said, forgetting about Caline for now. He had taken the news of Caline's disappearance far too calmly, much to the Astorians' chagrin. Amitar had never been deeply attached to any of his female children; he saw them as pawns, to be used to cement alliances with powerful men that could help Calmag's safety and prosperity. "Norbrook, I want you to ensure that my son, Ridikar will be looked after during this battle. He is my eldest son, and the heir to the throne, and I don't want anything to happen to him."  
  
"He will surely want his chance to prove himself in battle, Prince," Filcor pointed out.  
  
"He will, Filcor," Norbrook told him calmly, "but this time it won't be necessary. My men and I have come up with three new missiles guaranteed to wipe out the pests invading our beloved planet. Yes, my CRP officers may have been losing, but our army is much stronger than Frieza's fighters. We greatly outnumber them, and I guarantee that we will win this battle in one day, you watch. We'll blow those curds of Frieza's out of the sky, faster than you can say 'King Kitchator'."  
  
"Are you sure that these weapons will be enough, Norbrook?" Amitar asked, watching anxiously through the periscope.  
  
"Sure as I am of you recovering your daughter and getting her married to Sedemeyer here, Prince. Sure as I am of your son, Prince Ridikar, marrying his little Astorian princess. Like you, sire, I don't understand why she would back out of an honorable engagement agreement. Astorian women must be a stubborn lot, I'm thankful that I already have a good, sensible Calmagian wife. You needn't worry, sire, why I will just contact Balboun of the CRP officers now." Norbrook picked up a device similar to a remote control, and he began pushing buttons. He spoke through the speaker, "Balboun, this is Norbrook. Balboun, are you there?"  
  
Balboun's voice echoed through the communication device, shaky and uncertain, "Yes, General, I am here."  
  
"Good! Balboun, how are your officers doing fighting Frieza's invaders? We should have less to worry about now that those prisoners that you had with you are dead, right?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Right?" Norbrook repeated.  
  
  
  
  
The CRP cruiser  
  
Balboun couldn't answer right away; he had to find a way to warn his general that Jaden and her teammates were still alive. Balboun, and his sergeant, Daukin, were still alive, and now there were two children as captives. Balboun pitied the young girls, especially Princess Caline, who had just lost her husband. He felt sorry for the child bride princess, who was now a child widow.   
  
At least the cat-woman with the strange green and red hair...what was her name...Chestra?...was kind to the children, although she barely acknowledged him and Daukin. Chestra had fed the children some snacks that she had been carrying in her satchel. Zarbon was in the cockpit with him and Daukin, who was flying the plane. Pork and Crystalis were asleep, with Pork's head on Crystalis's shoulder. Jaden was pacing throughout the entire cruiser anxiously, and Reccor was sitting in a corner, afraid to move, afraid of saying the wrong thing.  
  
"Balboun, are you there?" Norbrook's voice barked through the speaker.  
  
Zarbon yawned, very bored at the moment. "Don't Calmagian soldiers ever shut up?"  
  
Balboun said shakily, "Yes, General, I am still here."  
  
"Balboun, those prisoners have been executed, right?"  
  
Balboun choked out a reply, "They have been taken care of, General." He knew that if he revealed the truth, Zarbon would kill him on the spot. Daukin kept his ginger head lowered, and he continued to fly the small plane. Finally, to Balboun and Daukin's relief, Zarbon left the cockpit to talk to Jaden and Chestra. When he was safely out the door, Balboun swiftly locked the door electronically by pressing a button. He whispered quickly through the communicator in a low voice, "General, forgive me, for I have lied. My men were unable to execute them. They still live, and they hold us hostage-"  
  
"Hostage? You are their hostages now?" Norbrook nearly shrieked. "Did I hear you, right, Balboun?"  
  
"Shhh, General, they will hear us. Yes, we are now their captives. They are still coming, and we are being forced to take them into Magan. There are also two girls that are captive with us; they are the Princess Caline, and an Astorian princess named Petalia. Princess Caline's husband, Alberm of Dunlop has been killed. And also-"  
  
A powerful ki blast opened the door before Balboun could finish, and he was suddenly face to face with a very angry Jaden, whose excellent Rybanese hearing had picked up the entire conversation.  
  
"Big mistake, Baboon!" Jaden hissed angrily. "Alerting your people that we were coming wasn't a very nice thing to do. Any last words before you die?" She seized Balboun's shirt in her giant fist.  
  
"Please," Balboun begged, "you don't have to do this to any of us. I can see personally that any of you won't be arrested, Miss Jaden-"  
  
"That's Commander Jaden to you!" Jaden snarled. "We will spare your pilot, seeing that we need someone to get us into Magan, but your days are through-"  
  
"Commander Jaden, please!" Daukin cried out, "The Astorians already know that you are coming anyway, so what my commander did made no difference. Please spare him, Commander Jaden! You are going to need both of us! Lieutenant Balboun and I can get you into Magan much quicker and with less hassle, than you all can do on your own. Give my commanding officer another chance, please!"  
  
Jaden snorted, "Fine, but one more screw-up like that, and both of you will perish! I'm not in a good mood as it is, and I've killed people before for ticking me off, such as fat Alberm-such a useless, pathetic creature." She flung Balboun to the floor, and Balboun hit the floor hard, as Jaden marched out of the cockpit. 


	55. The Saiyans Enter Magan

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Saiyans Enter Magan  
  
The next morning  
  
"Finally, it's about time!" Vegeta declared, greatly relieved that the Magan officials allowed Dollan to enter the city of Magan. He shook Nappa and the others awake. "Wake up, you fools! We are in Magan! Wake up!"  
  
Dollan had driven the Saiyans into the city of Magan, with Vegeta passing himself off as a Calmagian, and Nappa, Raditz and Journa crouching down in the backseat of the skycar. The Magan guards allowed the boy to enter, after Dollan lied and told them that he had an emergency message for the King. Dollan had driven the car into a nearby alley between a bank and a military supply store, and Vegeta had ordered him to park the car there. Dollan was now silently praying to the Kais for his life, and for forgiveness for what he had been forced to do.  
  
"What a filthy city! Disgusting!" Vegeta noted, noticing the dirty, litter-strewn streets and overflowing trashcans. He wrinkled his nose, as he saw the dirty air clouding around Magan.  
  
Journa, whose head had been resting on Raditz's shoulder, mumbled in her sleep, "No, Father, don't want to get up yet. Just a few more minutes…"  
  
"Journa!" Vegeta shouted sharply. "Raditz, wake my sister up!"  
  
A sleepy Raditz nudged Journa. "C'mon, time to get up!" Journa finally awoke, yawning expansively.  
  
"What's the plan, Prince?" Nappa asked.  
  
Vegeta grinned. "First, we find Tayla, and then we trash this entire city and all of its inhabitants. I will use my Power Ball to transform all of us into Oozarus; we no longer need a moon. We will transform and then tear apart the city and everyone in it, but before that, we will release the Saibamen into Magan. I can hardly wait to try them out."  
  
"Wait a minute, Prince," Raditz spoke up, running his large hand through his thick, coarse hair. "If we all go Oozaru, who is going to watch Tayla to ensure that she doesn't escape?"  
  
Vegeta grew thoughtful. "Hmm, good point. I will assign that task to Nappa; out of the three of you, he could control her the best. Nappa, you will remain in your natural form, understand?" Nappa nodded, and Vegeta then asked, "We still have the cuffing guns, right?"  
  
"Yes, Prince," Nappa answered. He and the other Saiyans had brought some cuffing guns with them, so that they could shoot ki-restraining cuffs onto Tayla's wrists, and the wrists of any other Astorian that could get in their way.  
  
Vegeta and the other Saiyans climbed out of the car, and Vegeta ordered Dollan to open the trunk of the skycar. Dollan quickly did so, and Nappa shoved the nude boy into the trunk and slammed the lid, locking Dollan inside. Dollan banged on the lid, begging to be released.  
  
"Let me out, please!"  
  
"Quiet!" Nappa hissed. "Unless you want to die, I suggest you shut up! We hear one word from you, and you're dead, do you understand?" He shook the skycar to make his point.  
  
"Y-Yes, sir!"  
  
Vegeta smirked, looking at the trunk of the skycar. "Good, he's not as dumb as he looks. Let's go, everyone, now! Raditz, you spread the seeds into that pile of dirt over there. Use about one-quarter of the Saibamen bottle." Raditz did, pouring some of the Saibamen seeds into a nearby pile of dirt that construction workers had left in the streets.   
  
Vegeta continued, "Everyone, make sure that your scouters are on. Wrap your tails around your waists. Raditz will remain here for now. Journa, Nappa, you two will come with me to find Tayla. Raditz, stay behind and ensure that the Saibamen sprout and start clearing this city. It is time to go to the royal castle, which I see from here. Nappa, Journa, do not start destroying everyone until I say so; I want to find Tayla first, and then afterwards, we can dispose of everyone else. We don't want to risk killing her with the others. Remember that she is the main reason that we are here. I wish that I were allowed to take my full revenge out on her, but Frieza has forbidden it; all we are to do is capture her. The girl is not to be harmed unless she resists, is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, Vegeta," Nappa and Journa chorused. As they answered him, the Saibamen began to emerge from the pile of dirt, little ugly green monsters that swiftly began to escape to terrorize the Calmagians. Raditz stood on the dirt mound and grinned evilly, as Vegeta, Nappa, and Journa flew off towards the castle.  
  
  
  
  
The royal castle  
  
"No!" Tayla cried aloud, as if she were suddenly in great pain. She was doing some last minute training in the gravity room of the Roccon when she felt four strong kis, three of which were frighteningly familiar. Panicked, she ran out of the gravity room, out of the ship, and outside the spacecraft, where she saw Riccan, who was training with Arlon, Lukan, and Bendros.  
  
"They're here!" she cried. "I felt them! Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz are in Magan now! And there's a fourth ki that's similar to them, one that is Saiyan, but can't be recognized!"  
  
The four young men stopped sparring immediately, and Arlon cursed in Astorian, "Bastards! So, they think to take my sister away again, eh? Well, not this time! This time we are more than ready for them! We're stronger this time, Tayla, don't you worry." Arlon instinctively pulled out his sword. "Where did you feel them?"  
  
Tayla gasped, "They are close, so close to here, almost near the castle." Even though, she was ready to fight them herself, she was shaken. She had been hoping never to see any of them again, especially Vegeta.  
  
Bendros, Lukan, and Riccan pulled out their swords from the sheaths on their backs. Riccan was excited. "Real full-bloods! Oh, boy! I can't wait to finish them off! Let's go!"  
  
"Slow down, Riccan," Bendros told him calmly as possible. "The Saiyans are much more dangerous than you can ever anticipate. Everyone, be on your guard. Tayla, you stay near us; we won't let anything happen to you."  
  
Lukan raised his sword. "It's payback time. I haven't forgotten what they nearly did to us five years ago. They won't live to do it again!"  
  
"That's right!" Riccan agreed vociferously, even though he had not been able to fight with his relatives five years ago.   
  
"They'll be gone within five minutes of us meeting them!" Arlon boasted. "They won't even live long enough to breathe before we destroy them."  
  
Tayla was suddenly quiet and thoughtful. Part of her wanted to boast along with her brothers and nephew, but she couldn't. She felt that Vegeta and his subordinates were much stronger than they were five years ago. Their ki signatures were three times stronger, and Tayla knew instinctively that they were strong as her and her family, possibly stronger.  
  
Tayla's relatives began to enter the landing port, flying in and landing near their mother ship. Many of them had their uniforms on, and they were ready to fight. Dirkan was organizing Shalila's relatives and friends into a troop, barking orders, preparing the others and him.  
  
"Don't get overconfident," Dirkan warned the fighters. "Vegeta and his bunch are much stronger than they were before. Be on your guard! Tayla, you stay near Shalila and I as much as you can."  
  
"They're just monkeys," Rojal told Dirkan confidently, "and if Tayla and only a handful of people were able to run them off last time, then surely all of us can eliminate them easily."  
  
"Don't be cocky, Rojal," Dirkan told him firmly. "Never underestimate Saiyans."  
  
"If they go Oozaru, I'll turn one of them into a collection of fur coats," Dedron boasted quietly to the younger children, all of who ignored him. "I could wipe them out by myself; I am that strong!"  
  
"What was that?" Dirkan asked loudly.  
  
Dedron smirked guiltily. "Nothing. I just can't wait to beat some monkey behinds, that's all."  
  
Dirkan permitted himself to smile, laughing softly. "You'll get your chance, I promise you. You all will. And remember that the Saiyans are not the only ones that we have to worry about."  
  
Shalila's expression was grim, for she could feel the Saiyans coming closer to the castle. Tayla was carefully hiding her fear, but her grandmother, who knew her better than anyone, could sense her unease. Shalila's hand tightened around her Sword of Chloe, and her free hand rested firmly on Tayla's shoulder.  
  
"We won't let anyone take you away," Shalila told her gently. Tayla nodded bravely and stood up straight and tall.  
  
"I will be okay, Nama," Tayla assured her the best that she could. Shalila patted Tayla's shoulder, and they, with the others, continued to feel for the Saiyan ki signatures.  
  
  
  
  
Ninety minutes later  
  
Vegeta, Journa, and Nappa flew to one of the northern roofs of the royal castle, and a fat, slovenly Calmagian guard with red hair and face noticed them immediately. The guard was huge, but young and foolish, barely a boy.  
  
"Halt! Stop! State your business!" the guard ordered.  
  
Nappa confidently landed down in front of the guard. "We are here for Princess Tayla of Astoria. Take us to her, and we may spare you." Vegeta and Journa landed besides him.  
  
The guard snorted derisively, "You are not getting to any Astorian or Calmagian here, mister, so you may as well go out the same way that you came in! Go home before I have you arrested!" He tried to turn his back on Nappa and walk away, but Nappa seized his collar from behind.  
  
Nappa lifted the startled guard in the air. "Listen, boy, take us to Princess Tayla now!"   
  
The guard touched Nappa's torso from behind, trying to paralyze him, but Nappa just laughed arrogantly. "The Calmagian paralysis attack has no effect on us!" Nappa boasted. "You see, boy, all of Frieza's fighters took special shots before we came to clear your planet, shots that made us immune to your paralyzing abilities. Give it up now and take us to Princess Tayla, or you will pay with your life!"  
  
The guard shouted, "Help! Invaders! Destroy these men!" The guard pulled out a small box and pressed the large blue button to summon his comrades. Before the Saiyan invaders knew it, dozens of Calmagian guards came pouring out of one of the doors of the one of the castle turrets to confront them. The Calmagian guards surrounded the Saiyans on the northern roof.  
  
Vegeta grinned. "Good, a warm-up exercise! Nappa, Journa, it looks like we may be attacking sooner than we thought! Take care of them; you two know what to do!"  
  
"Yes, Prince!" the other Saiyans shouted enthusiastically.   
  
The Calmagian guards pulled out their laser guns and began firing at the Saiyans, but the three Saiyans easily deflected the lasers with their hands, and Nappa used a Big Bang attack to burn away some of the guards. After that, only ten Calmagian guards were left, including the one that Nappa had bullied.  
  
Vegeta, Journa, and Nappa began to fight the guards (who had now abandoned their guns) in hand-to-hand combat, easily punching and kicking the guards until the guards were defenseless. Several of the guards foolishly tried to paralyze the Saiyans, but Journa broke the windpipes of two them with her fist, and Vegeta knocked one unconscious by hitting him in his face. In a few minutes, only three Calmagian guards were still alive, even the one that Nappa had harassed.  
  
Vegeta seized the collar on the weakest Calmagian guard, a skinny fourteen-year-old boy. "Tell us where Princess Tayla is, now, or you will join your comrades in hell!"  
  
The boy stammered, both of his legs now broken, "I don't know where Princess Tayla is, but I do know where some Astorians are. If you will spare us, I can take you to them!"  
  
Vegeta smirked. "Very good! You are a coward, but you are not stupid. Take us to them, now!"  
  
The fat Calmagian guard tried to sneak up behind Vegeta in hopes of hitting him in the head, but Journa intervened quickly. She grabbed the fat guard's offending arm and broke it easily, as if she were breaking a single stick. Then she picked up the fat guard and carried him to the edge of the roof and threw the horrified guard down to the courtyard. There was a sickening thud, as the corpulent guard's body crashed into the courtyard concrete; the impact killed him instantly.  
  
Vegeta had watched the entire scene, and he commented, "I guess it is true what some species say; the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"  
  
Journa added, "And that one sure fell hard!"  
  
Vegeta ordered, "Nappa, grab the other survivor, and these cowards will lead us to the Astorians. Surely, we make some of Tayla's people tell where she is."  
  
Journa shook her head at that last sentence. "I doubt that last part, brother. The Astorians are loyal to one another; they'll die first before they give up one of their own. Don't you remember Father telling us that?"  
  
Vegeta snorted contemptuously at his older sister. "Astorians can be just as cowardly as Calmagians! I'm sure we can find a few that will value their lives above Tayla's safety. We can more than take care of them. No Astorian is stronger than a Saiyan."  
Journa grinned slowly. "I can't wait to see this Princess Tayla. I want to see if she is really as strong as you three had claimed!"  
  
Vegeta snorted again. "She's no where as strong as I am now."  
  
Journa decided to be impertinent. "Nevertheless, I would like the meet the brat that actually was able to take you down. This should be interesting; maybe I ought to congratulate her!" She winked, and Vegeta rewarded her by cuffing her, not hard enough to damage her, but enough to send her a message. Journa cried out.  
  
"Ow! You can't take a joke!"  
  
Vegeta glared at her. "I've dealt with enough jokes for one time, Balair's team and the Calmagians being among them. Let's go, now!"  
  
"You're not going anywhere-except to hell!"  
  
The three Saiyan invaders turned away to see a lone figure in a red uniform and red cape. The cape fluttered impressively in the wind. They noticed the familiar figure, tall and green, and always carrying a sword known as his Light Blade.  
  
Vegeta permitted himself a slow, cruel smile, as he crossed his arms confidently over his chest plate. His smile melded into a contemptuous smirk. "Well, hello, Dirkan, long time, no see."  
  
Dirkan brandished his sword. "I was hoping that I would never see you again. So were the rest of my people."  
  
"The Astorians aren't your people," Vegeta scoffed. "You merely think that just because you married their leader and are helping to raise her favorite granddaughter."  
  
Nappa's evil smirk matched Vegeta's, as he crossed his thick, muscular arms in a similar matter. "We could use a strong warrior like you on our side; you should join us instead of fighting to protect a race that's going to be wiped out sooner or later."  
  
The Calmagian boy with the broken legs whimpered, as the other surviving Calmagian guard quietly and carefully picked him up in his arms. The older guard begin to sneak away with his comrade. Nappa approached them in order to capture them, but Vegeta ordered him to let them go for now.  
  
"If we need them, we can easily find them later," he assured his right-hand-man.  
  
Turning to Dirkan, Vegeta added cruelly, "A weakling race, except for maybe your wife and Princess Tayla. But that's all right, for we intend to take the brat with us. You could help bring her to us, and I'm sure you would be welcomed into the Elite. Why are you wasting your time with them and her? I will never understand."  
  
"I'm not surprised. Your kind knows nothing about loyalty and love," Dirkan snorted. "And I will never join up with your kind, and neither will Tayla. I do consider the Astorians my people; they are good to me, and I love them, particularly their leader. Do you monkeys have anything better to do than to kidnap children to work for a monster like Frieza? It is a pity that a mere little boy like yourself has nothing better in life to look forward to than taking or ruining the lives of innocent people."  
  
Vegeta hissed, his smile melting back into his characteristic scowl, "I am no little boy; I am a man, destined to become the greatest warrior in the universe! I have no real interest in the brat, Tayla, except to avenge myself against her, but Frieza has forbidden it, so I am taking her to him. He will reward us greatly, and I intend to collect that reward and become part of his Top Elite."  
  
"A pitiful goal," Dirkan said quietly, "wanting to work more for a beast like Frieza. Anyway..." He drew his sword out in front of him. "...I am going to tell you this only once: leave here now, and leave us alone, or you and your remaining Saiyans will perish! We show no mercy towards those who would do us harm! Leave now!" Dirkan's expression hardened into anger.  
  
Vegeta laughed condescendingly. "You're not even worth wasting my time. It is the brat that we want. Nappa, Journa, eliminate him immediately; we have no time to play with him. I will go find Tayla myself. Destroy the Namek!" He boosted himself off the roof of the castle and shot into the air like a rocket. He was gone within seconds.  
  
"Hey, come back here!" Dirkan commanded, but before he could take off after Vegeta, Nappa flung himself at him. Dirkan slashed Nappa's arm with his sword, but Nappa grabbed that arm and squeezed his wrist tight. He then punched the Namek hard in his stomach with such a force that Dirkan spat out blood onto Nappa's face. Nappa tried to punch Dirkan again, but Dirkan used his free hand to crush Nappa's jaw with his fist, forcing the large Saiyan to free him.   
  
Dirkan soared into the air and shot eye lasers down at Nappa, who dodged them easily. Nappa then launched a Big Bang attack that would have crippled the Namek warrior, had he not used Mirror Shield to deflect it back onto him. The deflected attack crashed into Nappa with such force that it shoved him hard onto the concrete. Nappa rose, somewhat damaged from Dirkan's attack, slowly into the air to confront him.  
  
Dirkan had been prepared for that, but he had developed a new attack over the past few years that could eliminate a herd of Earth elephants. He had went for a special session under Kami Orchida after Tayla had come home to the Palace of Chloe, and he had just learned life-force manipulation, where you could use your life-force to double or triple the impact of your attacks. Tayla herself was just learning life-force manipulation, although the manipulation could strain most of a body's resources. In some cases, it could be fatal, if a fighter had too low a ki to manage it. Dirkan had learned from Kami Orchida an attack called Tri-Power, which combined a mouth blast and two hand blasts into one powerful ki blast. It was done by using a mouth blast, and then adding the most powerful hand blasts that a fighter could use. The three blasts twisted into one powerful ki blast that was enough to destroy a small moon.  
  
Dirkan knew that he had to lure Nappa away from the palace before he could execute such an attack; his life-force-backed attack could destroy the castle and its occupants. So, he deliberately flew away from the castle towards an open meadow under Magan's dome. Nappa followed him, of course, hoping to destroy him once and for all.  
  
Flying in the air, Vegeta searched the castle grounds for Tayla, but he could not see her anywhere. Curse the little wench! Vegeta hated that Tayla would always be able to sense him coming; she could always sense his ki. He also hated that he could not hide his ki or sense ki without a scouter like the Astorians could. That blasted brat and her people would always have that advantage over him!  
  
No matter; he had captured her once before, and he could do so again. It would just take time, time that Vegeta hoped that he would have.   
Once he captured that brat, he would make her show him how she always managed to sense ki without a scouter. Vegeta knew that many of Frieza's minions believed that sensing ki unaided could not be taught; it came only with heredity. Vegeta, like many of the Saiyans, didn't believe that it was true. The Saiyans had been trying to figure out the Astorians' secrets about sensing ki unaided and masking it for many decades, and so far no Saiyan had ever done so. The Astorians had managed to lead the Saiyans into believing for a long time that being able to do both talents was something that you were born knowing. But the Saiyans had learned that the Astorians had taught the Meatians and the Hyslians how to sense ki unaided, and they wanted the Astorians to show them as well. Vegeta wanted to learn how it was done; he knew that he could learn it, and that it would greatly enhance his abilities as a warrior. It would give him a great advantage over his opponents, being able to sense ki unaided and hiding it.  
  
And he'd force Tayla to teach him before he turned her over to Frieza. 


	56. Frieza's Top Elite Enters Magan

Chapter Fifty-Six: Frieza's Top Elite Enters Magan  
  
"About time," Jaden muttered, as she and her team finally arrived in the city of Magan. The CRP cruiser landed gracefully on the parking lot of a landing strip near the city main market. She, Pork, Balboun and Daukin were the only ones awake, and she ordered Pork to awaken the other members of their team.   
  
The others were slowly awakening from their sleep when Pork looked out a window and noticed five familiar figures landing in Magan across the street from the CRP cruiser.  
  
"Commander Jaden!" he squeaked. "Come here quick! The Ginyu Force has arrived!"  
  
"Already?" Jaden exclaimed, joining Pork at the back window of the cruiser. "How could those dancing puppets have arrived here at the same time as us?"  
  
"Didn't you tell us before that they are among the fastest flyers in the Elite, Commander?" Pork asked her.  
  
Jaden cursed softly in her native Rybanese, a language she rarely spoke anymore because Frieza had insisted on his fighters speaking Standard language only. "Great, competition, just what we need," she grumbled. "Pork, keep an eye on them until I say it's time for us to go."  
  
"Yes, Commander." Pork continued to watch the Ginyu Force members, who of course were practicing their new pre-battle poses before attacking. Jaden shook her alligator-like head in disgust, as she walked away to speak to Chestra and Zarbon.  
  
Caline and Petalia were awake now, and now they were more fearful than ever. What was going to happen to them and to their races? The girls trembled, trying to remain brave like the princesses they both were.  
  
"Just think, Caline," Petalia whispered as steadily as possible, "if we live through this, you won't have that awful Alberm to worry about anymore. You can marry again when you're older."  
  
Caline shook her head, whispering back, "I don't ever want to get married again. Not after Alberm. I know that not all men are evil like him, but just the thought of almost any man touching me as a husband touching a wife scares me more than Jaden and Zarbon do. The only man I can say that I honestly like and trust is Prince Lektron, but it is as a father figure that I like him." She looked at Petalia with large, wistful blue eyes and whispered softer than usual, even for her, "I wish he and Princess Gracina were my parents. I wish I could go home with them, with all of you. I wish I could live on Astoria with all of you and just be single and happy. I don't need nor want a husband, ever. Just being safe with people who are my friends would be good enough for me." A tear slipped down the Calmagian princess's pale cheek.   
  
Petalia whispered shakily to her, "You know what, Caline, I don't think that I ever want to get married myself." They both were in a desperate situation, and they decided that talking about marriage would keep their minds off of things.  
  
"Why?" Caline asked her honestly. "You are beautiful and a virgin, and you will have many suitors later on, I am sure. And Astorian men seem to treat their women with kindness and respect."  
  
"They do," Petalia admitted, "but I don't want to be unhappy, like my mother and father were."  
  
"What happened with them?" Caline asked softly.  
  
Petalia confessed shamefacedly, "My mother abandoned us four years ago." She was having a hard time restraining her tears, and a few escaped her pale blue eyes before she could stop them. "She-she ran away from our planet with my Uncle Jaypros. We haven't seen nor heard from them since they left. My mother just abandoned us, leaving us, just like that, as if we were nothing to her. I think that Pappa blames Dedron and I for her leaving, for he barely cares whether we live or die. Dedron is so awful to everyone these days, and we could be pieces of furniture as well as Pappa is concerned. He doesn't love us anymore, and it's all Farla's fault!" Her whispering rose to a high hiss.  
  
"Farla?" Caline asked, puzzled.  
  
"Princess Farla Chloe was my mother. And she decided that she would rather be with our Uncle Jaypros than with us! She is nothing but a slut and an adulteress! She wasn't even divorced from my father when she ran away with Uncle Jaypros! And I hate him too, for stealing our mother away! No wonder Dedron is so nasty; he's as angry as I am! It hurts that she didn't love us enough to stay; what was so wrong with us that she would leave us like she did?" Petalia suddenly burst into full tears. "What did we do to deserve this? Pappa hates Dedron and I, and Dedron is so angry, and I am so sad! She's hurt us and disgraced our family name! Dedron's nearly killed several servants for snickering about our mother and our uncle running away. Pappa practically ignores us; I don't think he loves us anymore. I'll bet he's glad I'm gone; I'll be one less person he has to worry about."  
  
Caline was crying now as well, hurting for Petalia. "I am sorry; I wish I could help make you feel better."  
  
Petalia said sadly, "Thanks, but nothing will help except changing the past."   
  
"It's not your fault that your mother abandoned you," Caline told her tearfully. "Nor is it my fault that my father and husband have abused me. I used to think that I deserved whatever they did to me because I was inferior and a female, but I know now that's not true. You didn't deserve what happened with your parents, and it's not your fault. I wish there was some way that we both could be happy. At least your father doesn't abuse you or mistreat you the way mine used to and still does. If we live, I will have to back and live with him, or marry that awful Filcor Sedemeyer. I don't want to get married again, ever, and if I have to, I will run away, and this time, not even Father will be able to find me. I'd like to go home with your people, but I don't believe that will be allowed to happen."  
  
"Maybe it can," Petalia told her slowly. "Don't give up hope, Caline; we all would like you to come live with us. Surely Great-Nama and Commander Dirkan can do something; no one dares defy them."  
  
Jaden left Chestra and Zarbon briefly to visit the girls, for her Rybanese hearing had picked up the entire conversation. She placed herself in front of the tied-up girls and looked intensely at Petalia, asking sternly, "Did you say that your mother's name was Farla Chloe?"  
  
Petalia nodded and asked shakily, "How did you know?"  
  
Jaden was silent then, her usual dour face was grimmer, even for her, whose face was not accustomed to smiling or looking cheerful. Great, she thought, not only did those idiots Alberm and Reccor snatch the wrong Astorian princess, but one who happens to be the daughter of Balair's new whore. She looks just her mother, only much younger. It is a good thing she wound up in our clutches instead of Balair's; she wouldn't have survived him, and Balair would have been thrilled to have both a beautiful mother and daughter as his new concubines.  
  
Chestra, who was now standing behind her, whispered urgently, "Jaden, come here, please. We need to talk about these girls." Zarbon was with Crystalis and Pork, giving them orders.   
  
Jaden grunted a reply, and she and Chestra left Caline and Petalia; Jaden didn't even bother to answer Petalia's question. Under normal circumstances, Petalia would have thought that Jaden was rude and uncouth, but in this case, she was just thankful that Jaden had not killed anyone (that she knew of) but Alberm so far. She prayed silently that Jaden and her comrades would spare their captives, but it seemed to be unlikely.  
  
Chestra and Jaden walked towards the cockpit, away from the girls, and Chestra asked, running a hand through her ruby-and-emerald-hair, "Jaden, what's to become of these girls? And of the CRP officers?"  
  
Jaden sighed, looking back at the two little blond princesses. "Chestra, you know in most circumstances, we would have to kill any captives we had unless we thought that they could be useful to Frieza. The only thing those two girls would qualify for would be the Ginyu Girls."  
  
Chestra snapped, "Balair would just love that! Especially if he finds out that Princess Petalia is the daughter of Princess Farla Chloe! My Kami, Jaden, she's Princess Kaydra's older sister! Kaydra has a sister!"  
  
"And a brother, some punk named Dedron; I heard that much," Jaden told her evenly.  
  
"Does she know about Kaydra?" Chestra asked anxiously, not wanting to lose her adopted daughter whom she had already come to love.  
  
"I don't think so," Jaden told her. "Calm yourself, Chestra; you're not going to lose your new adoptee anytime soon. Getting back to business, if we are going to kill the captives, we probably should do so now; Baboon and his pilot are no longer any use to us. The girls, well, oh curses, why can't I bring myself to say, 'execute them'?"  
  
"You realized that you still have the remains of a heart," Chestra told her gently. "It is not necessarily a fatal fault to be kind once in a while."  
  
"It is, if you work for Frieza," Jaden told her dryly.  
  
"But what harm could it really do to free the girls, and maybe even the officers? The Astorians already know we are going to attack them anyway."  
  
"Chestra," Jaden told her grimly, "even if we don't kill them, someone else will. Either way, they are going to die. It would more merciful for us to kill them now, instead of having them run into the Saiyans, or Balair and his bunch."  
  
"Commander Jaden!" Crystalis shrieked, as she looked out the same window that Pork had been looking out at earlier.   
  
"What is it?" Jaden asked her, a bit impatiently, for she was now deep in thought.  
  
"Balair, Dodoria, Bhodie, and Diamonique have arrived! And Diamonique has already started spreading the Saibamen seeds! Oh, what ugly little monsters they are! Look at them!"  
  
Jaden and Chestra both sighed. "They waste no time, do they?" She turned back to Chestra. "And you want to release the captives into that mess?"  
  
"Let it be their choice, Jaden," Chestra said firmly. "You said either way they are going to die anyway; let them make a run for it."  
  
Jaden grumbled, "They could meet a worse fate than with us, Chestra. I say we should go on and kill them now."  
  
Zarbon added, joining his mate and her friend, "I have to agree with Jaden, Chestra; Lord Frieza did insist that we clear the planet of all life, and with Alberm dead now, there is no point in sparing any Calmagians, unless we find some strong enough to work for Lord Frieza."  
  
"He's right, Chestra," Jaden told her firmly.  
  
"No, you two," Chestra said just as firmly. "Why don't we just release them? The problem should take care of itself; we have nothing to lose really by freeing them. If they are meant to die, then they will soon enough."  
  
Jaden abruptly turned away from Chestra and Zarbon, and she stalked over to Petalia and Chestra. She gave them a cold, deadly look that could kill Frieza himself and said, "Do you have any last words?"  
  
The girls began to tremble and shake, and tears streamed down both their cheeks, as Jaden reached down towards them, supposedly to finish their demise.  
  
But to their surprise, Jaden tore the ropes that were binding them and dragged both princesses to their feet. She stuck her forbidding face into their frightened ones, carefully keeping her fearsome look.  
  
"Listen to me very carefully," she told them severely, "I cannot guarantee that you two will live, but I am freeing you two. What happens to you after that is no concern of mine here, or anyone else's. Someone else will probably find you and destroy you, but at least you will have a chance to run for it or fight. If you are lucky, your families will find you before then; if not, you will be better off dead than as prisoners under Lord Frieza."  
  
Caline said timidly, "Can the CRP officers come with us?"  
  
Jaden looked at Zarbon, but Zarbon answered wryly, "This is your affair, Jaden."  
  
Jaden barked at Crystalis and Pork, "Crystalis, Pork, I want you two to lead these girls out of here, and the CRP officers as well." She turned to Caline and said coldly, "You two and those fools are on your own from here on out. Do not expect help from us, if you are caught, understand?"  
  
Caline and Petalia nodded eagerly. "We thank you very much, Miss Jaden-" Caline began.  
  
"Commander Jaden," Jaden corrected her.  
  
"Thank you, Commander Jaden!" Petalia gasped breathlessly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, don't thank me yet," Jaden told her stiffly. "Just don't do anything stupid, got it?" She thrust the girls onto their feet and shoved them towards Crystalis and Pork, who escorted them, and the CRP officers. Caline cried out to Jaden, "Oh thank you, very, very much, Commander Jaden! We shall be forever grateful for your mercy, truly, we will-"  
  
"Enough," Zarbon told her icily. "Keep quiet until you are gone. You are no longer our concern."  
  
None of the captives said another word, as Crystalis and Pork led them towards the door and guided them outside. They began to run away, and once they were a safe distance from the cruiser, Petalia grabbed Caline by her waist after the CRP officers told her they were going to stay down and fight.  
  
"I still have a job to do," Lieutenant Balboun told them. "Since you can fly, Princess Petalia, would you please take Princess Caline with you back to your family?"  
  
Petalia nodded, and Balboun barked to Daukin, who was a fighter as well as a pilot, "Come, Daukin, we have much work to do! We must fight for Calmag; the war is far from over!"  
  
"Gooden luken!" Petalia told the officers, as she flew into the air with Caline in her arms.  
  
"Farewell! Be brave, be careful!" Caline called to them, as she and Petalia went higher and higher into the Magan air.  
  
  
  
  
Balair and Dodoria were so excited that they couldn't decide where to begin. Balair turned to Bhodie, who was just recuperating from his wounds. The survivors in the hospice had been excellent nurses, and in a few hours time, Bhodie was once again able to stand on his feet and move about, although much slower than before. Balair had even agreed to spare the three nurses, providing that he be allowed to caress and kiss the lone female one. He had his fun with her, but he did not rape her, for he had no time left to do so. "Bhodie, do you remember how to tell an Astorian from a Calmagian?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Bhodie said eagerly, trying to ignore the dull pain in his chest.  
  
"What do you remember? I know that you have never seen an Astorian before. We also call them 'Astories' or 'rabbits'," Balair told him firmly, as he watched the green Saibamen terrorize the citizens by jumping onto them and self-destructing on them.  
  
"I have heard of them being called 'Astories', but why are they called rabbits?" Bhodie wanted to know.  
  
Dodoria chuckled, as several men jumped off the roof of a three-floor bakery to escape the Saibamen. The men did not hit the ground because Diamonique shot them with lasers, turning them into diamond statues. She clawed many of the fleeing Calmagians with her fatal nails, poisoning them. "Astorians are called rabbits because they breed like them; many Astorian families can have up to as many as thirty or forty children. The typical Astorian woman has a baby almost every year!"  
  
Balair laughed. "That's Astories for you; they just don't know when to say when! I can't imagine having that many brats, especially if most of them are born girls! Astories are also called that because they can huddle and flee like rabbits as well! Anyway, Bhode, just to remind you, Astorians can fly, and Calmagians can't. Astorians bleed blue blood, and Calmagians bleed yellow blood. And Astorians can electrocute people, so be on your guard. Show no mercy with them, for they won't with you." Balair winked at Dodoria and Bhodie. "Got to go now, men!" And with that, he shot off into the air like a rocket, on his way to cause more havoc.  
  
Dodoria and Bhodie grinned. "Well, Bhode," Dodoria told the Human, "it's time to begin our dirty work." And with that, Dodoria shot out a mouth laser that would have blasted away an entire street of houses, except for one thing…  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!" And with that, Dodoria's mouth blast backfired right back onto him, scorching his tough pink skin. Dodoria yelled loudly in pain, as his own blast nearly consumed him. In a few seconds, he was sitting on his bottom in shock, scorched and somewhat weakened.  
  
Bhodie gasped in horror, and Dodoria cried out at his attacker, "Who are you?"  
  
The attacker, a tall man with clear blue eyes and golden-brown hair, lean, muscular build, stepped forward boldly out of the smoke that his Mirror Shield attack had created.  
  
"You may not know me, Dodoria, but unfortunately, I remember you very well-from almost twenty years ago. You were one of the few people that I was hoping never to see again."  
  
Dodoria trembled slightly, for he recognized the calm, even voice, steady and smooth as a lake in summer, yet hiding its owner's true, deep power, normally dormant, but now deadly as an exploding star. The voice was the velvet covering the steel, the steel being the normally gentle man that this warrior was.  
  
Dodoria trembled for a moment, finally remembering whom this stranger who so boldly and effectively attacked him was….  
  
Dodoria had been a young man, determined to do his mentor, Sagash, proud. A young Astorian prince with brown hair mixed with gold and eyes the color of Astoria's skies had ruthlessly and flawed attacked him and Sagash by electrocuting both of them with Electric Quake after he had thrown them onto the ground. He had shouted curses of anger, this normally gentle Astorian prince, a prince who had warned him and Sagash in advance to leave…  
  
"I warned you, Dodoria, as well as that red ape you call Sagash! I gave you two a chance to flee and live, but now you both have blown it, and now I shall destroy the two of you, so you may never harm others again! I will NEVER forgive you for what you beasts have done to my people and my home!"….  
  
Dodoria shook in fear, remembering how this stranger nearly killed him, so ruthlessly, so skillfully. He tried to hide his fear of this man, but he couldn't shake the memory of the day when he had fought…  
  
"You-you-are-" he cried aloud.  
  
"Yes," the Astorian male said calmly, "You haven't forgotten my face, though it seems you have forgotten my name. You will remember it in hell, so I shall tell you my name before you perish: Prince Raakon Chloe!"  
  
Dodoria trembled harder, and Bhodie had never seen the Top Elite fighter so shaken.  
  
"And now, Dodoria, seeing as you have not changed your evil ways, I will have to end your life, as much as I hate to do so." And with that, Raakon lunged at Dodoria. Dodoria scrambled to his feet to confront him; no matter how much Raakon unnerved him, Dodoria could not run away now.  
  
"This one is for you, Sagash," Dodoria whispered shakily, as he prepared to defend himself against Raakon.  
  
"Hey, you spiky puffball, remember us?" a gruff voice belonging to a large, muscular, broad man with a dark mustache and beard shouted at Dodoria.  
  
"We sure didn't forget him, unfortunately!" another Astorian male warrior crowed. He had a golden-brown mustache and beard, and his height and build were similar to Raakon's, although his personality was more like the second man's.  
  
"I'll be looking forward to squashing this pink bug!" the large man boasted to his friend. "What do you think, Lektron?"  
  
"Hey, Bajal, I'm with you! Let's smash him, though it's going to be a nasty pink mess to clean up!"  
  
"Get him, Raakon!" Bajal shouted, as Raakon and Dodoria exchanged kicks and punches, with Raakon slamming his fist hard into Dodoria's paunchy stomach. He turned to Lektron. "Hey Lek, you want to take care of that scrawny humanoid man; looks like he works for Frieza, no Calmagian there!"  
  
"I can handle him!" Lektron boasted, as he prepared to finish Bhodie off.  
  
Bhodie stood up, and he fired a strong ki blast at Lektron, but Lektron laughed, easily deflecting it with his hand. Bhodie panicked a bit then, for he had no really special attacks like his comrades did. The ki blasts he knew, the ones that Balair had taught him, were powerful, but obviously not powerful enough to take down an Astorian. Bhodie shot another ki blast at Lektron, but Lektron used Mirror Shield, and then a quick Rings of Saturn Scarf on him, quickly draining the Human's energy.  
  
"Hey, this guy is easy!" Lektron boasted, as he continued to use his energy scarf to drain Bhodie's energy. He laughed at Bhodie's agony, as he also watched Bajal and Raakon fight Dodoria with their swords. Raakon had slashed a deep gash in Dodoria's side, cutting through the armor, and both him and Bajal were electrocuting him. Dodoria screamed in agony, horrified that two supposedly weaker creatures were defeating him so easily. Raakon took a moment to wrap Dodoria in a Rings of Saturn Scarf, and he began to drain the fat, pink warrior of his energy.  
  
"Way to go, men!" Bajal roared happily. "Down with Frieza, up with Astoria!" He punched Dodoria hard in the back of his spiky head below the spikes. "And down with those who serve him as well!"  
  
Raakon was amazed that Dodoria was so easy to attack, even after all these years. Dodoria hardly had a chance to throw a punch. He, Bajal, and Lektron were pleased; Frieza's minions were stronger now, but so were they.  
  
"Hey, we'll probably have Frieza's minions wiped out in one day!" Lektron cheered happily. "This battle is going to be easier than we thought!"  
  
"I'm almost disappointed myself," Bajal declared. "I thought these pigs and apes would be more of a challenge!"  
  
"Oh, you won't be too disappointed," cooed a silky, icy-sweet voice.  
  
Lektron turned around, as he continued to drain Bhodie's energy. His jaw dropped, and so did the jaws of Bajal and Raakon, for there stood Diamonique, whom none of the three men had seen before. They were amazed by her beauty, and would have stared at her more had they not been faithful, married men.  
  
"Who are you?" Lektron asked her in amazement, trying not to stare at her too much. Good thing Gracina wasn't around at the moment.  
  
Diamonique smiled sweetly. "You may call me Diamonique, handsome."  
  
"What are you? Are you on our side?" Bajal inquired, as he held Dodoria's neck in a viselike grip.  
  
Diamonique smiled wider, as she continued, "I am of the Gemstarian race, an elite-class Gemstarian of the Diamondian Tribe."  
  
This puzzled Bajal and Lektron, for in all their years of fighting, they had never heard of Gemstarians, but Raakon knew because he had read up on them-and he had heard of the deadly beauty, Diamonique. "You two, be careful!" he cried aloud. "She is dangerous! The Gemstarians all serve Frieza, and so does she!"  
  
"How right you are!" Diamonique purred, as he raised her slender hand in an open palm at a 45-degree angle. A bluish-white blast shot from her hand and hit Raakon in his back hard. Raakon screamed in horror, as his body quickly solidified into a diamond form, starting from his back in both directions up and down. In a few seconds, a perfect statue of Raakon stood lifeless and still, made of diamond. The Rings of Saturn Scarf attack that Raakon had held on Dodoria vanished, and Dodoria quickly regained his energy.  
  
"RAAKON!" Bajal and Lektron screamed in horror. Bajal, not thinking, released Dodoria and fell down to his wide, muscled knees. Bajal had not cried since he was five years old (at least not in public), but now the tears began to cascade slowly down his chiseled, manly face. He pushed past Dodoria and threw himself at the diamond statue that was now Raakon. In horror, he threw his meaty arms around his diamond brother. Raakon was forever frozen in time, his mouth stopped in a horrified scream, a last scream.  
  
"Raakon!" he cried with a sob. "No! Not my brother! Not another sibling!"  
  
Lektron's body trembled, as he barely held onto Bhodie. "Raakon!" Tears began to form in his eyes before he could prevent it. In a few minutes, he successfully drained all of Bhodie's energy, and the scarf faded. After wards, he pulled Bhodie towards him by his collar and punched the weakened Human hard in his face. Throwing Bhodie to the ground hard (Bhodie was now unconscious), Lektron whirled on Diamonique. "You murderer! You tramp! I don't care if you are a woman; you will pay for what you did to my friend!"  
  
"Of course I will pay," Diamonique laughed merrily, "with diamonds." And she raised her hand again, and in two minutes Lektron himself was a diamond statue.  
  
"LEKTRON!" Bajal cried in horror, but his cry of horror would stay frozen, for Diamonique quickly turned him into a diamond statue as well.  
  
Dodoria laughed evilly, "Way to go, Diamonique! I'm amazed!"  
  
Diamonique smiled. "Thank you! I love my masterpieces. What should I do with them?"  
  
"Leave them as a warning to all Astorians!" Dodoria declared, as Bhodie weakly struggled to his feet. 


	57. Stop Balair!

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Stop Balair

Chapter Fifty-Seven:Stop Balair!

Balair laughed arrogantly at the ten CRP officers and twenty Calmagian guards gathered around him to destroy him.He had knowingly landed in their mist in a small meadow that they had been patrolling.All of the men there now had laser guns and tanks cannons pointed at the Sistrai warrior.

"Fire!" one of the commanding officers ordered.

All of the guns and cannons shot at once, blinding them all with the great light and smoke that the blasts emitted.Balair's wicked laughter could be heard through the light and smoke, but the soldiers and CRP officers continued to fire anyway.Finally, after five minutes, they stopped, allowing the smoke and light to clear.In the fading, blinding mist, Balair proudly stood on his two feet, resting back on his thick, muscular tail, a red beacon of pure evil slightly glowing, as the smoke cleared.

"Great light show!" Balair crowed at the startled, stunned men."Now it's my turn!"And with that, Balair slowly vaporized into that thick red mist of death, spreading himself throughout the group of brave men fighting him.Whenever he vaporized, he had to leave his armor behind on the ground, but that never bothered him, for it was rarely that he ever needed it.Balair was now the deadly red gas that enveloped the troops and entered their nostrils even as they foolishly continued to fire at him.

They fired too late.

In minutes, many of their bodies began to expand and bloat, their eyes bulging and literally popping out of their sockets.Many eyes dropped to the ground with sickening plops, as their bodies began to burst into blood and cartilage, splattering the tanks and the trees and the ground.The bodies were no longer bodies, but busted balloons of blood and flesh that had once belonged to living beings.The bodies continued to self-destruct, two and three at a time.Great explosions sounding like bursting trash bags could be heard throughout the meadow and nearby wilderness under Magan skies.

Only one tall, well-built elderly officer had been able to hold his breath long enough to escape, and he was now fleeing on foot, knowing that he had no chance against the red menace that had mercilessly caused his comrades to self-destruct.Five minutes later, Balair solidified himself back into his armor, so that he was in solid state again, and he flew after the fleeing Calmagian CRP officer, swooping down from the air to pick him up.

"Help me!" the ash-blond-haired, green-eyed CRP officer screamed into the air.

Balair grinned, holding his hostage in his thick, reptilian hands, as he flew in the air."Tell me how you want to die?Should I blow you up?Should I just blast you?Or should I just break your scrawny neck?"

"Please spare me!" the terrified officer begged, as Balair began twisting his arm hard, breaking the bones in it."Please put me down!"

Balair laughed cruelly."As you wish!"He lifted the CRP officer into the air and threw him hard towards a tall brick wall.The CRP officer screamed in terror, knowing that he was about to die.

But he wouldn't die then.

Someone caught him in her arms-barely.

The CRP officer trembled in the arms of a tiny, fragile-looking girl with gigantic brown eyes and long inky black hair braided and twisted into a coronet to keep it out of the way.A boy about the same height and size as her with golden-brown hair and green eyes was floating in the air besides her.They both looked at Balair with extreme contempt and hatred.

The CRP officer gasped thankfully, "Thank you!Thank the Kais!I'm glad that Astorians can fly!"

The girl handed the CRP officer to the little boy and told him to take him away from the field, and the boy did so quickly.The girl landed on the ground, standing tall and proud for her short height.

Balair appraisingly and grinned maliciously at her."Nice catch, little girl."

The girl gave an unladylike snort and said coldly in a usually silvery voice, "Leave here now, and don't ever return.That is your one and final warning."She was unnerved by this giant reptile, and a little scared, but she hid her fear well beneath her mask of contempt.

Balair looked at her skeptically and lustfully at the same time, assessing her delicate appearance.He shook his massive, Tyrannosaurus Rex-like head with regret; she was beautiful for her age, but too young really to become his next plaything.Or maybe not.Anyway, it amused him that a little girl would dare stand up to him.She might be fun to play with for a while, and Balair had not been able to satisfy his urges in a while, not since before his arrival on Calmag.

Balair finally laughed at her."You are so funny!I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you!You're a baby, practically, but I think I could have some fun with you."He quickly vaporized himself into his mist form, and the red cloud floated gracefully into the air towards her.Balair then solidified himself back into his normal state."Let me ask you something, sweetness: have you ever mated with a Sistrai warrior before?"

The brunette girl looked at him with a combination of fear, revulsion, and disgust."I wouldn't want the honor."

Balair chuckled, as he made a grab for her, but she ducked quickly; she had lightning speed and grace.Balair tried to snatch her several times, but she was too fast for him to catch.She was wearing the red and gold uniform of a Clan of Chloe warrior, and she was a black and red blur, as Balair continued to fly after her.He was probably stronger than she was, but she was much faster.Balair quickly grew impatient.

"Stop, I order you!" he snarled."I'm through playing games!Stop and come to me now!"

The girl raised her hands in front of her heart-shaped face and cried, "Solar Flare!"The light blinded the Sistrai warrior temporarily, and when he was able to see again, she had disappeared completely.

"Where in the hell did she go?" he wondered angrily.

He turned on his scouter to search the area for her, but he found nothing, could sense nothing.He growled furiously; how dare she defy him?

"I'll find you, you little slut!" he roared."And when I do, you will be mine!"Balair vaporized himself into his gas form again and spread himself throughout the air, hoping to spot her before she fled too far.

Tayla was enormously relieved to escape unscathed from the giant red lizard she was certain was the cruel Balair.Dirkan had told her much about the cold-hearted Sistrai warrior and about the Sistrai in general.Sistrai men were chauvinistic and sexist, ten times worse than the men in Calmag's royal family, even worse than Alberm.Dirkan had told Tayla that during the Battle of Chloe, Balair had vaporized himself into an awful, deadly haze that had spread into the lungs of two hundred Astorian fighters, causing them to self-destruct.Many of those brave fighters had been older warriors around Shalila's age who had also rebelled against the Saiyans to take back Astoria.Balair was also known to torture and toy with his victims before he killed them, whether they were male or female.He had not done so on Chloe, but on other planets that he had successfully conquered, he had raped and molested his female victims before killing them and their people.He was near the top of the Intergalacticpol's"Most Wanted" List, and his crime record was nearly as long as those of Frieza and the Saiyans.He was well known the be one of the most vicious and powerful of all of Frieza's minions, but then Balair was a Top Elite officer, and Top Elite fighters were reputed to be the deadliest of Frieza's fighters, among the deadliest enemies in the universe.

Tayla knew from Bendros, who worked for Intergalacticpol off and on, that many Intergalacticpol officers would rather fight a Saiyan than one of Frieza's Top Elite.Just as the near-extinction of the Saiyan race had not necessarily relieved the minds of the Astorians, it had not relieved the minds of Intergalacticpol, who still had the strongest Saiyan warriors still alive and Frieza's minions to contend with.

She knew that while she was much stronger than she had been five years ago, the surviving Saiyans and Frieza's minions were also much stronger.Tayla had already wisely assessed that Balair greatly outmatched her in brute strength, but her speed far surpassed his.If she had to fight Balair, or any of the other Elite officers, she would, but Nama had cautioned her that if she was ever alone with any of them, to fight only long enough so that she could flee.

"Don't try to take any of them on by yourself," Shalila had warned her."Flee as quickly as you can until you find some people who can back you up."

Tayla was quick to heed her Nama's advice, so she continued to fly over the wilderness until she felt the ki signatures of Riccan, Arlon, Lukan, and the CRP officer that she and Riccan had rescued.They waved to her from the ground, and Tayla swiftly and gracefully landed among them on her feet in the wilderness.

"Balair's on his way!" she panted.

"He must be the one with that unusually strong ki we've been sensing," Arlon told her a bit nervously.

"Is this Balair as strong as they say he is?" Lukan inquired worriedly.

"Dirkan and Bajal says he's one the deadliest enemies that they ever had to fight," Arlon told him.He briefly explained some of Balair's most heinous crimes, and Lukan was stunned.

"He's stronger than a Saiyan!" Lukan declared."He sounds like he is anyway, even stronger than Prince Vegeta himself."

"We can take him!" Riccan boasted."Astorians are the strongest people in the whole galaxy!"

"Slow down, Riccan," Arlon told his excited, eager nephew."It's not going to be easy to defeat these creatures as you think."

"Still," Riccan asserted, "I can't wait to fight for real!'

Lukan and Arlon both sighed; Riccan was strong and powerful for his age, but inexperienced in warfare.Lukan privately agreed with Gracina that he was too young to be fighting.The CRP officer looked at Riccan and shook his head sadly, tears running down his face.

"I wish I had your faith, young one," the officer said sadly.

"We'll make that ol' ugly Balair pay for killing your people!" Riccan promised him, raising seven fingers to swear Seven Moons Oath before Tayla caught his hand.

"It's not good to swear Seven Moons Oath on things that you cannot fully control," she told him.

The CRP officer turned to Arlon and Lukan, with one faded green eye on Tayla and Riccan."Are you sure that your leaders know what they are doing in letting two young children like these two fight, particularly the girl?Girls don't need to be fighting."

"It's our battle as well as theirs," Tayla told him stubbornly.

"And Tayla's being a girl has nothing to do with her abilities," Lukan defended her."Why without her, we would not be here now.Five years ago, she was one of the main heroes, saving Astoria from three Saiyan boys, the most powerful Saiyans that we had ever met."

"You fought against Saiyans, child?" the CRP officer said to Tayla, looking at her with slow, new respect.

Tayla nodded briefly; she was not one to brag much about her victories.But that didn't stop Riccan from wanting to boast about his powerful little aunt.

"She whooped Prince Vegeta single-handedly!Why she used a big, powerful Mirror Shield attack 'gainst Vegeta, they said, and then---why is that air over there red and hazy?"He saw a cloud of red mist carrying a suit of armor.

The CRP officer's green eyes widened in fear."It's him-no, not him!He vaporized himself and made my comrades self-destruct!"

"Balair," Tayla whispered in a mixture of fear and awe.

Balair solidified himself into solid form inside his armor.His evil, sharp-toothed grin was the most fearsome thing that Tayla and the others had ever seen."So we meet again, little girl, and I see you have company!" Balair purred.

Arlon, Lukan, Tayla, and Riccan pulled out their swords, although it probably would not do them much good against someone who could vaporize and liquefy himself at the same time.The CRP officer trembled, pulling out his laser gun and praying to the deity of Calmag that the Astorians would be able to fend Balair off.

Balair started to vaporize himself again, but before he could finish, Tayla and Lukan flung themselves at him, throwing punches and sword swings.They could not touch him much, for Balair was able to vaporize whatever part of himself that was targeted for attack.Balair shoved Tayla away from him with one powerful punch, nearly flinging her into a tree.Her sword fell out of her hand.He then seized Lukan's throat with his meaty fist and began to strangle him, while his lower body beneath his waist remained a cloud of gas, so that Lukan could not kick him.His free hand snatched Lukan's sword away from him, and he flung the weapon into a tree.

Arlon and Riccan charged at Balair next, but Balair shot powerful bolts of pink light from his thickfree hand at them, knocking them onto their knees.He continued to shoot powerful ki blasts at Arlon and Riccan, and neither one could use Mirror Shield to deflect them because doing so would harm Lukan as well as Balair.The Sistrai warrior continued to choke Lukan, and Lukan was gasping for air.

"And now your demise," Balair told him silkily, as the body above his waist slowly began to vaporize.He planned to enter Lukan's nostrils and lungs and force him to self-destruct.

"Any last words," Balair hissed in a purring note, as his body faded into gas."Say good-bye, rabbit---OW!---what the hell was that?"

"OW!" he shouted again, as another hard punch hit him in his upper ribs before he had a chance to vaporize them.A third punch that was meant for his ribs hit his arms with the force of a stone column ramming into his limb.Balair shrieked with horror, as he heard a bone break.His body instantly and quickly solidified itself until it was solid, not gas.

"NO!" he cried.He tried desperately to vaporize himself again, but he couldn't, for his main line of defense had been shut down.He struggled now to liquefy himself, but he couldn't do that either.He turned his head to the causer of his agony.

"You little whore!" he roared."Do you realize what you've done?I can't vaporize or liquefy myself now!You broke my arm, slut, and you'll pay for that!"

Tayla, who had delivered the hard punches, had managed to pick herself up and attack Balair.She did not know exactly what she had done that stopped Balair from vaporizing, but she guessed that breaking his arm had something to do with it.Balair threw Lukan away from him, and he clutched at his broken arm, crying in agony, not from the pain, but from the humiliation that his fighting ability had been lessened.

Balair released his broken arm and charged after Tayla, but before he could succeed in reaching her, Arlon wrapped a Rings of Saturn Scarf around his body and began to drain his energy.Tayla quickly ran to Lukan and carried her injured brother away from Balair.Tayla flew away from the Sistrai warrior with Lukan in her arms.Balair was fighting furiously against the energy scarf that Arlon had around him, but the more he fought, the faster his ki drained.

Tayla and the others watched in astonishment.She looked down at Lukan in her arms and whispered, "Are you okay?"

Lukan nodded weakly and gave her a faded grin.

"Thanks," he whispered hoarsely, and he closed his eyes for a few minutes.

Arlon continued to drain Balair's ki as steadily as he could; he was a bit nervous, for it was the first time he had ever used a Rings of Saturn Scarf outside of training.Arlon was doing well however, and the others were able to draw a few breaths of relief.

That is until ten little green Saibamen came jumping down upon them from the trees.Tayla dragged Lukan to his feet, and Riccan ran to retrieve both of their swords.The CRP officer fired at a few of the Saibamen, blasting their heads off with his laser gun.Tayla, Lukan, and Riccan crowded around Arlon to guard him against the Saibamen; Arlon had to finish draining Balair's ki.

There were seven Saibamen left, and all three Astorian fighters were shocked, for they had never seen them before.Riccan charged at one of them, kicking and punching the creature before electrocuting him to death.Riccan kicked the dying Saibaman away from him before the green monster exploded into sloppy fragments.

Tayla beheaded two of them with her sword before they had a chance to jump on her and Lukan, and Lukan blasted another couple of them with a quick ki blast until they exploded.But they weren't able to stop one of the remaining Saibamen from leaping onto Arlon while they were distracted.The Saibamen punched Arlon in the back of his head in two quick punches, and that ended Arlon's Rings of Saturn scarf attack, giving Balair back the energy that Arlon had stolen.

"Thanks, little green man!" Balair cried happily.He still could not vaporize or liquefy himself, but he could still destroy the Astorian fighters now that he had his ki back.

Riccan angrily sliced the Saibamen that was on Arlon's back in half before the cretin had a chance to self-destruct.The halved monster fell off of Arlon with a sickening splat.Balair took that opportunity to fly at Arlon and punch him in his jaw, breaking it.Arlon fell down backwards, but he managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground.He quickly drew his sword from its sheath, and he swung it at Balair, but Balair caught the blade of Arlon's sword in his thick, impenetrable hand.The sword barely cut through the flesh of his meaty appendage.He took Arlon's sword from him in one quick yank and punched the Astorian prince hard in his stomach with his free hand.Balair threw Arlon's sword from him like a javelin, for he did not need it.

Lukan tried to attack Balair from behind with his sword, but Balair heard him coming, and he ducked before Lukan's sword could behead him.He turned sideways away from Arlon, and he rammed his large left fist into Lukan's stomach, causing Lukan to spit out blood.Balair then used a medium-sized ki blast to blow away Lukan a good ten miles away from him.The others screamed when they saw Lukan blown away.

The CRP officer charged at Balair with his fists, and Riccan and Tayla dashed at Balair with their swords away, but Balair used a special ki attack on the CRP officer, who was assaulting him from the right.This ki attack, which he had developed recently, was called Fire Flare.Fire Flare consisted of Balair shooting a fine stream of orange ki from his hand, and this stream would spiral around the victim's body like a snake.The stream of energy would transform into a conical, cyclone-like shape, and the victim inside the cyclone would began to burn and melt away in a hot temperature at one-hundred times his or her normal body temperature.When the attack was complete, the victim would be no more than a pile of melted, molten ooze.The cyclone would be flashing a bright, hot light, too hot for anyone to come to the victim's aid.Balair didn't have to do anything else, but stand back and watch his victim perish.

The CRP officer screamed in terror, as Balair's cruel Fire Flare engulfed him.Balair laughed loudly at the CRP officer's horrific agony.Tayla and Riccan tried to run to him, but it was extremely hard for them to fight through the heat and blinding light.

"Help me!" the officer screamed, but those words would be his last.

Tayla and Riccan could not reach the helpless officer in time, and when the attack was completed, the CRP officer was a pile of blackened ooze and roasted flesh.

Riccan screamed in horror, clinging to Tayla, who clung to him as well.Tayla kept her hand over her mouth, trying not to scream, as the tears slid down her cheeks.Nothing at Kami Orchida's had prepared her for this.Orchida had taught her many new attacks and how to fend off or reverse some of the attacks of Frieza's Elite fighters.No one had told her about Balair's new technique.

She and Riccan held on to each other, shaking in horror, for it was the first time they had ever seen anyone die.Riccan was trying not to cry, but a few tears slipped before he could stop them.He was only nine years old, fighting in his first war, and it was the first time he ever saw someone perish.The little Astorian warrior prince had now just learned the ugly side of battle---imminent death.

Tayla was equally horrified and shocked; she knew that she would see people die, but she had never truly realized the full extent of what war really was about-killing or be killed.She and Riccan were now frozen in shock and terror, as they embraced each other for dear life.

"He-he's dead," Riccan cried hoarsely, his body still violently shaking.

"If it's any comfort, little boy, you and your girlfriend will soon be joining him," Balair cooed, as he prepared to launch another Fire Flare.Before he could do so, however, Arlon leapt up from the ground and threw himself at Balair's midsection.He landed a hard punch in Balair's crotch at the same time, and Balair was forced to divert his attention on his assailant.Balair and Arlon began to wrestle each other on the ground, punching hard and kicking whenever possible.

Finally Balair chomped into Arlon's arm with his sharp, dagger-like teeth with the force of a steel trap.Arlon screamed in immense pain."NO!!"

Balair quickly sank his teeth into Arlon's midsection, and blue blood flowed into his mouth.He relished Arlon's screams, as he bit him again.Arlon tried vainly to electrocute him, but Balair had long since become immune to Electric Touch, and he didn't feel it.

Tayla recovered long enough to break from Riccan's embrace and seize her sword.She ran at Balair and Arlon in hopes of beheading Balair and saving Arlon.Balair used his powerful tail to push Tayla away from him, nearly knocking the girl down.Before she could fall, Tayla took the chance to cut off half of Balair's tail with her sword.The blade neatly sliced through the appendage, halving the tail.The chopped-off part fell into the soft dirt and coniferous tree needles with a soft thud.

Balair screamed, and he shoved Arlon off of him, throwing Arlon onto the ground five feet away.Arlon's head hit a petrified tree, knocking him unconscious.He looked at his halved tail in horror; how dare that little slut do that!Balair emitted a feral growl, and his ugly features twisted into a grotesque mask of pure malevolence.

"You'll die for that, whore!" he snarled, jumping up from the ground.Tayla stood up as bravely as she could, with her sword raised towards Balair.Balair raised his meaty fist, as he was unfazed by her sword.Tayla swung her sword at him, but Balair, who was a fast kicker despite his girth, rammed his large foot into Tayla's stomach.The pain was so intense now that Tayla was forced to drop her sword and pull away from Balair.Balair jumped onto the tiny girl and seized her, pushing both to them back onto the ground.Balair seized her throat in his fist, as he pinned her to the ground.He held her in a viselike grip, and he had been wise enough to grab her wrists and squeeze them.Tayla had metal cuffs on to protect her wrists, but the metal cuffs were being crushed like tinfoil in Balair's hands.She could feel the supposedly protective metal cut into her wrists.

"Any last words, wench?" he hissed.

Tayla spat in his face; it was the only thing she could do, and she was rewarded with Balair biting into her shoulder hard, hard enough to rip into muscle and bone.Tayla's screams echoed throughout the forest, and her cries of pain infuriated Balair, who bit her other shoulder to punish her.

"Stop!" she screamed."Someone help me!"

Riccan shook himself from his stance of fear, and he charged at Balair with his sword.Balair shouted angrily, "Step any closer, boy, and I'll bite her head off!And I will do it!"

Riccan was forced to stop, and he skidded to a halt inches away from Balair.He didn't doubt the Sistrai warrior's words for a minute.

"L-let her go!" Riccan cried in fear and anger."You'll pay, if you hurt her!My Great-Nama and Dirkan will stop you!"

"They're not here now, are they?" Balair sneered, as he bit Tayla's shoulder hard again, forcing her to emit a piercing scream that hurt his ears.

Arlon scuttled to his feet, just reviving, but he could barely stand up for too long.He began to creep up behind Balair and Tayla, but Balair heard him rise."Stay where you are, or I'll rip out her face with my teeth and bite her head off!"

"Let her go, you bastard!" Arlon hissed, but he stayed where he was.He then gathered what courage he did have left, and he yelled, "Why don't you release her and fight me like a man?"

Balair laughed."You're not worth wasting my time anymore!"

"You coward!Let her go and fight me!" Arlon roared.

Before Balair could accept or refuse Arlon's challenge, a strong ki blast coming out of nowhere shot into Balair's side, pushing the Sistrai warrior off of Tayla with the force of a tidal wave.Balair's back crashed into a thick tree.Tayla wasted no time in scurrying to her feet, and Riccan joined her, as they fled Balair's presence.They ran towards Arlon.Arlon and Riccan were horrified when they saw Tayla's deep gashes, which were oozing blue blood.Part of Tayla's shoulder had been broken, but she bravely tried to withstand the immense pain.Arlon examined her the best he could, although he was not a healior like she was.

"Thank Orchida," she whispered, panting and moaning at the same time.

"Actually, I'd like to thank whoever shot that monster off of you like that," Arlon said gratefully.

"Well then, you can thank me, although you won't be able to enjoy Tayla's company for long."

Arlon, Tayla, and Riccan turned to where the voice had come from.Arlon shook, and Tayla's brown eyes widened in fear and recognition.

Balair's eyes widened as well, and then they narrowed to thin slits, as he lay against the tree.He glared darkly at Tayla's rescuer.

"Vegeta!You son of a whore!How dare you?Whose side are you on?" he bellowed.

Vegeta stood in the wilderness near the melted corpse of the CRP officer and smiled evilly.

"My side, of course."


	58. Power Play

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Power Play  
  
Arlon muttered out loud, "Just what we needed; just when it seemed that things couldn't get any worse…"  
  
"I come along and save Tayla?" Vegeta finished with a smirk.  
  
Balair's eyes widened. He looked long and hard at Tayla; it was as if he was seeing her for the first time. "That girl is Princess Tayla?"  
  
Vegeta chuckled. "That's right, you fool! And while I have to thank you for slowing her down for me, I'm afraid I can't let you keep her." He looked towards Tayla, who couldn't keep her eyes off of her archenemy. He grinned wickedly at his prey. "Nice to meet you again, Tayla; my, my, how have you grown-which isn't much. You haven't changed that much, princess. I recognized you from the moment I saw you. You owe your life to me now, but your surrender to me will do." He decided not to use his ki-restraining cuffing gun just yet.  
  
"A Princess of Chloe never surrenders!" Tayla declared, recovering some of her spirit.  
  
"Neither do Princes of Chloe!" Arlon added.  
  
"That's right!" Riccan boasted. "And don't forget what Tayla did to you the last time!"  
  
Vegeta smiled cruelly at the boy. "I haven't forgotten; in fact I owe her for the increased strength I have gained. Every time a Saiyan recovers from a near-fatal injury, he or she becomes stronger. Tayla should have killed me five years ago, but she didn't, and that was a sad mistake on her part. However, I am much stronger now; my strength is now fivefold what it was five years ago."   
  
He looked towards Tayla now. "Don't worry, little princess, I am not going to hurt you like Balair would have. You will come with me to Frieza immediately."  
  
Tayla gathered together her courage. "Not on your life!"  
  
Vegeta chuckled. "I see that we will have to fight again before you surrender. I'd think about that carefully, Tayla; from the injuries that Balair has just given you, you don't look like you're in much condition to defend yourself. Surrender to me now, and I promise I won't add to your injuries."  
  
Tayla posed into a fighting stance, and Arlon and Riccan gathered around her.  
  
"Tayla's not going anywhere with you!" a voice cried from behind them.  
  
Lukan had returned; he had a twisted arm now and a broken jaw, but he was determined to stay and fight. Arlon grinned slowly at his favorite brother, and Riccan straightened himself up to his full height.  
  
"You heard him!" Arlon added to Lukan's cry.  
  
"Another walking wounded," Vegeta said smoothly, with his cruel smirk. "You three boys may as well give it up; I don't consider any of you three fools worth my time." He turned his gaze to Balair, who was still lying on the ground. "I will have to give you all credit for disabling Balair temporarily; I don't think he can even vaporize or liquefy himself now, can you, Balair?"  
  
Balair didn't answer, but the fatal glare he shot at Vegeta told the Saiyan prince all that he needed to know.  
  
"Who broke your bones, so that you couldn't vaporize or liquefy yourself, Balair?" Vegeta asked with a snicker.  
  
Tayla now understood why Balair had quit vaporizing himself; she must have broken a bone or two of his somewhere.  
  
"Thanks for giving my secret, monkey prince!" Balair hissed. After he spoke a surviving Saibamen jumped out of the trees down onto him. Balair flung the Saibamen at the Astorian fighters with his good arm. Tayla quickly blasted it into green pieces.  
  
"Practicing for the real thing, Tayla?" Vegeta asked.  
  
Tayla gave him what she thought was her most fatal, warning look. "Leave us alone and go away," she said evenly, even though she knew that he would not listen.  
  
Vegeta merely laughed. He looked at the three boys with Tayla. "Do you little boys plan on defending her?"  
  
"Of course we do!" Lukan cried vociferously.  
  
Riccan found his sword and scuttled back to the others with it. He pointed it towards Vegeta and shouted, "We're not afraid of any Saiyan!"  
  
Vegeta cast Riccan a contemptuous look. "A little boy challenging me? You're not even worth my bother!"  
  
"Tayla and Riccan, you two stay here," Arlon ordered his sister and his nephew. "Lukan and I will handle him." The boys charged at Vegeta.  
  
Vegeta yawned, bored. He flew at Arlon and Lukan and punched them both in their faces with his fists. Lukan recovered long enough to punch Vegeta's abdomen with his fist, but the Saiyan prince kicked him hard in his crotch. He kept up his punches against Lukan, hitting him in his most vulnerable areas. Arlon dashed at Vegeta, but Vegeta easily kicked him in his nose at the same time he punched Lukan in his shoulder.  
  
Balair rose from the ground as the fray between Vegeta, Lukan, and Arlon continued. He flew over towards Tayla and Riccan, intending to snatch Tayla and take her away while Vegeta was occupied. Riccan attempted to throw a Rings of Saturn Scarf on him, but Balair dodged it and continued his quest to capture Tayla once again.  
  
Tayla and Riccan jumped out of Balair's path; the bites on her body slowing Tayla down a bit. When Tayla saw Balair coming after her again, she pushed Riccan to the ground and told him to stay there until she was finished.  
  
"Finished with what?" Riccan wanted to know?  
  
"You'll see," Tayla told him. "I just hope this will work."  
  
Tayla rose into the air until she was a good distance above Balair. Balair flew into the air after her, and that was when Tayla stopped and put her hands together in a praying position. She took a few precious seconds to gather more energy, as she pulled her praying hands back against her chest with her elbows sticking outward. Quickly, she tore her hands apart from each other until her palms were exposed away from her. She held her hands at a ninety-degree angle, threw them back again in that same position, and then she shot two silvery-blue bolts of light out of her palms. The bolts of light zoomed towards Balair, creating a sharp whistling sound in the air. One bolt of ki shot towards Balair's upper chest, but the other bolt flew past him. Then the ki stream that flew away turned around a few feet behind Balair and shot into his back with lightning speed. The first ki blast shot into Balair's chest at the same time that the second ki blast shot him in behind. Both the ki bolts shot through Balair's sternum and spine and rammed into each other inside his body. Balair screamed, as strong currents of voltage emitted from the ki blasts, shocking him; this electric attack was much stronger than Electric Touch. Balair was slowly frying in mid-air, as electric currents danced around his body.  
  
Tayla was relieved that her new attack was working (Kami Orchida taught her that one, calling it Double Janus Bolt. [Janus means looking both ways ahead and behind]). She then took that opportunity to launch her next attack in the air. She moved her wrists to the right side next to her head and crossed them in an X position with palms facing away from her in clamshell positions. She drew her palms and wrists back, quickly gathered more ki and shouted,  
  
"BLITZER!"   
  
A mighty blast of bluish-white ki burst forth from both of her hands, two smaller blasts combining into one large one before the bolt left he hands. The ki blast collided into Balair before he had a chance to fight it off, and it knocked him out of the air, forcing him to crash into a nearby meadow that was covered with many large boulders. Balair's body hit one of the boulders, and it nearly killed him. Balair was now lying on the meadow ground in front of the boulder that he had smashed into. He just lay there, dazed.  
  
"How, how did she defeat me?" he choked out loud. She was just a little girl, an Astorie, a rabbit, a brat. How did she do that? How did she win over him?  
  
Balair closed his eyes for a few moments, pondering what to do next.  
  
  
Meanwhile, Vegeta was still fighting Arlon and Lukan; Vegeta finally managed to punch Lukan hard enough to knock him into several trees, causing them to topple over. It was just Arlon and Vegeta now, and Arlon was now beginning to tired; it was getting harder and harder for him to keep up with Vegeta, who showed no signs at all of wear. Vegeta crashed his fist into Arlon's ribs, breaking several of them. Vegeta then delivered a roundhouse kick into Arlon's cheek, and Arlon fell down to the ground from the impact. Vegeta flew into the air and raised his right hand at a ninety-degree angle, preparing to use Big Bang on him.   
  
Lukan managed to pick himself up and fly into the air, hoping to stop Vegeta.  
  
"BIG BANG!" Vegeta screamed, as he shot one of the Saiyan trademark attacks at Arlon. He missed his mark however, for little Riccan swiftly pulled Arlon out of the path of the Big Bang attack. Riccan flew away into the air with Arlon in his arms, and they joined Tayla and Lukan in the air. Vegeta's ki blast smashed into the soil, creating a crater and burning away most of the wilderness. The Astorian fighters looked on with amazement.  
  
"Incredible!" Lukan gasped; he had not seen Tayla blow away Balair into the nearest meadow, for he had been too busy fighting Vegeta.  
  
"You should have seen what Tayla did to Balair!" Riccan boasted. "She blasted him away with some strange attack. What do you call those two attacks that you did, Tayla?"  
  
Tayla panted, "The first one was called Double Janus Bolt, and the second one was called Blitzer, one of the most powerful new ki attacks that I have. Kami Orchida taught me those."  
  
"Amazing!" Arlon gasped. "So now Balair's been put of out of commission?"  
  
"I hope he's been put out of this dimension," Lukan declared. "I never thought he'd be as tough as Vegeta, if not tougher."  
  
Those would be Lukan's last words, for at that moment, a streak of ki shot from the ground and hit Lukan in his back. Lukan screamed before his body crystallized into a diamond statue. The statue that had once been Lukan swiftly crashed to the ground hard.  
  
"LUKAN!" everyone shouted in horror, as the statue fell down in front of his assailant, the beautiful Diamonique.  
  
Vegeta glared at her. "What are you doing here?" he sneered.  
  
Diamonique smiled devilishly. "I just wanted to know who nearly blasted Balair into the next dimension, that's all. I take that it wasn't that boy I just crystallized."  
  
"It must have been Tayla, probably," Vegeta told her stonily. "Thank you, woman, but you are no longer needed here. Go away and let me finish my battle. I intend to take Tayla back with me, and you will not intervene."  
  
Diamonique looked up into the sky at the three horrified Astorians and then at Tayla. "That scrawny little brat is Princess Tayla?"  
  
"That's right, woman," Vegeta told her smoothly, "and don't think that you are taking her with you either. She's mine."  
  
"In your dreams, monkey prince," Diamonique said with an unladylike snort. "I'm collecting that reward, and now I will get Tayla."  
  
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. "I have no time for you, woman. I am going after her; now give it up and go away!" He soared into the air after Tayla, but the Gemstarian woman blocked his path.  
  
"She's mine, boy," Diamonique told him icily.  
  
"Don't make me blast you, woman! Just because I enjoyed the pleasures of your flesh doesn't mean that I won't hesitate to give you what you deserve!" Vegeta hissed. "You weren't that great in bed to begin with!"  
  
"Oh, please!" Diamonique sneered. "You didn't even know where to put it before I taught you! Anything that you know about sex, Vegeta, you learned from me! I initiated you, taught you every thing that you needed to know! No woman that you have after me will even compare!"  
  
"Don't be so certain," Vegeta told her with a nasty smile. "I intend to try the Ginyu Girls once I bring Tayla to Lord Frieza; I have heard that their charms in bed greatly exceed yours! Nappa and the Ginyu Force should know that!"  
  
"Good luck," Diamonique jeered. "That is, if you can get any of them to even touch you! I can't imagine anyone else wanting to sleep with you besides me, and you don't even interest me anymore!"  
  
Vegeta snorted. "Fine then; you are no loss to me, woman! I used you, and now I'm done with you!"  
  
"Well, I used you too! You satisfied me, Vegeta, but now it's on to bigger and better things!" Diamonique retorted. "And when I mean bigger things, I mean the things between a man's legs! Your tail in front doesn't even compare to the length and girth of the tail in behind!"  
  
Arlon laughed before he could stop himself, and Tayla cuffed him hard. "Arlon, you ought to be ashamed of yourself! She just turned Lukan into a giant diamond!" she screamed angrily.  
  
Arlon sobered immediately, and then the full realization of what happened to his brother and best friend. His body shook, and deep regret and shame filled him. "Lukan," he whispered hoarsely.  
  
"Is he dead?" Riccan asked tearfully, as Diamonique and Vegeta continued their verbal assaults against each other. The language between them now was nasty and crude, with words and sexual innuendoes that made Riccan and Tayla blush against their wills.  
  
Tayla whispered quietly, "No, he's not, Riccan, just frozen into a diamond. Toria taught me how to reverse the spell on anyone affected by that attack. Gemstarians use that attack all the time, but it doesn't kill the victims."  
  
"You know sorcery now?" Arlon asked, astonished.  
  
"Some of it," Tayla told him. "Toria told me not to reveal anything that I learned at Kami Orchida's until she said so. I'm finally allowed to reveal what I learned there."  
  
"We've got to get Lukan out of here," Arlon told her.  
  
"I've got an idea," Tayla told him and Riccan. She whispered it to both of them, and Arlon said, "Sounds like a plan to me."  
  
Diamonique decided to end her verbal spat with Vegeta, and she left him abruptly to go after Tayla. She was in front of Tayla before Tayla knew it. Tayla smiled at her as confidently as she could, for she knew that Diamonique would come.  
  
"You've come to take me away, haven't you?" she asked calmly.  
  
Diamonique smiled cruelly. "That I have, brat. And if you come along with me quietly, I'll promise not to hurt you or your boyfriends."  
  
"They're not my boyfriends," Tayla told her evenly, with less of her smile than before.  
  
Vegeta flew up behind Diamonique. "Out of my way, woman!" he ordered his former lover. He shoved himself between her and Tayla. "Alright, brat, the party's over!"  
  
Riccan took that opportunity to fly away from the group. He found Lukan's body and gathered the heavy diamond statue in his small arms. Quickly as possible, he flew away with Lukan, out of sight.  
  
"Come back here!" Diamonique ordered him angrily.  
  
"Leave them be, stupid woman!" Vegeta commanded. "Who cares about them anyway? You can worry about petty problems like them if you want to, but I am going after the prize."  
  
"No, you're not!" Diamonique declared furiously.  
  
"Yes I am, idiotic woman!" Vegeta snapped. "Now move away, so I can capture Tayla without your old body in my way!"  
  
"You shouldn't let him talk to you that way, misselle (miss in Astorian)!" Tayla told Diamonique.  
  
"What?" Diamonique exclaimed.  
  
"He was your beau, wasn't he?" Tayla said in a sympathetic tone. "And I bet that he broke your heart, didn't he?"  
  
"He broke nothing but my ego!" Diamonique cried, but her eyes were now desperate, and a little bit hurt. "I wanted him for my mate, and the fool turned me down! He used me!"  
  
Tayla shook her head pityingly, playing the perfect part of a compassionate confidante. "Just like a Saiyan, always using people and throwing them away! You deserve much better than him, misselle. And you shouldn't let talk to you the way he has been doing. The only reason he talks to you like that is because he knows that he's not worthy to even look upon someone as beautiful as you."  
  
"Now see here, brat-" Vegeta began.  
  
Diamonique smiled. "She's right, you know, monkey boy!"  
  
"He's not worthy?" Arlon asked Tayla. "Vegeta is a Prince, and I am sure that this woman is nothing compared to him. She should be groveling before him, kissing his feet, for he is on his way to becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe."  
  
"That's right!" Vegeta agreed happily. "I am glad that a mere Astorian like yourself can recognize my true worth."  
  
"What worth?" Tayla said with an unladylike-Gracina-wouldn't-approve-of-it snort. "Misselle, don't worry about Vegeta. I'm sure his power doesn't even compare to yours!"  
  
Diamonique smiled benevolently at Tayla. "I like you already, Princess. You and I will get along just fine, especially since you seem to understand how wonderful I truly am! I will ask Lord Frieza to let me train you myself. There are many things that I could teach you, Princess Tayla, especially about handling men like monkey prince here-"  
  
"Call me monkey prince one more time, woman, and I will blast you into the next dimension!" Vegeta roared.  
  
"You tell her, Vegeta!" Arlon cheered. "She shouldn't talk to someone as important as you are that way! She's just a woman!"  
  
"How dare you?" Diamonique hissed at Arlon. "Women are smarter and more powerful than men; any fool can see that! You and Vegeta are just as chauvinistic as Balair! You and Balair ought to meet, Astorie; you both would get along great!"  
  
"Prince Vegeta, are you going to let her put you down like that?" Arlon asked.  
  
"Diamonique, Vegeta threatened to kill you," Tayla told her boldly. "He shouldn't have done that! He shouldn't have threatened to harm you, even if you two are no longer a couple!"  
  
"I agree," Diamonique told her sweetly. She turned back to Vegeta and said icily, "Don't ever threaten me again."  
  
"I'll threaten who I please, woman! I am the Prince of All-"  
  
"Monkeys?" Diamonique finished slyly.  
  
Vegeta's face became ugly then, and his black eyes narrowed. "Don't ever call me monkey again," he said in a deadly voice.  
  
"Tell her, Vegeta; she has no business talking to you like that!" Arlon crowed. "You are the greatest fighter than I know of; why you were even able to defeat me! Show her who is boss! Show her who is the greatest!"  
  
"Myself," Vegeta said proudly.  
  
"Dream on, Princeling," Diamonique told him sharply, using the other insult that Vegeta hated besides "monkey".  
  
"Quiet, woman!" Vegeta snapped. "Do not ever call me Princeling or monkey!"  
  
"I'll call you whatever I please!"  
  
"I ought to blast you into the next dimension!"  
  
"Do it, Vegeta!" Arlon encouraged him. "Don't let her take Tayla! After all, you went through all this trouble to get to her!"  
  
"Diamonique, help me, please," Tayla said in a plaintive voice. "I would much rather go with you than him. You deserve whatever reward Frieza will give you for me. Don't let Vegeta take me away."  
  
"I promise you that I won't, Princess," Diamonique told her smoothly. She pushed past Vegeta, but Vegeta caught her arm and held onto it.  
  
"She's mine, Diamonique, back off," Vegeta ordered.  
  
"Are you going to let him stop you?" Tayla asked. "Diamonique, if that is your name, I would rather go to Frieza with another female. I fear what Vegeta could do to me."  
  
"Vegeta, if you want my sister, you are going to have to get Diamonique out of the way," Arlon told him. "I know that I can't stop you from taking her, but don't let Diamonique win! You have fought us for her, and she should be yours to take, not hers."  
  
"Shut up, rabbit!" Diamonique snapped at him. She said to Vegeta icily. "Let me go!"  
  
"Not until you agree to leave and let me take Tayla," Vegeta told her.  
  
"She's mine, monkey!"  
  
"Tell him, Diamonique! Please help me! I have seen your great power!" Tayla declared. "I want to learn from you and train under you; don't let Vegeta spoil it for the both of us. He's nothing compared to you!"  
  
"Shut up, brat!" Vegeta ordered her. "You are coming with me now! Let's go!" He shoved Diamonique from him and leapt at Tayla, but Diamonique kicked him in his ribs. Vegeta flung her from him.  
  
"Help me, Diamonique!" Tayla pleaded.  
  
"Don't let that woman get my sister!" Arlon told Vegeta.  
  
Diamonique tried to punch Vegeta, but Vegeta heard her fist swing in the air, and he turned around and caught it quickly. He seized Diamonique's waist with one arm, and he pulled her fighting arm behind her back. He then used his left leg to wrap around Diamonique's left leg and restrain her.  
  
"The girl is mine," Vegeta told her harshly. Diamonique then used her right foot to kick Vegeta hard in his shin, and the attack surprised Vegeta enough to release her. She then tried to freeze Vegeta's heart, but Vegeta deflected her ki blast away from him with one hand. Diamonique then threw herself at Vegeta with her fists, but Vegeta shoved her away from him. He then seized Diamonique's neck with his left arm and forced her into a headlock. The Gemstarian warrior struggled and kicked at her captor, trying to break free of the headlock. Diamonique then raked her nails across Vegeta's leg with the sharpness of a cat with steel claws. Vegeta howled with pain, and he abruptly shoved Diamonique away from him again. She then jumped onto his back and hooked her arms under his arms, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to restrain him. Vegeta kicked at Diamonique's shins, but she held onto him firmly. Vegeta struggled against her tight, viselike grip.  
  
"What do you have to say now, monkey prince?" Diamonique asked coolly, as she held him under his arms.  
  
"Woman, I am warning you; release me at once, or I will have to really hurt you!" Vegeta threatened.  
  
"Do not ever refer to me as merely 'woman', boy!" Diamonique snapped. "Tayla Chloe is mine, and you are not going to take her! You had your chance five years ago, and you blew it! Now it is my turn!"  
  
Vegeta gathered all of his strength together, and he finally wrestled his way out of Diamonique's seemingly impenetrable grip. He pushed away from her, looking for Tayla, and then his fury increased.  
  
He had a good reason to be upset.  
  
Tayla was gone, and so was her brother.  
  
"Curses!" Vegeta roared. "The brat and her brother escaped!"  
  
Diamonique looked around the sky, and she too saw no sign of Tayla or Arlon. She turned on her scouter, but it did register any kis other than her ki and Vegeta's.  
  
"We are among Frieza's best warriors!" Vegeta snarled. "How did a brat and her weakling brother outwit us?"  
  
The Gemstarian warrior clenched her fists, with the diamond nails digging deep into her soft, firm peaches-and-ice flesh. Realization hit her, and it angered her. "They tricked us! They played us against each other! They wanted us to fight each other! That cursed brat and her brother outsmarted us!"  
  
"I am the Prince of All Saiyans, the greatest warrior of my line and my people!" Vegeta growled. "And I allowed a brat to trick me! How could I have been so stupid?"  
  
"And I am Lady Diamonique of the Diamondian tribe; niece of the King of Gemstar! I am one of the smartest and most beautiful of all the women in my tribe, and an Astorie brat and her brother outsmart me! We fell right into their trap! They escaped while we were fighting each other! Lord Frieza's going to have a conniption! I'm glad not to be within his vicinity at the moment!"  
  
Vegeta didn't say so, but he agreed with her. He would never admit to it under slow torture, but even he did not like to set off Frieza's ire anymore than necessary. There would come a day when not even Frieza's wrath would be enough to save him from Vegeta, but that day was far away. Until then, Vegeta would have to tolerate Frieza's authority-and occasional abuse and insults.  
  
"That brat won't outsmart me again!" Vegeta declared determinedly. "She and that weakling brother of hers couldn't have gone very far, even if Astorians are fast! I will have her yet!" Vegeta pushed past Diamonique and began to zoom away.  
  
"Not if I don't beat you to her first," Diamonique insisted, but then she grew thoughtful. "Wait, Vegeta!" she called.  
  
Vegeta grudgingly stopped and turned around. "What do you want now, woman?"  
  
Diamonique smiled wickedly. "Perhaps we should look for her and capture her together."  
  
"Forget it; I can find her myself!"  
  
"Oh, c'mon, Vegeta!" Diamonique cooed. "That brat is too much for the two of us to handle alone. If you help me catch her, I'll spilt the reward with you!" She put a charming pout on her face, a trick that had worked with Vegeta several times before.  
  
But it didn't work this time. Vegeta was through with his ex-lover, and he wanted the reward for Tayla to himself. He snorted contemptuously and said, "I need no one's help!" He sped away from her before she could speak another word. The Gemstarian warrior was furious.  
  
"Monkey Princeling! Bastard! You will pay for that!" Diamonique screamed. "You'll be sorry, Princeling! Don't be surprised if I find the brat and keep the reward to myself! No one crosses or refuses me and gets away with it!"  
  
Vegeta didn't hear her, and even if he had, it would have made no difference to him.  
  
  



	59. Old Enemies, Same Problems

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Old Enemies, Same Problems  
  
"Nice meeting you again, Superior Gran."  
  
Shalila glared boldly at the dark blue alligator woman that she had fought many, many years ago. She sensed that the reptilian creature had increased in strength, but then so had she. Only the strange cat girl with red and green hair accompanied the alligator creature. Shalila had felt Jaden's ki nearby, and knowing that she could not easily escape Jaden and her friend without a fight, decided vainly to try to reason with the Rybanese warrior. The three fighters were now alone in a deserted part of Magan.  
  
"Jaden," Shalila said quietly. "Why must you continue your evil? I know that you and your friend-Chestra?-helped the surviving Meatians to escape to freedom. And I am certain in my heart that you two have not harmed my great-granddaughter, Petalia, or Princess Caline of Calmag-"  
  
"Superior Gran Shalila," Jaden interrupted sternly, "Princess Petalia and Princess Caline have been released. They should be somewhere in this city. I suggest you worry about finding them instead of facing off against us. We have more important matters to attend to. Don't think that we won't hesitate to kill you, if you get in our way."  
  
"Listen to reason for once!" Shalila cried in vain. "You cannot be as nefarious as you think yourself to be, if you have spared the lives of others. We have done you no harm except in defending ourselves, which is our moral right. We Astorians just wish to live in peace---"  
  
"And destroy Lord Frieza?" Chestra asked her calmly, evenly.  
  
"Frieza has tried time and time again to harm my people. You would behave the same way towards him, if you were in our position," Shalila pointed out to her. "Frieza has enough powerful fighters working for him; why add my innocent granddaughter to his forces? She is only a child, a good child, a strong child with the potential to do much good for others-"  
  
"Which is exactly why Lord Frieza wants her," Jaden told her uncompromisingly, her facial features hard and cold. "He knows of your granddaughter, Tayla Chloe's great power, Superior Gran, and that's why he wants her. We do not plan to harm the girl; we are merely following orders. Lord Frieza himself does not intend to harm her; he thinks that she has the potential to become one of his Elite fighters. If she does well, she will be treated well, not much differently than she would be on your home planet."  
  
"And if she doesn't?" Shalila asked sternly.  
  
"You know the consequences, as well as we do," Chestra answered her.  
  
"Jaden and Chestra, if that is your name," Shalila retained her steely tone. "I do not want to have to kill either one of you unless it's absolutely necessary, but I will not allow you to harm my people or the Calmagians any longer. And I will not allow you or any of your friends to take my granddaughter away from us. Her place is with our people, the Astorians and me. She will not work for Frieza, ever. If my people and I have to destroy every one of you to prevent that and any more death or destruction, then we will do so. I suggest that you both leave Calmag immediately. This is my one and final warning: leave Calmag now or perish."  
  
"And if we don't?" Jaden asked her, knowing the answer, but wanting Shalila to say it out loud.  
  
"In Chestra's words 'You know the consequences'," Shalila told her firmly.  
  
"All we want is Princess Tayla," Chestra said just as firmly. "Lord Frieza would prefer that we destroy all of you, but he will likely be satisfied with just Princess Tayla in his hands. Superior Gran, it will be much easier on you and your people, if you inform us of your granddaughter's whereabouts."  
  
"She is only one of your many grandchildren," Jaden added. "She can't be that valuable to your people. Your people won't miss her that much. Is it worth risking your life and the lives of your entire people for one little girl?"  
  
"I am her grandmother, and her family is here, and we fight to protect one another," Shalila said bravely, looking directly into Jaden's eyes with such a hard stare that made even the Rybanese woman wince. There were very few people outside of Frieza's Elite that could startle Jaden, and Shalila just happened to be one of them.  
  
"I love my granddaughter, and our family, the Clan of Chloe loves her. We will not allow anyone to take away or harm any of us, no matter who they are. If you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us, and the Clan of Chloe does not forgive outsiders who would dare to destroy us. And that doesn't just go for the Clan of Chloe; that goes for all Astorians."  
  
"Brave speech, Superior Gran," Jaden mocked. "I suggest now that you forget your noble intentions and tell us where Princess Tayla is, or else Chestra and I will destroy you."  
  
"You don't intimidate me, Jaden," Shalila countered. "I have stood up to and defeated those bigger and stronger than even you. Leave here now."  
  
"Chestra," Jaden told her friend, "show her exactly whom she is now dealing with."  
  
Chestra nodded affirmatively, and she walked over to Shalila gracefully and casually.  
  
"That's unusual of you, Jaden, to allow someone to fight for you," Shalila said.  
  
"She will intervene when she believes it is necessary," Chestra told her stiffly. "For now, this is my fight. You know Jaden's moves, I am sure, but you do not know mine, and that alone will throw you off guard."  
  
Shalila shot the younger fighter a confident look that said "you-don't-intimidate-me-either".  
  
Chestra cupped her small white hands after turning off her nerve endings, and she shot a black laser from her hands, which Shalila easily deflected with a small, one-handed Mirror Shield. Chestra and Jaden dodged the backfiring laser.  
  
"Very lucky, Superior Gran," Chestra told her calmly, "but that one was free."  
  
Shalila raised her sword and charged at the cat girl, but she suddenly stopped, as if paralyzed, which she almost was. Her hand that was holding her Sword of Chloe suddenly flew open against her will and dropped the sword unwillingly. Horrified, Shalila quickly leapt for her sword, and when she did, she felt herself pinned to the ground, held down by an unseen force.  
  
Shalila struggled against this invisible captor, as Jaden looked on with a satisfied smile. Chestra had her arms crossed, and she favored her opponent with a confident look.  
  
"I have superb telekinetic powers, Superior Gran Shalila," Chestra told her sweetly. "I am sure that you know that means that I can move objects or people with my mind, including you." She concentrated harder, and her mind's force pinned Shalila closer to the dirty ground. Shalila tried to rise, but she couldn't move.  
  
"Ready to surrender yet, Shalila?" Jaden asked her, through with formalities.  
  
"I…will…never…surrender!" Shalila choked out, with her red-gold head held to the ground.  
  
"It will be much easier on you, Shalila," Chestra told her evenly. "It would be a shame to kill a fighter that could provide us with a good challenge later. I am almost disappointed; I didn't expect you to be so easily taken."  
  
Shalila knew then she had to distract her. Surely not even Chestra could keep her mind on holding her down and something else of equal importance.  
  
She tried a different approach. "I have seen your power, Chestra. Mind if I asked you how you managed to obtain it?"  
  
"Well…" Chestra began slowly.  
  
"Chestra, don't listen to her," Jaden ordered, seeing Shalila's intentions instantly. "She is trying to distract you, so that you will lose your concentration. Keep your mind focused; we have her right where we want her. Surrender now, Shalila!"  
  
"What is so great about Frieza that you two would willingly fight and die for him?" Shalila asked gently. "I just want to know that much, Jaden."  
  
"He isn't that great as a person, but we have no choice," Jaden spat out. "He is powerful, and we follow power."  
  
"Haven't you once questioned why you follow such a demon? Haven't you ever wondered about the lives that you and your friend have taken? Of the worlds that you have destroyed or cleared?" Shalila continued to speak in order to distract Jaden and break Chestra's concentration.   
  
"We care nothing for the lives we take," Jaden told her coldly, but Shalila noticed a small catch in the Rybanese warrior's voice. Shalila tried to search Jaden's feelings, as she had been taught to do many years ago. She strongly suspected that Jaden didn't entirely relish the tasks that she was given to do, and she decided to press Jaden's uncertainty to her advantage.  
  
Jaden's scouter sensed the ki levels of several warriors nearby. She turned to Chestra, trying to block Shalila's attempts at getting her to see things her way from her mind. "Chestra, restrain Shalila until I get back. I have business to take care of. Do not kill her just yet, or allow anyone else to. And don't answer her back when she tries to speak to you."  
  
Chestra nodded briefly, trying to keep her focus on pinning Shalila to the ground telekinetically.  
  
Shalila struggled uselessly against Chestra's mind power; she had already sensed earlier that Chestra was not much stronger than she was, but Chestra had the power of telekinesis on her side, an ability that Shalila did not possess.  
  
She had to break that girl's concentration, but how?  
  
She was able to use telepathy occasionally, but because she was not as adept at it yet as Dirkan or the deities, such as Kami Orchida, she did not use it often except for emergency situations. She and Dirkan had just recently learned it from Kami Orchida. Dirkan had mastered it much more quickly than she had.  
  
She had to try, to practice.  
  
Dirkan, this is Shalila. Come quickly, love, I need your help! Jaden has a strange friend named Chestra who is holding me captive telekinetically. I cannot move at all…  
  
  
Dirkan had just finished blasting away at Nappa, who was now barely able to move. He had managed to catch the large Saiyan off guard several times to launch his new attack, the Tri-Force. Nappa was stronger, but then so was he. Nappa was currently disabled for the moment, unable to rise; his face was bloody and scratched.  
  
"Shalila?" Dirkan gasped, "hearing" his wife's cries of help.  
I'm coming, love, and hold on, he told her telepathically.   
  
Nappa managed to struggle to his feet, but Dirkan shot him down with the most powerful Tri-Force attack that he had, and Nappa was shoved into the ground, as the blast created a large crater.  
  
"We'll have to finish this some other time," he called to the giant Saiyan, whom he knew was still alive. "I've got other things to do."  
  
Dirkan was gone in a flash, and Nappa was lying face down in the mile-high crater, cursing loudly in Saiyan as best as he could. Prince Vegeta was going to have his tail when he discovered that his strongest bodyguard had been so easily defeated by a mere Namek.  
That is, if Vegeta let him live.  
  
  
Petalia was still flying in the air with Caline, and both girls were trying to dodge the various flying ki blasts as much as they could. Caline covered her face with her hands, and she instinctively curled her small body closer to Petalia's, as she clung to her Astorian friend.  
  
Finally Petalia was forced to stop and rest, and she took Caline to a nearby cave. Caline looked tremendously relieved.  
  
"We can hide in the underground labyrinths!" she told Petalia excitedly.  
  
"How do we get there?" Petalia asked.  
  
"In that cave that you are taking us to, there is an entrance to the underground labyrinths. There probably will be others hiding from the fighting. We should be safe there," Caline said breathlessly.  
  
Within minutes, Petalia and Caline had arrived at the cave. They scurried inside to hide until the war was over. Both girls nearly shrieked when they saw the burned, scorched corpses of a couple of dozen Calmagians lying in dead heaps around them-and a huge, red lizard-like warrior with sharp, shiny teeth and large yellow eyes.   
  
Petalia and Caline quickly hid behind some stalagmites that grew out of the cavern floor like thick weeds. Petalia quickly concealed her ki, but then remembered in horror that Caline did not know yet how to conceal hers. The Astorian princess started to tremble. Caline bit her lip to keep from crying; the Calmagian princess had not been this terrified since the last time that her deceased husband, Alberm, had raped her.  
  
  
Balair smirked with satisfaction, glancing at the dead Calmagians who had foolishly tried to outrun him. He had enjoyed using his Fire Flare on them, and he now knew about the labyrinths, and he had alerted the other minions, so that some of them could destroy the Calmagians hiding underground. He then noticed his scouter beeping; it had detected a much weaker ki.  
  
"Come out now, and I might spare you!" Balair commanded the ki's source (Caline). He shot several small ki blasts throughout the cavern, just enough not to bring the cavern down around him. He was angry still because he still could not vaporize or liquefy himself; curse that little Astorian brat, Tayla! It was taking forever for his bones to knit and mend.  
  
He roared out loud, as he flew around the cavern, "Curse you, Tayla; you better pray to your Kami Orchida that I don't find you first! Because if I find you first, I'm going to teach you how to properly treat a Sistrai warrior of my rank!"  
  
(Of course Balair's method would include rape and torture, something that Frieza had forbidden. But then Frieza was nowhere near Calmag at the moment, and Balair could do as he liked and force the brat to keep quiet.)  
  
Petalia and Caline trembled in fear, for they had heard Balair's words about Tayla. "We must try to sneak out of here," Petalia whispered to Caline. She and Caline quietly began creeping amidst the stalagmites, hoping to avoid Balair's line of vision. They would have succeeded in making it to the cave's entrance, but a large stalactite broke free from the roof of the cavern and fell down like a missile towards the girls. It crashed in between Petalia and Caline, and both girls cried out before they could restrain themselves. Balair, of course, noticed them instantly.  
  
He swooped down upon the frightened girls, who had begun to run for the cave's entrance. He meant to grab Caline, but Petalia bravely hit Balair's seizing hand away. Unfortunately this doomed Petalia to becoming Balair's next captive. Balair flew into the air with a screaming Petalia in his grip.  
  
"Put her down, please!" Caline cried in terror, seeing the red monster carry Petalia out of the cave. Caline vainly tried to run after Balair and Petalia.  
"Put me down, you bastard!" Petalia screamed angrily, kicking and struggling. "I am an Astorian princess, and my Great-Nama will blast you into fragments! Let me go!"  
  
Balair bit Petalia's shoulder hard, making her shriek and thrash in pain. "Shut up, wench, and be thankful that I didn't kill you yet!" He then smiled cruelly at his new prisoner. "I am Commander Balair. I have a little spare time; why don't you entertain me for an hour or two?" he told her smoothly.  
  
Tears running down her cheeks, Petalia trembled in her captor's arms, not understanding the meaning of Balair's words. "How?" she asked naively, as Balair pulled her against his body.  
  
Balair chuckled evilly. "Oh, you'll find out." He flew faster with Petalia in his arms; Petalia was too scared to struggle now, for Balair whispered in her ear afterwards, "You fight me, wench, and I'll kill both you and your little friend, understand?"  
  
Petalia nodded shakily and stiffened; she had no choice. She saw Caline running after them in vain, but in minutes, they were too far away for Petalia to even catch a glimpse of Caline's pale hair.  
  
  
"Bring her back, please! Don't hurt her!" Caline screamed tearfully. "Somebody, help us!" she cried to no one in particular.  
  
She continued running towards the red speck that was Balair, but he and Petalia were disappearing into the sky. Then suddenly someone leapt out of the bushes and seized her, pulling her into the shrubs. Caline kicked and cried, begging for release.  
  
The arms holding her were strong and muscular, but there was a second set of arms, feminine and soft and kind. The gentle hand attached to the latter set brushed against Caline's forehead.  
  
"Caline, don't be afraid, it's us. We won't harm you; you're safe for now." Gracina leaned over and kissed Caline's forehead.  
  
Caline's frightened blue eyes looked up into the loving clearer blue eyes of the woman that she so wanted to be her new mother. She was still startled by the other set of arms holding her, but then she recognized him. The man holding her was tall and green and strange with pink muscle pads covering his body, but Tayla had long ago told Caline that he was a friend. Caline had recognized him earlier as the Superior Granden of Astoria.  
  
"Calm down, Caline," Dirkan told the small princess kindly, holding her to him. Gracina was amazed at his tenderness; Dirkan was normally not that gentle with anyone unless it was Tayla or Nama.  
  
A…red…monster…took Petalia away!" Caline cried fearfully. "Where is he taking her? Who is he?"  
  
Dirkan rested his large jade hand on Caline's forehead, stroking the wispy hair with his thumb. "He is Balair, one of Frieza's Elite fighters and a very bad man, but he won't get the chance to hurt Petalia; we intend to finish off the bastard once and for all this time after I save my wife." He moved his hand to cradle Caline's cheek and tilt her chin to look at him. She rested her head on this strange green man's chest, already instinctively feeling that she could trust him. Dirkan was touched. "I am giving you to Gracina now, and you will be safe with her."  
  
"I wish I could go with you back to Astoria," Caline whispered to both of them, not truly believing that it would happen. Her father would surely have her married to that awful Filcor Sedemeyer, if any of them survived this war. "But my father will never let me."  
  
Gracina and Dirkan exchanged glances, poignant, worried glances combined with a long, pregnant pause. Dirkan shook his head at his fellow guardian of Tayla, and Gracina looked at Caline sadly, as Dirkan handed the girl to her.  
  
"Take care of her, Gracina," he told her, quietly debating whether to go save Shalila first or go after Balair to save Petalia. Finally he made his decision. He cupped Caline's cheek with one hand and told her gently, "Caline, don't worry about your future yet; I promise you, Seven Moons Oath, that if we survive this war, that you will be taken care of. You will be safe and secure, no matter what happens." He used his other hand to hold up seven fingers to seal his oath. Caline nestled close to Gracina, as she favored Dirkan with a small smile.  
  
"Don't let anything bad happen to Petalia…or Tayla…or…"  
  
"I won't, child, I won't. Stay with Gracina; she will see that you are protected. Good-bye and good luck to both of you." With that, Dirkan boosted off into the air like a rocket, leaving a cloud of dust behind him that nearly engulfed Gracina and Caline.  
  
"I'm coming, Shalila, Petalia," he whispered.  
  
The Namek warrior thought briefly of Caline. Dirkan vowed to keep his word to the child, even as he sped off to save the day. He felt sorry for the Calmagian princess.  
  
And there was no need in adding to Caline's pain right now. The news of her father's death in battle could wait until after everything was resolved.  
  



	60. Send In The Turncoats And Clowns

Chapter Sixty: Send In The Turncoats…And The Clowns!  
  
"Ready to give up, Shalila?" Chestra asked calmly.  
  
"I never give up!" Shalila hissed. "Why must you continue this child's game? It is a waste of time."  
  
Chestra smiled serenely, too serenely for someone who dealt regularly in the bloodshed that she did. "I am holding the Superior Gran of Astoria as my captive, a strong warrior who had destroyed Lord Frieza's mother, Queen Frost, who had not been able to destroy you. I don't consider this a waste of time, for telekinesis is not a child's game, Shalila." Then Chestra stopped, realizing that she was not supposed to answer Shalila, if the older woman spoke.  
  
"Who taught you telekinesis?" Shalila asked her, but Chestra turned her back on her and ignored the question. Shalila was not going to trick her.  
  
Shalila asked several more questions, but Chestra did not speak again until she noticed one of her "comrades" land near her. Her eyes widened in shock, but her panther-like facial features hardened into anger quickly.  
  
"Balair, you release that child at once!" Chestra ordered, indicating Petalia, who was struggling in Balair's arms. "You don't have time to play with her! Let her go!"  
Balair laughed. "I have all the time in the world, sweetness."  
  
"Great-Nama, help me, please!" Petalia cried in terror.  
  
Shalila hissed, "Balair, you son of a whore, you release her at once! If you want to take your anger out on someone, you can take it up with me."  
  
Balair chuckled. "No thanks, Shalila; you're a bit too old for my taste! I have to give Chestra credit for putting in your place. Only I wonder why she hasn't killed you yet."  
  
"Jaden told me not to," Chestra told him coolly. "Now release the girl, for she has nothing to do with this."  
  
"I'll release her when I'm good and ready, woman. Right now I intend to have some fun with her. I just came by to see what you all were up to before I have my little private party with this Astorian wench."  
  
"You see what we have been up to," Chestra said edgily. "You've had your fun with her already, I am sure. Now release her."  
  
Balair defiantly ignored Chestra's demand, and he pulled Petalia close to him, giving her a hard, sloppy kiss on her rosy lips. Shalila clenched her teeth in anger, as she was still pinned to the ground. She struggled in vain against Chestra's mind power.  
  
"Great-Nama, help me, please!" Petalia cried, not realizing that her great-grandmother could not move at all.  
  
Balair laughed at her, as his hand rubbed her thigh. "She can't move, foolish girl! Chestra is holding her down, so that she can't get up. If I were her, I would have already killed the old wench off!"  
  
"Balair, let her go; I mean it!" Shalila ordered sternly. "Why don't you face off with someone who can actually fight you back?"  
  
Balair spat out contemptuously, "You're not worth wasting my time anymore, Shalila, not if a little woman like Chestra here can restrain you. Your age must be catching up with you at last."  
  
"I may be old, but I am as strong, if not stronger!" Shalila roared. She was getting angrier by the minute, especially since Balair started running his free hand all over Petalia's body. His thick, meaty hand lightly caressed Petalia's bosom, sliding down from her breasts to her stomach.  
  
"Let me go, you bastard!" Petalia screamed. "You heard my Great-Nama!"  
  
"Balair, that is more than enough," Chestra said in a steely tone. "Let her go."  
  
"Who's going to make me?" Balair sneered. "You? Or the old woman?"  
  
"I am warning you…" Chestra began.  
  
"Chestra, please help me!" Petalia cried. "Please release Great-Nama! Please let her go!"  
  
"Petalia, I can't…" Chestra said slowly.  
  
"PLEASE!" Petalia cried desperately. "It is Tayla you want, not Great-Nama! Let her go!"  
  
"Shut up, girl!" Balair snarled. "I'll give you something to really scream about-" he never finished his sentence, for Petalia sank her perfect teeth into his thick hand.  
  
"Slut!" Balair hissed, using his molesting hand to slap her hard across the face. Petalia screamed out, and her nose started to bleed, for Balair's hand had felt like a gauntlet across her delicate face.  
  
"Help me, Chestra, please…" Petalia moaned.  
  
Chestra's concentration finally broke, and her telekinetic hold on Shalila's body shattered. She lunged towards Balair with her hands cuffed in a clamshell position. "Balair, you let her go now!"  
  
Shalila took that moment to rise to her feet, and she seized her sword to challenge Balair. Sword fighting would be safer now because she saw that Balair's tail was bent at an unnatural angle. That meant that someone had broken it.   
  
Two women from opposite sides charging at him startled Balair, but he recovered quickly. He put his hand in a ninety-degree position and aimed it at Petalia's rapidly beating heart. "Step any closer, either one of you, and she dies!" Balair growled.  
  
Shalila stopped dead in her tracks, and so did Chestra, but Chestra took that chance to shoot a small black laser into Balair's head. Balair was angrier than ever, and now he would definitely kill the girl.  
  
But he would not get the chance, for Petalia herself stomped on Balair's foot hard. Normally, it would have not harmed Balair in the least, but this time, for some odd reason, it hurt him ten times worse than it ever would have before. Petalia's small foot crashing down on his foot felt like a giant iron pillar mashing into his appendage, and Balair cried out in agony. He was forced to release the girl at last, and Petalia wasted no time escaping his clutches. Balair fell to the ground; he was moaning and writhing in pain and terror, for it hurt him severely.  
Petalia fled to the safety of Shalila's arms, and Shalila held her close. Petalia glanced back briefly at Balair, her tormentor, who was still crying and wriggling on the ground. "Great-Nama, he is acting like a big baby!" she choked out in a small, silvery laugh.  
  
Shalila couldn't help but laugh herself, as she held Petalia tight. "Sistrai warriors must have delicate feet, child!"  
  
"Sistrai warriors are not that delicate," Chestra told Shalila firmly. "It was my attack that helped. It is called simply Tenfold Pain Blast, and it upsets the entire nervous system, so that any opponent hit with it feels any pain or injury ten times greater than what it should be. I shouldn't have intervened, but I don't like to see children harmed. I would suggest that you take your great-granddaughter with you and leave now before Jaden returns. She and Balair will both have my head for this one, and it is rare that those two ever agree on anything."  
  
"We must thank you, Chestra," Shalila told her graciously, holding Petalia to her still. Then she looked at Chestra anxiously. "Do you still intend to come after Tayla?"  
  
Chestra was silent for a few moments, as Balair continued to writhe and moan in pain. Finally, she said, "No promises, Shalila. If I can avoid abducting her, then I will, but if I can't, then you must be prepared to face me again. And next time, I will not be able to show you any mercy. I will kill you."  
  
Shalila nodded, and then she said evenly, but with a trace of sadness in her voice, "If that happens, I will do the same. I won't allow anyone to take her away."  
  
"You don't have to take Tayla away," Petalia pleaded. "You don't have to harm anyone else."  
  
Chestra looked at Petalia, and Petalia and Shalila noticed a glimmer of a tear in her jade-green eye. "It is better, if you both go now. I will delay Balair long enough for you two to escape," she said stiffly.  
  
"Let's go, Petalia," Shalila said finally, as she scooped her up further into her arms. With Petalia in her arms, they both blasted off into the sky. Balair tried to jump up to come after them, but Chestra restrained him using her mind power, which she wouldn't be able to do for long.  
  
As Petalia and Shalila fled, Shalila asked her if she was okay. When Petalia said that she was, Shalila told her softly, "I am very proud of you, child. You were very brave."  
  
"What did I do?" Petalia asked, puzzled. "All I did was step on that monster's foot."  
  
"And you distracted Chestra long enough to break her concentration, so that I could get up. I believe that you saved us both, Petalia. I am very pleased with you," Shalila told her, as Petalia rested her head on her Great-Nama's bosom.  
  
  
"Long time, no see, eh, Namek?"  
  
"I was hoping never to see you again, Rybanese."  
  
"I was hoping the same, but since you're here, you can tell me where Princess Tayla is."  
  
"Not in this millennium, Jaden. Give it up and go home!"  
  
"Not without the girl, I'm not! What is she to you anyway, Dirkan?"  
  
"I am her guardian, and I love her."  
  
"A little young for you, isn't she? I didn't know that Nameks preferred young brats to women their own age."  
  
"Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself!"  
  
"Tell me where the girl is, now!"  
  
Dirkan smirked at Jaden. "Sorry, Jaden, but I have better things to do. See you later; I promise that we will finish this some other time."  
  
"If you are looking for your precious Shalila, be prepared to face Chestra, who is now holding her captive. Chestra may not be as old or as experienced as I am, but she can more than handle you."  
  
Dirkan smiled serenely, "hearing" a telepathic message from Shalila herself. He smirked again at Jaden. "Maybe we can finish this fight after all." He could relax for a few moments before facing off against Jaden, for both Shalila and Petalia were free.  
  
"Jaden, I am warning you now; leave this planet immediately or perish!"  
  
"Without Princess Tayla? Over my dead Rybanese body!"  
  
"That can easily be arranged. I doubt anyone would miss you."  
  
"Don't be so overconfident, Namek," Jaden said wickedly with a toothy grin, as she and Dirkan landed on a nearby cliff and assumed battle positions. She was going to finish what she had started with Shalila's Namek mate in the Battle of Chloe.  
  
Dirkan opened his mouth and his hands for his Tri-Force blast.  
  
Jaden grinned. Finally someone who was a challenge. It would be a pleasure to finish him off.  
  
  
  
Two hours later.  
  
"GUIDO!"  
  
"JEICE!"  
  
"BAATA!"  
  
"RECCOOM!"  
  
"CAPTAIN GINYU!"  
  
"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE!"  
  
"More like the Ginyu Clowns," Gorna jeered. "I see that Ginyu hasn't improved much since the last time that we fought against him. I didn't know that Frieza was sending in a circus troupe this time." She was standing in front of the Ginyu Force with Gracina, Bendros, Cletos, and Alora, who was starting to wonder what had happened to Bajal. The entire group thought that the Ginyu Force was wasting everyone's time.  
  
"I can't sense my husband anywhere," she said a bit worriedly, for although she knew that Bajal could take care of himself, Alora also knew that when Bajal didn't look for trouble, trouble looked for him. The two just couldn't keep away from each other.  
  
"He may be concealing his ki," Cletos told her calmly, although he himself was starting to worry.  
  
"I hope he is okay," Gracina added. "And Raakon and Lektron, for I cannot sense them either."   
Gracina also thought of Caline, whom she had taken back to the shaky safety of the Calmagian royal castle. Caline was now safe for now with the other non-fighting Astorians and Calmagians. Hazel and the three Priestesses, Toria, Marya, and Arlina had promised to look after her.  
  
"I don't think that's good," Alora said. "We should spilt up and find out where those three are."  
  
"Not yet, Alora," Gorna told her sister-in-law sternly. "They will be all right; I know those three. Right now we have this clown show act to get rid of."  
  
"They don't look to be much of a challenge," Alora asserted, as the Ginyu Force started playing rock, paper, and scissors to decide who would fight whom. "All I've seen them do so far is play child games and dance like little girls. My daughter could dance circles around that bunch and not make herself look like an idiot doing so either!"  
  
Ginyu, who had the best hearing out of the Ginyu Force, spoke sharply, "How dare you make fun of our poses! Our poses are spectacular!"  
  
"Yeah!" Jeice added in agreement. "Our poses and dances are great, no matter how many times we do them!" To demonstrate this, he twirled around on one toe in an arabesque position. He danced gracefully about on the ground, using plies and tendus. He landed with flair in front of Gracina, whom he found attractive; Jeice had a weakness for beautiful women of all species.  
  
"We don't have to fight," Jeice told Gracina smoothly, closing his eyes at her sexily. "It doesn't matter to me, if you are an Astorian; you and I could get to know each other better. There must be a thief in heaven, sweetheart, for someone stole the stars from the sky and placed them in your eyes! You must be tired, lady, for you've been running through my mind all day!" He winked at her.  
  
The entire Ginyu Force groaned, and they all fell down backwards, for they had wearied a long time ago of Jeice's corny pick-up lines. Jeice was a powerful warrior, but he had a reputation for flirting with and making passes at women of enemy species, even those of races that he had been sent to destroy. Both Ginyu and Frieza had disciplined him for it several times apiece.  
  
The Astorians also groaned, and Gracina was unimpressed with Jeice's moves. "I am a married woman, a happily married woman, I might add, with four children. So go away, if you know what is good for you," she told Jeice icily.  
  
Jeice wasn't about to be turned down yet. "Relax, I've been with married women before, and I like kids! Give me a chance, will you, babe?" And Jeice tried to put his arms around Gracina, but Gracina seized Jeice by his flowing white hair and swung him away from her into a mud puddle.  
  
Gorna snorted. "Imagine that, a foolish, posing buffoon thinking that he has a chance with a Princess of Chloe! He must consider my sister to have poor taste!"  
  
The entire Ginyu Force was laughing at Jeice's misfortune, as they always did whenever one of Jeice's crushes would turn him down. "Forget about scoring with humanoid women, Jeicey!" Ginyu laughed. "You just can't cut it with them! Better stick to your own kind!"  
  
Reccoom added, chuckling, "Lately, Jeice can't 'stick' it with or in any woman, if you all know what I mean!" The Force laughed then, knowing what the giant meant.  
  
"Hey, don't criticize my manhood!" Jeice shouted indignantly. "I haven't heard any complaints about my performance lately!"  
  
"That's because your only 'performances' lately have been out with us instead of in the bedroom!" Guido teased, for they all knew that Jeice's normally active love life had slowed down considerably. The others laughed again.  
  
Baata guffawed, for although he was Jeice's closest friend, he liked to poke fun at him now and then. "I think Astorian women are too rich for even your blood, Jeicey! Rabbits are just not for you! "  
  
"Okay, men, let's get down to business!" Ginyu ordered. "Everyone remember who they were supposed to fight?"  
  
The other Force members looked at him and each other blankly.  
  
"No, not really," Reccoom admitted.  
  
Ginyu groaned, slapping his hands on his cranium-like head. "We just did rock, paper, scissors to divide the Astorians among us! I myself was supposed to fight…um…let me think for a moment…it was…no, that wasn't the one…actually, it was…no, wait, it's coming to me…"  
  
"Captain," Jeice began, after he had dragged himself out of the mud and rejoined the others.   
"Why don't we just reassign everyone and divide the Astorians among us again?"  
  
"We'll have to do rock, paper, and scissors again, but we could do that," Ginyu agreed. "Okay, everyone, ready! We'll start with who gets to fight Gorna Chloe first!"  
  
"Ready!" his teammates chorused.  
  
Gorna slapped her forehead. "This is getting ridiculous!"  
  
Cletos sighed, "And these fools made it into Frieza's Elite?"  
  
Gracina added, "Intelligence is apparently not a requirement to get into the Ginyu Force."  
  
Alora agreed, "No, all you need to know how to do is play rock, paper, and scissors and twirl on one toe!"  
  
Bendros laughed, "And to be able to pose without falling on your face! Maybe I should have these guys entertain at my youngest brother's next birthday ball."  
Alora laughed with him. "As long as they keep the one called 'Jeicey' away from the women!"  
  
"I've got a rock!" Jeice cried out.  
  
In his head, maybe, Alora thought silently to herself.  
  
"Well, I've got paper! Paper covers rock!" Baata boasted.  
  
"I've got scissors!" Guido shouted. "Scissors cuts paper!"  
  
"I've got rock," Reccoom boomed. "Rock breaks scissors!"  
  
"Yeah, well I got paper!" Ginyu cried aloud. "Paper covers all rocks!"  
  
"Yeah, Captain, but scissors cuts all papers!" Guido hooted.  
  
"Rocks break all scissors!" Jeice yelled.  
  
"Let's do it this way," Ginyu told his men. "There are two rocks, two papers, and one scissors. It's a tie between papers and rocks, so Guido, you're out-"  
  
"Captain, that's not fair!" Guido wailed.  
  
"Quiet, frogman!" Ginyu barked. "I am Captain here, not you! Why do you think I was made Captain? I got in on my good looks, not my good brains!" He was puzzled, as to why the Astorians and the other Ginyu Force members started laughing.  
  
Ginyu flushed, his face turning blue instead of red. "Reverse that last sentence!"  
  
Baata whispered to Jeice, "It was probably just good luck; if it had been on his brains or his looks alone, he wouldn't have even been able to create the Force." Jeice and Baata both snickered.  
  
"Okay," said Ginyu, "now where were we? Who was paper, who was rocks, and who was scissors?"  
His teammates stared at him blankly. Ginyu groaned after a few moments of silence. "Never mind. Let's just send the frogman after them first. Froggy, take on Gorna Chloe first!"  
  
Guido was puzzled. "Captain, which one was Gorna Chloe again?"  
  
"The fat woman with ugly muddy hair!" Ginyu told him, and Gorna shot Ginyu an icy look.  
  
"Yeah, just make sure you don't go after the blond one," Jeice said. "I want her for myself."  
  
"And I'll take the Astorian with a tail!" Baata declared. "She may look like one of the monkeys, but she's cute."  
  
Alora and Gracina instinctively reached for their swords.  
  
"Well, then, Reccoom, you take the other monkey Astorian," Ginyu said with authority. "And I will take the other male with no tail. Poses again, men, before we began!"  
  
"Yay!" the Ginyu Force cried together.  
  
"GUIDO!"  
  
"JEICE!"  
  
"BAATA!"  
  
"RECCOOM!"  
  
"CAPTAIN GINYU!"  
  
"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE!"  
  
The Ginyu Force began to dance the elaborate Dance of Victory, Captain Ginyu's personal favorite dance. The Astorians just sighed and wondered if they should just leave.  
  
"Here we go again," Alora groaned. She closed her eyes briefly. "Someone wake me up when this is over!"  
  
  
  



	61. Return of The Oozarus

Chapter Sixty-One: Return of The Oozarus  
  
Bendros was gathering together his ki to battle Reccoom when he saw a bright glowing ball in the afternoon sky. He suddenly felt very strange, sick to his stomach. The Sastorian heir to the title of Granden of Sahara fell to his knees, and to his horror, he saw fur quickly growing on his hands, and his nails were lengthening into claws. He shuddered with terror, for this incident had only happened to him once in his life when he had been on another planet on an Intergalacticpol assignment.  
  
"No!" he gasped. "Not this again! Not now!"  
  
His body expanded, muscles growing larger, and fur swiftly coating his flesh. He dropped his sword, as his clothes were ripped from his muscular, lean form. He could feel himself growing taller and taller until the trees resembled green plants, and his friends and enemies were the size of mushrooms.  
  
And then he lost all conscious thoughts, for in this form, in his Oozaru form, Bendros had no control over his actions. Unlike full-blooded Saiyans on planet Vegeta, Bendros had never been trained to handle his Oozaru powers properly. All he could think about now was destroying everything in sight.   
  
He stomped on the ground, and he began blasting mouth blasts at the Ginyu Force, not knowing if they were his actual enemies or not. There was another Oozaru stomping and roaring alongside him, someone whose ki he recognized vaguely as his Aunt Alora. Their pureblooded Astorian comrades had wisely flown away from the scene, leaving the Oozarus to tear up the landscape and attack the Ginyu Force.  
  
Bendros-Oozaru scooped up a bouquet of green trees and began to throw them down like spears at the Ginyu Force, who had scattered in all directions. Alora-Oozaru was firing her mouth blasts at them, for she didn't have much more control over her Oozaru powers than Bendros had over his.  
Bendros saw a little red man flying past him with flowing white hair, and the Oozaru future Granden thought that now would be a good time for a snack…  
  
  
…."Captain! Help me, please!" Jeice screamed in terror, as Bendros-Oozaru snatched him in his apelike hand and began to bring him towards his giant mouth, decorated on the inside with fangs.  
  
Captain Ginyu was panicked, and his other men were frantically shouting at him. "Guido, stop time!" he commanded.  
  
But Guido was no use at all, for he was too terrified of the two giant monkeys chasing him and the others to stop long enough to hold his breath to make time stand still. Guido was hurrying away from them, trying to find a place to hide.   
  
"Captain!" Reccoom cried. "What about Jeice? What about the giant monkeys? How do we stop them?"  
  
"I don't know!" Ginyu wailed. "Jeice is on his own unless one of you fools wants to fight the monkeys!"  
  
Baata trembled in fear, but he said. "Captain, I'll try my Blue Comet Attack!"  
  
"Somebody, help me!" Jeice cried in terror, preparing to use his Red Comet Attack on   
Bendros-Oozaru. He launched his attack on the Oozaru's mouth, and the blast made Bendros cry out in pain. He angrily flung Jeice away from him, and Jeice wasted no time in fleeing the ape-creature.  
  
Baata was relieved somewhat. "Well, I'm glad I don't have to face him now!"  
  
"Are you kidding, fool?" Ginyu declared. "We have to fight them!" He and the others shuddered, as they heard the angry roars of the Oozaru-Sastorians.  
  
"How, Captain?" Guido cried, running circles around Ginyu.  
  
Baata said shakily, "Captain, why don't you switch bodies with one of them?"  
  
Captain Ginyu was hesitant. It sounded like a good plan, but he didn't want to get any closer to the giant monkeys than necessary. Plus, the thought of being in an Oozaru's body, even temporarily, repulsed Ginyu. It would ruin his reputation with the ladies as well, for who would want to go to bed with a giant ape, although "Big Horned Ape" was Eclipse's pet name for him…  
  
"It's-it's impossible for me to switch bodies with Oozarus!" Ginyu lied to Baata. "My body-switching technique won't permit it! Guido, I said to stop time!"  
  
But Guido was cowering in Reccoom's arms, like a baby, too scared to move. Reccoom himself was trembling. Finally he stammered, "Captain, what do we do now? I never fought against Oozarus before!"  
  
The other members did not have time to reply, for Alora-Oozaru blasted mouth lasers at them, and they were forced to fly out of the way. Finally, when they had landed in a safe spot, Ginyu took an authoritative stance and said as bravely as possible for the true coward that he was. "Men, there is only one thing that we can do in this circumstance!"  
  
"What's that, Captain?" everyone asked in unison.  
  
"RETREAT! GINYU FORCE RETREAT AT ONCE!"  
  
"Yes, Captain! At once!" all the Ginyu Force members cried. And within less time than it took for Ginyu to think up new poses, the men swiftly flew away from the cliff.  
  
  
Gorna panted, "Well, at least the Ginyu Force will be one less thing to worry about!" The three Mantros Chloe siblings were hovering in the air, watching their Oozaru-Sastorian comrades stomp and roar and rip up the landscape on the cliff where the Astorians had ran into the Ginyu Force.  
  
Cletos heaved a deep breath. "But what about Alora and Bendros? What do we do about them?"  
  
Gracina gasped, "We're-we're going to have to cut off their tails somehow! What puzzles me is how can there be a moon at this time of day?"  
  
Gorna choked out, "Calmag only has three moons, and none of them were supposed to be full until next week!"  
  
"But then how did they become Oozarus?" Cletos asked worriedly. "Remember when we went to rescue Tayla five years ago? We still couldn't figure out to this day how Vegeta and his bunch became Oozarus without a full moon."  
  
"Do you think that someone working for Frieza learned how to create artificial moonlight?" Gracina asked, as Alora and Bendros continued to roar and tear up the forest on the cliff.  
  
Gorna and Cletos looked at Gracina for a long minute, and then they looked at each other. "It is a possibility," Gorna admitted slowly. Then she straightened up and said decisively, like the future ruler of Astoria that she was, "But no time to ponder that, we must cut off their tails. Be careful, both of you!"  
  
"Right!" Cletos and Gracina cried, as they flew down, preparing to maim the Oozarus of their tails.  
  
  
Balair was furious with Chestra for intervening with his plans to molest Petalia (big surprise), and he decided to teach her a lesson. But before he could do so, he noticed a giant Oozaru shooting mouth blasts at the frightened Calmagians, who were swiftly fleeing the city of Magan.   
Balair recognized the armor, which had stretched to size along with the Oozaru.  
  
"Vegeta is a moron!" Balair hissed angrily, forgetting that he was planning to beat up Chestra. "Him and that stupid Power Ball of his! Those giant monkeys will wind up killing us before they kill the Astorians and the Calmagians!"  
  
Chestra didn't say a word; she was too much in awe and shock, as she watched the Oozaru, normally known as Raditz, crush a few Calmagian army tanks beneath his feet. He swatted away the missiles that the Calmagian soldiers were shooting at him, and in retaliation, he burned away that section of the Calmagian army with his mouth blast.  
  
"What do we do now?" she murmured, more to herself than Balair. Any battle between them was indefinitely postponed, and they both knew it.   
  
Balair growled; he would deal with Chestra later, but right now, the Oozarus were wreaking havoc. "What if those monkeys wind up killing Princess Tayla? Then Lord Frieza is going to nail all of us to the wall! I am reporting Vegeta to Lord Frieza when we return; I hope Lord Frieza skins him alive! Chestra, where in the hell are you going?" He noticed Chestra already flying away into the air.  
  
"To find Jaden!" she cried aloud.  
  
Balair then allowed himself to grin for a few moments, as he watched Raditz-Oozaru and the Saibamen terrorize the people of Magan. Maybe the monkeys would accidentally kill Jaden and save himself and Dodoria the trouble of doing so themselves.  
  
Then he gnashed his sharp teeth angrily. No, Jaden would be too smart for that, and besides, he and Dodoria had already tried to set Oozarus on her before….  
  
  
Tayla shook with fear, as she saw Vegeta-Oozaru stomping throughout the land, screaming for Tayla, and demanding that she come out and surrender to him at once. The four Astorians, three in Astorian form, and one in diamond form, were now hiding behind a small hill, watching and listening until they could find a way to ambush Vegeta-Oozaru and cut off his tail. They also saw Diamonique was keeping a careful distance from her former lover, while she was searching for Tayla.  
  
Vegeta had already been in a bad enough mood before he used his Power Ball to turn himself and his comrades Oozaru. He had decided to change the plans and wait no longer to capture Tayla in his natural for.  
  
"PRINCESS TAYLA, COME OUT AT ONCE! I WILL KEEP MYSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE OOZARU UNTIL YOU SURRENDER TO ME! IF YOU DON'T WISH TO SEE YOUR PEOPLE PERISH, BRAT, I SUGGEST THAT YOU SURRENDER NOW!"  
  
Tayla sighed wearily and commented, "Here we go again! One of us is going to have to distract him long enough, so that someone else can cut off his tail. I could distract him for a bit while Arlon could cut off his tail…Arlon, what do you think? Arlon? Arlon?"  
  
Silence. A deadly, quiet silence.   
  
Tayla paled, for she felt Diamonique's ki very close by.  
  
Slowly, she turned around, and she covered her mouth to keep from screaming.  
  
For where there was once her nephew and brother, there were now two new diamond statues, two perfect diamond sculptures of Arlon and Riccan, who had now joined Lukan in their frozen states.  
Diamonique emerged from behind the statue of Lukan, smiling a sweet, fatal smile. "Hello, Princess."  
  
Tayla clenched her fists in fury. "Slutzinen! Whoricen!" (You slut! You whore!) Shalila and Gracina would have sharply rebuked her for that sort of language, if they had heard Tayla use it under normal circumstances, for slutzini and whorici were among the worst words that an Astorian could call a woman of any species. Neither one of the well-meaning ladies in Tayla's life knew that Tayla had picked up the naughty words from Alora, whose language was not as refined as that of her Clan of Chloe in-laws. While whorici meant simply "whore", slutzini translated literally, meant "slut who opens her legs for any man of any species".  
  
Diamonique's beautiful face twisted with fury, for although she didn't know what whorici was, she knew well what slutzini was, for Vegeta, who was fluent in Chloe Astorian (elite-class Astorian language), had once called her a slutzini during one of their frequent arguments. And on top of that, he had smilingly told her what that meant, and it had been the one and only time that Diamonique had slapped his face. She hated Tayla at that moment for stirring up that memory alone.  
  
"How dare you suggest that I open my legs for any man of any species, you tar-headed, muddy-eyed Astorie brat!" she hissed. "Gemstarian women of the Diamondian tribe such as myself have discriminating taste in men!"  
  
"It couldn't be that discriminating, if you chose someone like Vegeta as a suitor," Tayla pointed out, carefully hiding her shock that Diamonique knew what slutzini was.   
  
Diamonique was about to say something in anger, but then Tayla's words sank into her mind. Finally she said sweetly, allowing Tayla's previous insult to slide for now, "I have to agree with you on that one. Vegeta was hardly worth it. I don't understand how monkeys like him and rabbits like you manage to mate and mingle together. Honestly, I question the taste of Astorian women, for allowing Saiyan men to mate with them all those years ago. When I heard that, I was surprised, for I always thought that Saiyans and Astorians hated each other, and imagine-Saiyans and Astorians bedding each other…"  
  
Tayla gnashed her perfect, pearly teeth in fury, for she now knew some of the ugly truth of what many Saiyan men had done to Astorian women during the years of Saiyan occupation on Astoria in her grandmother's time. She had listened on some of the conversations (without Shalila's knowledge at the time) between Shalila and some of Shalila's old friends and acquaintances, some of whom had been raped by Saiyans, or knew of those who had.   
  
When she had turned eleven years old, she had finally asked Alora one day how many of those stories were true, and Alora admitted that was how most of the Sastorians came into existence. But Alora had also been careful to point out to Tayla that not all Saiyans were like that, and there had to be good full-blooded Saiyans, as well as evil. The normally inarticulate, plainspoken Alora had surprised Tayla that day with a wise speech that Tayla would remember for the rest of her life:  
  
"All races have both good and evil people in them, Tayla, and no one is perfect, kid. Even Saiyans have their share of good people, as well as evil ones, although sometimes that can be hard to believe. After all, Bendros and I have Saiyan in our blood, and you love us and know that we're not evil. Not all Astorians are good, and not all Saiyans are wicked, kid; you have to judge people as individuals, not by what race they were descended from. An entire race cannot be hated for the bad people in them."  
  
"I know that many of your family members believe that there the full-blooded Saiyans remaining alive can come to no good end, but people can and do change. If things had gone differently at that Summit at the Temple of Chloe many years ago, Saiyans and Astorians would have been living in peace with each other, and Saiyans and Astorians would have intermarried with each other by now. It is what my people of the Clan of Sahara had once hoped for. Tayla, don't let your family's prejudices become yours; think for yourself, decide for yourself about people, think independently, kid, think on your own…  
  
"In most cases," she told Diamonique quietly, "it wasn't the choice of the women of my people. While not all of the Saiyans raped Astorian women, some of them under King Dayrus did. But enough history for today; I want you to leave-now." And Tayla stood up tall and proud for her short height.  
  
Diamonique smiled cruelly. "Of course, but you're coming with me."  
  
"No, I'm not," Tayla told her firmly.  
  
Diamonique said in an icy-sweet voice that Tayla would later learn to hate for the rest of her life, "You either come with me, little girl, or I will tell Vegeta where you are, and I'll let him deal with you. Which would you rather go with, girl, me or a giant, hairy ape who would probably consider you a snack?"  
  
"Neither," Tayla told her coldly.   
  
"You don't have a choice, brat," Diamonique told her.  
  
"You're wrong, Diamonique," Tayla told her coolly. "I always have a choice."  
  
Or course, Tayla always had a choice, but not always enough time. For at that moment a tall, cold shadow blanketed both Tayla and Diamonique, the shadow of a giant primate. Tayla looked up in horror to see Vegeta's Oozaru form towering directly above her and Diamonique.  
  
Vegeta-Oozaru grinned wickedly, his grin even scarier in ape form. "Well, well, brat, nice to see you again. Looks like Diamonique did something useful for a change, after all."  
Tayla swallowed her terror and screams.  
  
  
Journa-Oozaru was gleefully crushing the fine metal and glass buildings of Magan under her gorilla-like feet, ignoring the cuts on her soles. The Calmagian army had blasted her with giant lasers and shot her with missiles, but they only felt like sticks and stones to her. She rewarded them with flesh burning mouth blasts, which eliminated many Calmagian soldiers instantly.  
  
But strangely enough, it would be a Calmagian who would prevent Journa-Oozaru from causing any damage in her primate form.  
  
Journa-Oozaru suddenly felt herself shrinking back into her normal size and form, and as she shrank, her fury increased. Who had dared to cut off her tail?  
  
When she had metamorphosed back into her normal form, she angrily turned around to see a cocky, arrogant Calmagian boy grinning and brandishing a laser gun, the laser gun that had sliced off her tail.  
  
"You're going to die for that, weakling!" she roared at her assailant.  
  
"Not today, I'm not!" the boy laughed triumphantly. "Do you know who you are dealing with, gorilla-girl? Neither you, nor your any of your other friends are going to take my fiancée away from me! She is mine, and I will marry her, even if she does not wish it right now!"  
  
"And who in the hell is your fiancée, and why would we want to take her away! It'd be quicker to kill her," Journa told him evilly with her brother's smirk.   
  
"You won't lay a hand upon her!" the Calmagian boy-soldier declared. "Because after I defeat you and the rest of your gorilla posse, she will want me back! I will marry her, and we will rebuild Calmag together after all of you are destroyed!"  
  
Journa laughed. "Yeah right, boy! Now who is this fiancée of yours?"  
  
The Calmagian laughed. "Why Tayla Chloe, of course!"  



	62. Tayla Vs Vegeta

Chapter Sixty-Two: Tayla vs. Vegeta   
  
Gorna, Gracina, and Cletos were having no success in trying to cut off the tails of Alora and Bendros. Alora-Oozaru, not recognizing them as her in-laws and comrades, fired powerful mouth blasts at them, and she nearly crushed Cletos (who had been the one to get the closest to Alora's tail) under her foot.   
  
While the three Mantros Chloe siblings fought with Alora-Oozaru, Bendros-Oozaru escaped, climbing down the cliff to the valley below. None of the three siblings could be spared to chase after Bendros-Oozaru, who would surely destroy most of Magan before he metamorphosed back into his natural form.   
  
Alora-Oozaru seized Cletos in her hand, as he flew past her in the air, and she was preparing to devour him when Gracina finally succeeded in slicing off her tail with her sword. Alora-Oozaru had Cletos' foot in her ape mouth, even as she was shrinking back into her natural form. When the retransformation was completed, a naked Sastorian Alora was kneeling on the torn turf of the cliff with Cletos's boot still in her mouth. She and Cletos were extremely embarrassed.   
Gorna and Gracina were extremely relieved.   
  
Cletos promptly removed his left foot out of his sister-in-law's mouth, and Alora spat several times. She then ran a hand through her thick dark hair and asked dazedly, "What in the universe happened to me? Where are my clothes? What is going on here?"   
  
"You changed into an Oozaru," Gorna told her curtly.   
  
"Are you okay, Alora?" Gracina asked concernedly.   
  
Alora moaned, "I think so, but I have a major headache. Gracie, do you have an aspirin?"   
  
Gracina gave her two from her healior's kit, and Alora quickly popped them into her mouth. The aspirins would work in less than ten minutes, so Alora rose to her feet with Cletos' help.   
Gorna wanted to tell Alora that things like this was reason enough to have her tail removed permanently, but she knew that it would only start a fight with the Sastorian woman. Alora wanted to hold onto both her Saiyan and Astorian roots.   
  
"Where's Bendros?" Alora asked worriedly, rubbing her forehead.   
  
Cletos gasped, "Bendros escaped. He's still in Oozaru form."   
  
"Shicotti!" Alora hissed, using a word that was an impolite version of "crap". "He doesn't know how to control his Oozaru powers anymore than I do. This is only the second time that he's turned Oozaru; he won't recognize anyone that he knows! I've got to go find him now!"   
  
"We're coming with you," Gracina told her.   
  
"ROARRRRR!" a deep growl was heard in the distance.   
  
"RARRR!" another growl echoed throughout Magan.   
  
The three Astorians flew towards downtown Magan, leaving the cliff.   
  
  
Vegeta-Oozaru looked down at his Astorian prey and grinned maliciously. "You're mine now, little girl!" he roared happily.   
  
"Back off, Princey, she's mine! I saw her first!" Diamonique hissed, making a grab for Tayla, who dodged her.   
  
Tayla also had to dodge Vegeta-Oozaru's searching hands that were trying to snatch her off of the ground. She was amazed at how much faster he was than he had been five years ago. Tayla scurried away from the stomping Oozaru prince who was trying to grab her. Finally she flew into the sky with her sword. She had to stop Vegeta; she had to cut off his tail with her sword.   
But when she ultimately reached his tail with her sword, Vegeta-Oozaru cleverly coiled his tail around her body like a snake until Tayla was rolled up in his tail like a pig-in-a-blanket. The little princess unintentionally dropped her sword. Tayla struggled against his tail vainly, but her arms and wrists were crushed inside of Vegeta-Oozaru's coiled tail. Vegeta-Oozaru then used his tail to lift Tayla up to his eager hand. Tayla bit Vegeta-Oozaru's tail, but it felt like a needle prick to him, and despite her struggles, she could not break the tight grip of his tail. Vegeta-Oozaru used his tail to put Tayla into his right hand, and that right hand held his captive nearly as securely as his tail had.   
  
"Let me go!" Tayla screamed in anger and fear, struggling in his grip, as Vegeta-Oozaru brought Tayla up to his face. Tayla could feel his hot breath flow over her tiny body.   
  
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried.   
  
Vegeta-Oozaru laughed. "Looks like I won this one! That reward and position in Top Elite is as good as mine!"   
  
"Let her go, Vegeta!" Diamonique shrieked. "She belongs to me, you giant monkey!" She flew up towards Vegeta, but Vegeta swatted her away with his free hand, as if Diamonique were no more than a fly, sending her crashing into a few trees. Diamonique was furious; she'd get that giant ape prince for that one!   
  
But she wouldn't have the chance, for at that moment another Oozaru entered the forest around Magan. Tayla struggled in Vegeta-Oozaru's fist in vain. That big monkey prince wasn't going to let her breathe right, let alone let her ago.   
  
She looked fearfully at the other Oozaru approaching Vegeta-Oozaru, even after she had recognized the other creature's ki.   
  
"Bendros," Tayla whispered. She then cried out to the other Oozaru, "Bendros! Please help me, please! Vegeta has me captive, and he won't let me go!"   
  
Bendros-Oozaru only roared, and Vegeta-Oozaru laughed at her.   
  
"Forget it, brat, he's not going to help you! If he has any Astorian in him at all, he surely was not properly trained in handling his Oozaru powers. You Astorians seem to want to make any half-breeds forget the Saiyan in them, and now your friend is an Oozaru all right, capable of fighting me, but unable to control his powers in that form. I can still destroy him easily, and even if I couldn't, he still wouldn't help you. He wouldn't recognize you, brat, except as a potential snack. You're safer with me, brat, than you are with him, and I'm not going to let you become anyone's meal, not yet anyway."   
  
Tayla's heart sank in despair, even as she continued to struggle against his grip. Vegeta knew more about Oozarus than she did, and surely he was right. What was she going to do? How would she escape Vegeta? Would she be able to get Bendros to recognize her, or at least be able to cut off his tail?   
  
She continued to struggle in Vegeta-Oozaru's grip, but his grip was tight. In fact his grip was so tight, that it crushed the cuffs on Tayla's wrists, and the metal cut into her flesh. The cuffs were now rendered useless. She knew that it was no use to electrocute him, for he would barely feel it in his Oozaru form. Tayla panted, gasping for air.   
  
"I…cannot...breathe," she rasped just loud enough for Vegeta-Oozaru to hear.   
  
"Nice try, brat," Vegeta-Oozaru told her, "but I'm not falling for it."   
  
She continued to gasp and wheeze, but Vegeta-Oozaru scoffed at her.   
  
"Can't breathe…really," Tayla choked out, and then she fainted.   
  
Tayla's tiny body was limp in Vegeta-Oozaru's hand. He flicked the girl to revive her, but she would not budge.   
  
"Stop tricking me, brat!" he shouted harshly, but Tayla did not respond.   
  
He shook his captive gently, so he would not kill her, but she did not stir. She was like a miniature rag doll, lifeless and wilted, her eyes closed, and her limbs dangling freely.   
  
"Tayla! WAKE UP!"   
  
No response.   
  
"This is a trick, brat, and I'm not falling for it! Wake up now, or I will throw you halfway across this planet!"   
  
Silence.   
  
"I'll do it, Tayla, I swear that I will throw you! WAKE UP NOW!"   
  
Nothing, not even so much as a breath.   
  
Finally Diamonique, who was dodging Bendros-Oozaru's rampage, called from mid-air, a safe distance from Vegeta-Oozaru. Her screams were loud and shrill.   
  
"You killed her, you monkey bastard! How dare you? She is DEAD, you idiot! You crushed her! Lord Frieza will have your monkey head for this, you big ape!   
  
"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta-Oozaru howled, still unable to get a response from Tayla. He opened his fist, and she lay there on the palm of his hand, still unmoving. Her body was cooling slowly, her temperature beginning to drop.   
  
Finally Vegeta-Oozaru nudged the girl gently with his thumb on his other hand. He moved the tip of his thumb around her face, and he felt not a breath of air. He grumbled and finally laid the girl down on a small hill. Her ki did not even register on his scouter.   
  
"She's gone," he grumbled. "How could I have been so stupid?"   
  
"Because you're a monkey," Diamonique sneered. "Way to go, Princeling; Lord Frieza will be pleased, ooh, you are going to get it! Just like a Saiyan-"   
  
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted a mouth laser in her direction, which she easily dodged. "Nice try, Vegeta!" Diamonique crowed.   
  
Vegeta-Oozaru blasted another mouth laser in her direction, but she ducked it again. Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the supposedly dead Tayla slowly crawling away, and he smirked. He knew that if he let that brat alone long enough, she would eventually come to. Two could play at that game, and he intended to win.   
  
He turned around swiftly and made a grab for her, but Tayla dodged his hand. She then tried to rise into the air, intending to use Blitzer on him, but Vegeta-Oozaru, who was equally as fast as her, no matter what form he was in, batted her with his hand, hitting her in her face.   
  
While Tayla was distracted, Vegeta-Oozaru tried to seize her again, but then Bendros-Oozaru charged at him, knocking Vegeta-Oozaru off of his feet onto the ground. Vegeta-Oozaru's back crashed into the ground, creating a small earthquake. He and Bendros-Oozaru began to wrestle each other and claw at each other, no longer using true martial arts, but simply brute fighting, like the animals that they now were. Bendros-Oozaru punched Vegeta-Oozaru hard in his face, while Vegeta-Oozaru punched Bendros-Oozaru in his ribs with a mighty blow. The two giant monkey-creatures continued to wrestle and thrash along the ground, crashing into hills, crushing trees and rocks and anything else that got in their way.   
  
Vegeta-Oozaru rolled Bendros-Oozaru over onto his back, and he fired a mouth blast at his opponent, but Bendros-Oozaru turned his head away in time, so that the blast collided with the ground below him. Vegeta-Oozaru tried to fire another mouth blast at Bendros-Oozaru, but before he could do so, he felt himself began to…shrink?   
  
"What the hell?" Vegeta-Oozaru cried; his Oozaru body was now dwindling back into his natural form, back into his armor and uniform, which had stretched along with him to his Oozaru form. When the retransforming was complete, he was kneeling on the ground, infuriated.   
  
"Who cut off my tail?" he growled, and then he saw Tayla's long shadow cross over him.   
  
"I should have known, brat!" he hissed, after turning around to face a shaky Tayla, who was now holding her bloody sword. Vegeta then grinned at her evilly, as she wiped off her sword on the grass. "That's alright, Tayla, I'm not that worried; I can still capture you. I suggest that you surrender now before it's too late."   
  
"Never!" Tayla cried, holding her sword, ready to kill, if necessary. She had no choice; she would have to try to kill him, if she could. Too much was at stake now.   
  
"It's going to take more than that sword to stop me!" Vegeta bellowed. He flew at her, intending to seize her wrist, but Tayla landed a kick that was meant for his crotch, but hit his thigh instead. Tayla swung her sword at her Saiyan archenemy, but Vegeta's swift feet crashed into her stomach, forcing her to fall backwards and drop her sword.   
  
She tried to jump to the ground for her sword, but Vegeta caught one of her wrists in his strong hand. Tayla used her free hand to punch Vegeta's chest, just below his windpipe, but he still managed to hold onto her left wrist. He tried several times to grab her other wrist in order to restrain her ki, but Tayla was too fast for him to do so. She landed a few more punches to his chest and ribs, causing some damage, but Vegeta was still able to hold onto her small wrist. She tried to twist her wrist out of Vegeta's grip, but Vegeta's hold was tight, as she tried to pull back and away.   
  
Vegeta's brute strength was much greater than Tayla's, even in his natural form, but her speed matched his. And with this speed, Tayla's small fist collided into Vegeta's abdomen, just above his crotch. Vegeta coughed, and in his pain, he was finally forced to release his captive.   
Tayla wasted no time in punching him hard in his face, knocking him into the soft grass. Vegeta leapt to his feet quickly, and he assailed her, pushing her to the ground. He pinned her down beneath him, straddling her waist with his strong legs. Tayla aimed her fist towards Vegeta's face again, but that was a mistake, for Vegeta speedily seized the wrist that was supporting the fist. Tayla had no cuffs on her wrists now, for she had been forced to remove the ineffective cuffs off of her wrists after Vegeta had laid her down on the hill. Tayla tried to electrocute Vegeta, but before she could do so, Vegeta grabbed her other wrist. Tayla struggled against her captor, even as her ki was being reduced.   
  
"Let me go, Vegeta!" Tayla cried in anger and despair.   
Vegeta laughed. "You're mine, now, brat."   
  
Tayla threw her head back and spat in his face. Vegeta hissed indignantly, but he was smart enough not to release her wrists to wipe off his face. He'd make her pay for it later, however.   
  
"Nice try, but I am not Balair," he told her smoothly. He pushed her arms and wrists to the ground, successfully pinning her further. Grinning, he put his face near hers and whispered, "Now what will you do, Tayla?"   
  
Tayla answered that question by raising her head and biting his nose hard. She did not know that Saiyans considered nose biting to be a form of affection. However, she had bitten his nose so hard, that she caused it to bleed. Vegeta cried out in pain, and in his agony, he released Tayla's right wrist to touch his sore nose. Tayla used that opportunity to electrocute him, using all of the ki that she could use. A high bolt of voltage coursed throughout Vegeta's body, forcing him to release Tayla altogether. He fell off of her, as the electricity ran throughout his body, making him shake and cry out. When the electric shock had dissipated, a weary Vegeta, who had managed to survive it, struggled to his feet, with his hair singed, and his clothes emitting small coils of smoke.   
  
"You'll pay for that, brat!" he hissed, gasping.   
  
Tayla trembled wearily, as she ruefully rubbed the broken shoulder that Balair had damaged earlier that day. She found her sword quickly and put it back in its sheath. Slowly, she levitated into the air, gathering her restored ki for a Double Janus Bolt attack. But before she could execute her next attack against Vegeta, she felt cold winds. The girl looked up into the sky and saw the sunny blue skies suddenly turn gray and cloudy. The temperature began to drop rapidly, and Tayla felt a few snowflakes land upon her bare flesh. She was shocked to find it snowing; she knew it to be snow, even though she had only seen snow once in her lifetime, on the moon of Sapphira, an Astorian moon well known for its blizzards and frigid temperatures. The moon of Sapphira, where the Clan of Sapphira lived, had a climate similar to the state of Alaska of the United States on planet Earth.   
  
Why was it so cold? Tayla knew that this part of Calmag was usually hot and humid, and that snow occurred here maybe every few years, but that was all. What was going on?   
  
Cold winds and snow surrounded her, in a blizzard. The Astorian princess, unused to such cold temperatures, shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Snow was blowing around and falling onto the landscape, sticking to the ground and fauna.   
  
Vegeta clenched his teeth and roared, "Diamonique! You stupid woman! You picked a fine time to create a blizzard!"   
  
Diamonique smiled wickedly, not feeling cold at all, for her race was able to withstand cold temperatures without freezing or feeling chilly at all. She crossed her arms proudly and watched the whirring blizzard around her, as she levitated in the air, not too far from Tayla. Tayla was shivering, as she formed a ki body shield to warm herself. Once her automatic ki shield was up,   
Tayla felt less cold, although she, like almost all of her Clan of Chloe relatives, did not like or feel comfortable in cold weather. (Chloe had a sub-tropical climate where snow had not occurred for almost two hundred years.) Gradually, her own ki helped her warm up, and the snowflakes falling upon her swiftly melted away.   
  
Vegeta, who himself had put up a warming ki shield, smirked at Diamonique. "Nice try, ice maiden, but you won't be able to stop me from taking Tayla away!"   
Diamonique laughed at him. "You just wait, monkey prince! I'm not done yet!"   
  
"What the hell are you planning, woman? We don't have time for this nonsense!" Vegeta shouted, annoyed, as the snow melted off of him, as soon as the flakes touched his warm body.   
  
Diamonique shot the snowy, gray sky with a long, thin, dark blue bolt of light, and before Vegeta and Tayla knew it, pieces of ice fell from the sky, ranging from the size of pebbles to the size of Vegeta's head.   
  
"Hailstorm?" Tayla whispered, astonished, as chunks of hail rained down upon her, hitting her with the force of rocks being thrown down at her.   
  
Bendros-Oozaru roared in annoyance, as hail rained down upon him, along with the snow.   
  
Tayla knew that she would have to escape and find shelter until she could come up with a plan to stop Diamonique. Even Vegeta had taken cover in a nearby cave until he too, could stop his ex-lover.   
  
She raced through the hailstorm and blizzard, as fast as she could, trying to dodge the larger pieces of ice falling down upon her. Diamonique chased after her in hot pursuit, as she also ducked the pieces of hail raining down everywhere. The hail and snow was falling harder and faster with each second, and Tayla was finding it harder to fly and to move, even with her warming ki shield. Finally, snow blindness set in, and she was having a hard time seeing where she was going; everything was so wet and gray.   
  
Finally, Tayla saw a mountain cavern through her now blurry vision, and she flew faster towards it, not entirely knowing what she was headed into. Miraculously, she reached the mountain cave within the next few minutes, and she remembered something that Caline had said about the underground labyrinths. She hoped that Caline and Petalia were okay, wherever they were at this moment.   
  
She hurried into the cave from the freezing outside world, as fast as she could. There were many corridors of the cavern, and Tayla had to choose quickly which of them that she would flee into. She chose a large one that seemed to be dimly lighted. Tayla hoped that there were Calmagian refugees hiding in that corridor, and with this small hope, she hurried down that section of the cavern.   
  
But it was not Calmagian refugees that were creating the brief flashes of light that Tayla had been noticing. When she reached the end of her corridor, Tayla gasped in horror when she saw Dirkan in the clutches of a strange, navy-blue gigantic alligator-like creature with two swinging, powerful tails and glowing yellow eyes.   
  
The blue monster was holding Dirkan by his neck, and Dirkan was badly beaten, gasping for air. He noticed Tayla, and he shouted, "Forget about me, kid, get out of here now!"   
  
The blue alligator-monster turned towards Tayla and smiled evilly. "Well, hello, brat, do I have another challenger?"   
  
Tayla was shaken, but she began to gather her ki. She would not abandon her beloved guardian, no matter what.


	63. Tayla Meets Jaden

Chapter Sixty-Three: Tayla Meets Jaden   
  
Tayla said boldly to the alligator-creature as possible. "Let him go now!"   
  
Jaden laughed. "You've got some nerve, kid, a scrawny little thing like you hoping to challenge me! If you give me half of the fight that Dirkan here did, I might spare you, but I'll doubt that you will last for more than five minutes!"   
  
"Get out of here, now!" Dirkan ordered Tayla as strongly as he could.   
  
"No," she told Dirkan quietly. "I am not leaving you behind."   
  
"Brave kid," Jaden said to Dirkan. "Well, I'll get rid of her quickly, and then, if you're still up to it, we can finish our fray." She flung Dirkan away from her and against the wall. Dirkan crashed into the wall of the cave. Jaden then used zanzoken, and she was in front of Tayla in an instant. She chuckled.   
  
"Hoping to save your friend, eh?"   
  
"What did you to do to him?" Tayla cried, trying to keep the anger and shock out of her voice, even as she was using the anger to bolster her confidence. She looked at Dirkan worriedly, for Dirkan's left arm was broken, his handsome green face was bloody, and his right leg was missing. Dirkan's nose was also broken, and his red fighting gi , or uniform, was torn to shreds. Dirkan's left hand was missing as well, and a horrified Tayla saw the large bruises covering most of Dirkan's torso. The pink muscle patches on his remaining limbs were torn and ripped. There were lacerations and scratches all over his body. Tayla was dismayed at seeing her handsome, strong, beloved Namek guardian and step-grandfather in such a bad shape. She had never seen him this injured or damaged. She wanted to run to him and hug him and tell him that she would take care of him and protect him. And she would have, then and there, if Jaden had not been in her path.   
  
"How dare you do what you did to him? You're going to pay for that!" she cried in fury.   
  
Jaden smirked. "He paid the price for getting in my way, kid. I promise not to hurt you too badly, if you tell me where Princess Tayla Chloe is." She then cocked her head thoughtfully and said, "Hmmm…you know, kid, I got a description of this Princess Tayla from Vegeta and his bunch before I left for Calmag, and you look like you fit the description. Compact body, black hair, brown eyes, button nose, that monkey called Raditz actually described her as 'cute, but troublesome'. You look like you could be her, kid. What is your name?"   
  
"Rosynthia Chloe," Tayla lied promptly, remembering the name that Dirkan and Nama had told her to use, should any of Frieza's minions capture her or question her.   
  
"Hmmm," Jaden murmured thoughtfully. "Rosynthia, eh? Well, Rosy, you do look like the description Vegeta gave me, however." She looked at Tayla skeptically, and Tayla answered calmly:   
  
"There are many Astorian girls that resemble me, and Tayla is my cousin, a distant cousin who did not come with us. Let me take Dirkan out of here with me, and I promise not to harm you."   
  
"Sorry, kid, but that's not happening. I was ordered to get rid of all of the Astorians here, except for Tayla Chloe. And I know that she is here on this planet, kid, because those spies, Alberm and Reccor squealed on her."   
  
"You know Alberm and Reccor?" Tayla asked. "If that is so, then you probably know where Princess Petalia and Princess Caline are. Where are they?"   
  
"I had them released," Jaden told her curtly. "I probably should have killed them, but I didn't think it would do any harm to let those two live. Alberm was not so lucky, for I sent that pig into the next dimension. He deserved it, for the way that he had treated his little child bride, Caline. I never knew that Calmagian men could be such a sick bunch, but anyway…do you plan to fight me or not."   
  
"I have no choice, do I?"   
  
"What do you think, kid?"   
  
Tayla stood up, straight and tall, as she unsheathed her sword.   
  
Jaden opened her right hand slowly, like a yawning bird, and she calmly shot out a burst of reddish-white light from that hand. The shot hit Tayla and Jaden cursed. She then turned on her scouter and nearly fainted.   
  
"She's-she's got a power level of twenty thousand!" she gasped to herself. "How can this be? How many Astorians have a ki as high as hers at that age?"   
  
Tayla stood still coolly, and her ki continued to steadily rise on Jaden's scouter, from twenty thousand to thirty thousand, where it stopped for now. Jaden then realized that "Rosynthia" was hiding some of her ki. She smirked again.   
  
"Hiding some of your ki? Clever trick, kid, I will admit that you Astorians have always had that edge over us, but it won't be enough. If your ki had been any lower than twenty thousand, you would have been turned into a glass statue. You should be thankful that my Glass Freeze attack didn't work."   
  
"Glass Freeze?" Tayla asked, and then she slowly realized whom she was dealing with.   
  
"You are Jaden, aren't you?" Tayla inquired. Chocolate eyes looked steadily into glowing goldenrod ones.   
  
Jaden smiled her cruel smile again. "You're smart, kid, very smart. Or just well informed. Is my fame that well known throughout the galaxy?"   
  
"Yes," Tayla told her quietly. "You happen to be fifth on Intergalacticpol's Most Wanted List."   
  
Jaden snorted. "Fifth? Intergalacticpol should update their list, kid. Only fifth, well I'm disappointed."   
  
"What you are doing is wrong, and you know it," Tayla told her. "You should just go home and leave us alone. You don't have to keep hurting me or Dirkan or anyone else."   
  
"You sound like Shalila Chloe, for that sounds like something that she would say," Jaden told her.   
  
"Of course I do," Tayla told her proudly. "She is my grandmother."   
  
Dirkan groaned, "Kid, don't…" He was worried that Tayla would accidentally reveal her true identity to their Rybanese enemy.   
  
"Shall we continue?" Jaden asked her confidently.   
  
"Fine, I will fight you, but keep Dirkan out of this," Tayla told her bravely. "He's been through quite enough with you."   
  
Jaden sniffed. "Fine with me, kid, he's not much of a challenge to me anymore. But I recommend that we move our fight to another location, say one that won't collapse in on us should we get too rowdy."   
  
"It might be hard out there," Tayla told her. "There is snow and hail blowing outside."   
  
"What?" Jaden exclaimed. "C'mon, kid, it was sunny and clear before I dragged Dirkan in here to finish him off."   
  
"There is a blizzard and a hailstorm going on at the same time," Tayla informed her.   
  
Jaden cursed under her breath. "Curse you, Diamonique! You just made things harder for all of us: friends and foes alike. First Vegeta and his Power Ball to turn his pals and sister into Oozarus and now this-just what we need! I'll break that Gemstarian strumpet's neck next time I see her!"   
  
"Diamonique did all of that?" Tayla asked her.   
  
"Yeah, she can create snowstorms or hailstorms, but she picked a lousy time to do so! Let's just go to another part of the cave."   
  
"Works for me," Tayla told her. "I just have one request."   
  
"And that would be…"   
  
"I want to check on Dirkan and see if he is okay." She looked over at Dirkan, who had yanked out his bad left arm from its socket and threw it aside, like a dead tree branch.   
  
Jaden snorted. "Very well. You have twenty minutes, and then you will meet me in our next location, kid. I will fire a shot when your twenty minutes are up, and then you better show, or I will come after you. And if I have to come after you, I will be much harder on you, is that clear?"   
  
"As crystal," Tayla affirmed, reciting one of Steak's favorite quotes.   
  
"I will be in the northwest corridor of this cave," Jaden told her. "The entranceway will be marked with two black X's." And she left. Tayla promptly ran to Dirkan, knelt, and carefully put her arms around his neck. She whispered tender words of comfort and filial love in his large green ear. Dirkan slowly wrapped his good right arm around her waist and closed his eyes.   
  
When Jaden was safely out of earshot, Tayla whispered, "Dirkan, are you okay?"   
Dirkan gave her a saucy grin. "Now that you're here, kid."   
  
"I'm getting you out of here and to somewhere safer in the cavern, Dirkan. I'd take you out of the cavern altogether, but Diamonique created that nasty snow and hail storm outside."   
  
"Don't worry about me, kid; worry about yourself. Jaden is tough and very strong, much stronger now than the last time that I fought her years ago."   
  
"How was she defeated the last time?" Tayla asked him.   
  
"It was your grandmother who did it," Dirkan told her wearily. "She used Electric Quake on Jaden, and while it didn't kill her, it did cripple her enough, so that she had to retreat. But she is much stronger now, and Tayla, I say that you take me out of here, and we will come back later to finish Jaden off. I am in no condition to fight at this moment until I rejuvenate myself and regenerate my limbs. If Jaden finds out who you really are, there is no telling what she would do, and your chances of fighting her and surviving are slim. I'm just thankful that you have not met Balair yet; he's equally as strong as her, but much more vicious and merciless than she is."   
  
"I already met Balair," Tayla told him, a bit triumphantly. "And I managed to slow him down, although he's probably still alive."   
  
"What???" Dirkan exclaimed, as Tayla pulled out her healior's kit from under her shirt to treat his wounds the best that she could. "How did you do that, child?"   
  
"I used two new attacks that I learned at Kami Orchida's, which are Double Janus Bolt and Blitzer, which crippled him enough for us to escape," Tayla told him simply.   
  
Dirkan was impressed and amazed that Tayla had fought against Balair and lived to tell about it.   
  
"Are you okay, Tayla?" he asked her, examining her gently with his good hand. She cried out when he touched her broken shoulder. Dirkan then noticed that the gold shoulder cloth was missing on that shoulder, and that Tayla had a large bite mark that could have only come from Balair.   
  
"He hurt you, didn't he?" Dirkan hissed, and Tayla nodded quickly. "I'll kill that bastard!" Dirkan vowed. And then a new worry came to him. "Does he know your true identity?"   
  
Tayla nodded again. "Yes, because Vegeta told him when he recognized me." She gave him a brief summary of her and Bendros' battle with Vegeta-Oozaru.   
  
"I hope that Bendros is okay," Tayla said worriedly. "I should have cut off his tail, but I had to fight Vegeta after I cut his tail."   
  
Dirkan's stump, where his right leg once was, began to tremble, and juices spurted out, as a new leg emerged from his stump, a new, perfect limb. Five minutes later, he regenerated a new left arm and hand as well.   
  
"I wish I could regenerate my body parts that easily," Tayla told him.   
  
Dirkan laughed, as the rest of his wounds slowly began to heal, slow being as in a few minutes. He was still not at his full strength yet, but he managed to struggle to his feet, with Tayla's help.   
  
"Dirkan, she will come after me, if I don't go fight her when she says I have to," she told him.   
  
"We still have time to flee," Dirkan told her firmly. "If we stay together, we can fly through the storm and make it to a safer location. I insist that we head back to the castle for now to reformulate a new game plan. I suppose that I can't convince you to stay there until this battle is over, can I?"   
  
"No, you can't," Tayla told him equally as firmly.   
  
Dirkan sighed, but then he gave her a small grin. "Then let's get out of here for now and come back to face Jaden when we have backup."   
  
"I will carry you," Tayla told him. "We must hurry, Dirkan, for we only have eleven minutes now." She looked anxiously at Dirkan's watch, a gold one that Shalila had given him for his one-hundredth birthday. She carefully lifted Dirkan, who was three times her size, onto her back.   
  
"Sure you can carry me?"   
  
"Positive." And with that, Tayla wrapped Dirkan's legs around her waist. Dirkan rested on her back, and his head lay on her shoulder.   
  
"I love you, Dirkan," Tayla whispered, and Dirkan told her that her loved her too, knowing that she meant what she said as a daughter loving a father. He closed his eyes for a few minutes, as   
Tayla walked out of the corridor quietly, with her Namek guardian on her back.   
  
  
  
But Tayla and Dirkan would not make it far, for just as they were about to leave the cavern, Diamonique appeared at the entrance, as if waiting for her prey the entire time.   
  
"Who is she?" Dirkan asked, not having seen nor met Diamonique yet.   
  
Diamonique smiled at the injured Namek on her prey's back. Should she poison him, or turn him into a diamond. While it would be more fun to watch him die slowly from her poison, turning him into a diamond statue would be much quicker.   
  
She raised her hand, and Tayla, knowing what she was about to do, quickly threw Dirkan to the ground before Diamonique's blast could touch him. She threw herself at Diamonique.   
  
"Sorry about that, Dirkan!" Tayla cried aloud, as she landed punches on Dirkan's would-be assassin. She and Diamonique kicked and punched at each other, showing each other no mercy, leaving the cave entrance and fighting in the freezing cold and snow. Tayla punched Diamonique in her face, while Diamonique kicked her in her thighs. She then tried to scratch at Tayla with her sharp diamond nails, but Tayla seized her wrist before she had the chance. She then punched Diamonique in her windpipe, knocking the Gemstarian warrior off of her feet and into the snow.   
  
Diamonique choked and gasped for air. She emitted a loud cough; Tayla's attack could have killed her for good, if she had hit Diamonique any harder. She then struggled to her feet, and she fired small ki blasts at Tayla, who deflected them back at her with Mirror Shield attacks, crippling Diamonique, knocking her over. Tayla was merciless and angry, for it was bad enough that that horrible woman had turned her family members into diamond statues; she would not allow her to do the same to Dirkan.   
  
She was through running away now. She slowly moved into the snowing and hailing air, bravely ignoring the cold and hail, as she crossed her wrists in an X position, opened her hands in a clamshell position, and cried "BLITZER!"   
  
Diamonique screamed, as the twisted, double attack shot into her, creating an avalanche, shoving her into the ground, and destroying much of that side of the mountain. While the snow, rocks, and hail were falling, Tayla rushed back inside the cavern and grabbed Dirkan. She swiftly threw the Namek over onto her shoulder, and they flew away from the crumbling cavern, to face the snow and the hail.   
  
Diamonique's screams could be heard, as the mountain around the cavern began to crumble and collapse under the impact of Tayla's Blitzer attack. An avalanche of snow, rocks, debris, trees, and hail pieces rained down onto that side of the mountain and Diamonique.   
  
As the mountain crumbled, Diamonique's ki faded away until neither Tayla nor Dirkan could feel it.   
  
Tayla hurried away from the falling mountain with Dirkan in her arms. Both of them fought against the wind, snow, and hail, as they fled from the dying mountain. Hail pieces were hitting them hard, but they both tried their best to ignore the pain. Dirkan was a heavy bundle for Tayla to carry, but he was her guardian, and she loved him; she would get them both away from there.   
  
  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" Jaden cried out loud, feeling the ground and corridors shake and tremble. She had been wondering why "Rosynthia" had not shown up, for it had been forty minutes since she had last seen "Rosynthia". What had been keeping the brat?   
  
The cavern shook and trembled, and Jaden saw giant pieces of rocks and debris fall down around her. Stalactites began breaking free of the cavern roofs and crashing down all around her.   
  
Jaden was furious that "Rosynthia" had run out on their fight, but she was no fool. It would be one fight that Jaden would not get to finish. She shot through the ceiling of the caverns, between the stalactites, creating a giant hole in the cavern ceiling. Jaden ignored the pain of crashing through hard rock and debris, but blasting a hole would have made things worse and cause everything to crash down around her.   
  
She continued breaking through the hard rock in the ceilings of the mountain with her body until she reached the outside, into the snow and hail. Just as Jaden was preparing to fly away, a gigantic boulder broke off of the top of the mountain and fell down towards her. The boulder was just as large as she was, but Jaden could have easily destroyed it-had she been able to see.   
  
The snow and hail were blinding her, blurring her vision and making it hard for her to keep her eyes open. She did not see the boulder smashing into her back, shoving her out of the sky and down onto the mountainside, where snow and rocks continued to fall and collide into her body.   
  
"JADEN!" a familiar, feminine voice cried.   
  
Jaden heard her, but could not respond, as another boulder crashed down onto her head, cracking her skull and giving her a nasty concussion. She saw everything began to grow dark, as a pair of much smaller arms caught her as she fell through the icy air.   
  
"Hang in there," the recognizable voice whispered. "I will take care of you."   
  
Jaden moaned weakly before she faded into unconsciousness. Before she passed out completely, she saw that the arms rescuing her belonged to a beautiful young woman with red and green hair and a panther-like face...


	64. PART FIVE: NO MORE MERCY, NO MORE RULES

PART FIVE: NO MORE MERCY, NO MORE RULES   
  
Chapter Sixty-Four: Hazel Sees Bhodie Again   
  
Nightfall, 9PM (Astorian Galactic Time) 11PM (Frieza Stellar Time), 1AM (Calmagian Royal Mountain Time)   
  
Princess Hazel Carr-Chloe was holding Caline, who was asleep in her arms, near Hazel and Gohan's bedroom window. Hazel was worried about her husband who was out fighting Frieza's minions. The last word she had heard from him was that he, Rojal, Dedron, and Jaca had managed to kill almost all of the Upper Low-Levels of Frieza's forces, and that Dedron was battling some Egimarian named Towanda. Hazel held Caline close to her, as she worried about her Gohan. The black Human woman from Earth was still amazed to this day how much her life had changed since she had left Earth to be part of Capsule Corp's space exploration program. She missed her home still, but now it seemed like a dream to her, a place that she would only visit in her sleep. She was not the same Hazel Carr who used to love a good beer and clubbing when she had free time. She was now a princess and a Technician who helped to build space ships for the Astorian people, and she had also started a music program for the young people of Chloe. Of course, it had taken the parents of Hazel's students to overcome their shock of some of the lyrics in the songs that Hazel taught their children, and some of the songs had been banned.   
  
Hazel could remember the trouble that started with Riccan and Nikon running through the halls, holding hands and singing some songs from the Earth music hip-hop group, Salt N Pepa after listening to one of Hazel's CDs on her CD player without Hazel's full knowledge. Hazel had unthinkingly let them borrow her CD player, but she had not known that Riccan and Nikon had picked one of the more shocking pieces of music to listen to. Astorian children have excellent memories, and they can remember a song and all of its words after listening to it just once. Riccan had proudly recited the entire words of the song of Salt N Pepa's "Sexy Noises Turn Me On", to his poor mother, Gracina, who had been horrified by the lyrics. Riccan and Nikon had taught all of the children of their age group and above (except for Tayla, who was still at Kami Orchida's at the time) the lyrics of three of Salt N Pepa's bawdiest songs, which included "Sexy Noises Turn Me On", "None of Your Business", and "Let's Talk About Sex" much to the eternal horror of all the parents and grandparents in the Clan of Chloe and their servants. After hearing Rojal and Dedron singing "None of Your Business" (and giving them an icy reprimand that neither boy had forgotten to this day), Gorna had given Hazel a sharp dressing-down that nearly drove her to tears. Even Shalila and Gohan, who were usually the ones most understanding of Hazel's Earthling ways, had been properly shocked.   
  
After that embarrassing incident, Hazel had Natala and Gracina (who was still in shock) go through the songs to help her decide which ones should be kept out of the reach of the Clan of Chloe children and teenagers. But even then, Hazel still hesitated to this day to play any of her Earth music around her Astorian in-laws. Now that Hazel herself had children, she could better understand why her in-laws were particular about what their children were exposed to.   
Hazel looked at her own children sleeping in the bed that she and her husband had been sharing for the past couple of weeks. Little Mantros and Aurora were snuggled together under the heavy covers. Both of them had their mother's dark skin and Mantros had his mother's coarse, napped hair that had curls tight as a sheep's. Aurora had her mother's skin color, but she also had her father's softer Astorian hair that was black and soft as rabbit's fur. Hazel looked at her children with love, and then she laid Caline down in the bed beside them and covered her up.   
  
She heard someone knock.   
  
"Aunt Hazel, may I come in?" asked a female voice.   
  
"Yeah, I mean, yes, sure, Natala," Hazel told Raakon's wife, the wife of Hazel's nephew-by-marriage. It felt strange to Hazel to this day to have nieces and nephews older than her, even if they were by marriage only.   
  
Hazel was sitting on the edge of her bed in her pink satin nightgown, trimmed with marabou feathers at the neck when Natala entered. Hazel was fond of Natala because she considered her to be one of the least judgmental people in the Clan of Chloe, and one of the more open-minded. Natala, like Shalila and Gohan, tried to understand Hazel's Earth culture. She knew that Natala was from another Clan, the Clan of Cornsilk, which was a clan better known for fine healers and scribes than warriors.   
  
"I am worried about Raakon," Natala told Hazel nervously. "I haven't heard from him since he left to fight."   
  
"I haven't heard from Gohan since the last time," Hazel told her worriedly. "And it's snowing and hailing outside all of a sudden, and he's fighting in that mess! How did that happen? Calmagian weather is awfully weird-and scary. I hope both our men our doing okay."   
  
"How did it start snowing and hailing?" Natala wondered. "It was sunny and clear when our warriors and healiors went off to battle. What's going on with the weather? I asked Queen Kildara about it, and she could offer no explanation, except that it's supposed to be summer here. Toria and Marya have sequestered themselves in their closet again in order to receive an answer from our ancestors, or hopefully, Kami Orchida. The Calmagian priests have been praying to their deity, Kami Ankor to help save the Calmagians. Normally, I would not malign a deity's name, but where is Calmag's Kami when all of this is going on? Doesn't he know that his people are suffering and dying every second? If it had been Astoria, and Kami Orchida, she would have never stood for it. She would have eventually intervened when those Saiyans had come to abduct Tayla, but Tayla and the others were able to stop them. My Arlina is praying to the East Kai, to see if she will intervene."   
  
Hazel had only recently learned fully about the universe's deities, and she had heard Toria, the High Priestess of Astoria mention that Kami Ankor was a powerful, but neglectful and sexist Kami who was given more to drinking and seducing the Calmagian women than to actually doing his job. Kami Ankor, from what Hazel had learned from conversations between Toria and Marya, had been disciplined twice for mating with mortal women, something that all deities were strictly forbidden to do. There had been a rumor going around Astoria (a rumor that Kami Orchida or Toria refused to confirm or deny) that Kami Ankor, who was half-Calmagian, one-quarter-Sistrai, and one-quarter Reznakian (proof that Sistrai and Reznakians were capable of having children with humanoids), had a son in hiding that he had with a Calmagian maiden, a child almost as powerful as he was.   
  
Hazel shivered for just a moment, now remembering the snow and cold. She then thought about someone, someone who had grown up in Alaska in the United States on planet Earth, a strong human man, brash and arrogant, and yet he had attracted Hazel like no other until she had met her Gohan…   
  
…A man whom she had almost given her virginity to instead of Gohan…   
  
  
Six years before….   
  
Hazel Carr and her crew had been stranded and lost in space for two months, and they were still waiting for rescue teams. She had been openly flirting with Bhodie Lett during that time, trying to take her mind off of their peril. She loved his light brown hair, mustache and beard, and he made her feel beautiful and adored. They had shared several steamy kisses in the closets throughout the space station, and he made Hazel want to do anything for him. Hazel had under exaggerated when she had told Shalila and Dirkan that her raging passion for Bhodie had been "a bit of a crush".   
  
He had nicknamed her "Hazelnut", and the way that his fingers would dance along her bare brown skin would send tingles up her spine. Hazel had thought that Bhodie was dashing and powerful and strong-and extremely aggressive, for Bhodie wanted to make love to her, and Hazel wasn't ready to have sex yet.   
  
"Bhode, it's too soon," she had told him softly, one occasion when Bhodie had reached under her blouse and tried to unhook her bra. "We've only starting seeing each other for six months. I'm not ready yet."   
  
"C'mon, Hazelnut, you want me and I want you. I love you, baby, and I want to be with you. Please for Bhodie!" Bhodie had made his characteristic puppy dog expression, which made Hazel laugh.   
  
"Not yet, naughty boy!" Hazel cried out, amused. "I don't give myself to a man that easily!"   
  
"Are you religious?" Bhodie had asked her. Hazel hid a smile, for she knew that what Bhodie really wanted to know was how soon they could have sex.   
  
Then he asked her, "Are you a virgin?"   
  
Hazel grew uncomfortable, and then she nodded.   
  
Bhodie had grinned wickedly. "I can easily remedy that condition," he purred. "All you have to do, my sweet Hazelnut, is just let me-" And kissing her neck, he began trying to peel her thin silk blouse off. His hands started to roam all over her body, too roughly. He was moving too fast for Hazel, and Hazel promptly pushed away from him and stood up, rearranging her blouse.   
  
"You talk about virginity, as if it's some disease that has to be cured!" she cried indignantly.   
  
"Sure is, baby, and I am the ultimate remedy," Bhodie said with a devilish smile.   
  
"I said that I'm not ready to have sex yet, Bhodie, and I mean it!" Hazel hissed. "Don't get me wrong, Bhodie, I do like you a lot, when you don't try to jump my bones right away, but I am not ready for that next step yet."   
  
"Well, when will you be ready?" Bhodie wanted to know. It was rare that a woman refused his advances, and Hazel was one of the few women that did not instantly go to bed with him. He considered her a challenge.   
  
"When I feel that I am ready, you horny dog! When I feel that I can trust you completely, as a partner for life, a potential mate, and not a fling. I am not going to be any man's 'ho or mistress or one-night-stand. I am trying to make a life for myself and my family, Bhodie, and I can't risk having a child out of wedlock or getting AIDS or some other disease. If you want me, Bhodie, you're just going to have to be patient."   
  
Bhodie waited patiently enough-for about three more weeks. He and Hazel were having a private dinner together after their work was completed (Bhodie was a pilot, and Hazel was a technician), and Bhodie plied her with his best champagne, which he had brought all the way from Alaska. He kept telling her stories about his home state, and Hazel had consumed five glasses of champagne. Hazel was getting tipsy, but she was so enchanted that night by Bhodie and his stories that she had forgotten how much alcohol she had consumed. Before she knew it, she and Bhodie were in bed, with her only in her bra and panties and Bhodie in his boxers. Bhodie was trailing kisses all over Hazel's body, and Hazel was wrapping her legs around his waist. Bhodie was grinning widely, after he had unhooked her bra, and he was now sliding her underwear down her legs. He had already removed his boxers, and Hazel could feel him pressing against her, ready to take her.   
  
"No, Bhodie, please," she moaned in drunken protest.   
  
"Yes, sweet Hazelnut, for you've kept me waiting for so long, baby," Bhodie purred, as he prepared to take her and make her his. He was on top of her, with his strong, muscular arms wrapped around her slender brown body. Hazel felt herself weakening, and now she wanted him too; she couldn't help herself.   
  
If it hadn't been for Jung Su, a fellow crewmember, Hazel would have given in to her urges that night.   
  
Jung Su had knocked on the door of Bhodie's bedroom, and she had called, "Hazel, the Captain wishes to speak with you."   
  
"Tell 'im it'll have to wait!" Bhodie moaned, as he kissed Hazel's neck.   
  
"It's urgent, Bhodie. Hazel must see him immediately," Jung Su told him. Hazel tried to crawl out of bed, but Bhodie's body prevented her from doing so.   
  
"I heard her, Bhode," she slurred. "I have to go. Let me up."   
  
"Not yet, baby," he crooned. "Captain Malready can wait, but I can't."   
  
Hazel had tried to get control of her senses. "Bhodie, I have to go, I am sorry." And she tried to rise again, but Bhodie pinned her down, and he began pressing himself against her again.   
  
"No, Bhodie, let me up!" she cried.   
  
"When we're done, I will. Relax, Haze, you're going to love this," Bhodie purred, holding her down beneath him. Hazel struggled against him, but he held her firmly.   
  
"Let me go!" she cried, fear seeping in. "I don't want to do this anymore! Let me go!"   
  
"No way, baby," Bhodie told her wickedly, not budging an inch.   
  
"Someone help me!" Hazel cried in terror, and at that moment, Jung Su had opened the sliding door from outside with a remote controller and entered the room.   
  
"Get off of her!" Jung Su had screamed.   
  
After several minutes of struggling, Jung Su had pulled Bhodie off of Hazel and knocked him unconscious. Hazel was shakily thankful to her rescuer, and Jung Su had been furious with Bhodie. She bluntly told Hazel that she was better off without him.   
  
"You deserve better than that garbage," Jung Su had told Hazel the next morning after Hazel had recovered from a hangover. Hazel had thanked her already.   
  
She sighed to Jung Su, "That's the tenth relationship that I had that went down the toilet. Every time I date a man, all it seems that he wants to do is jump my bones. Why can't I find a man who wants me for me and not my body? I don't want to make the same mistakes that my sisters made and have a baby out of wedlock or worst. I want better than that. I was sort of hoping that Bhodie would be different."   
  
"You must be wait and be patient," Jung Su had told her softly. "Wait long enough and the right man will come when you least expect it."   
  
"You sound as if I should wait for a prince or something," Hazel had jeered.   
  
Jung Su said half-jokingly, "Waiting for a prince to come? That might not be a bad idea, Hazel."   
  
"Come on, Jung; you have got to be kidding! The only princes that I know of who aren't old enough to be my father, are still young enough for me to be arrested for statutory rape should I look at them the wrong way. What sort of prince is going to want me anyway? I may be getting a college education, but I'm still nobody really. Just a girl from the slums who managed to pull herself up by her bootstraps, as my Nana would say."   
  
Jung Su said seriously, "Maybe there are princes of other worlds in outer space. I've always wondered about life from other planets, haven't you? I know that I sound silly when I say this, but there could be civilizations out there in space similar to ours, and maybe there could be even intergalactic police forces and princes. You never know, Hazel."   
  
"Yeah right, some Prince from a faraway planet is going to come sweeping here into our solar system and rescue me, and then he's going to take me to this faraway planet where I'll live happily ever after with people who can fly and fight bad guys like in the sci-fi movies. C'mon, Jung, you know that I don't believe in aliens from other worlds. The best I am hoping for is that we can eventually find another planet someday to occupy. If there is intelligent life out there, they are probably avoiding us like the plague," Hazel said with a small laugh.   
  
Jung Su couldn't help, but laugh herself. "Maybe, Hazel, but seriously, you should wait for a man who will treat you like a princess, even if he is not a real prince. Save yourself for the right man; it will be worth the wait; I wished that I had waited."   
Hazel smiled ruefully. "Thanks Jung, seriously, I will keep that in mind."   
  
Bhodie had tried everything he could that day to get himself back into Hazel's good graces, and possibly her bed, but Hazel was still furious that he had tried to take advantage of her that way. "I'm not speaking to you; leave me alone!" she had snapped.   
  
"C'mon, Hazelnut, I said I'm sorry. I know that I was a jerk, so let's kiss and make up, huh?" Bhodie had pleaded.   
  
He would have kept begging for her forgiveness, for he did really want to get her in bed and be her first man, but then that fateful message from a Commander Zarbon had come up on the space station's radio, a message that would began to change Hazel's life as she knew it forever…   
  
  
Present time…   
  
"Aunt Hazel? Aunt Hazel?" Natala's soft, velvety voice brought Hazel Carr-Chloe back to the present.   
  
"Sorry, Natala," Hazel apologized, and she was about to ask what Natala had wanted when she saw a shadow, a male humanoid shadow in the snow-encrusted window. The window was so blurry that neither Natala nor Hazel could make out whom the visitor (or intruder) was.   
  
Hazel cautiously approached the window, and she heard a strong voice that was usually husky, but occasionally whiny at times.   
  
"Open up, please! It's freezing out here! My hot buns are becoming frosted! Hurry!"   
  
Natala was confused by the strange words, but Hazel understood them-and recognized the speaker.   
  
"Bhodie?" Hazel asked, stunned. "Bhodie, is that you?"   
  
"Hazel Carr? Hazel, you're alive?" Bhodie Lett gasped, as he continued to rap on the window.   
"Hurry, Hazelnut, hurry, my buns are becoming frosted by the second!"   
  
"I recognize that phrase "hot buns are becoming frosted" anywhere!" Hazel cried with a mixture of joy and shock. She hadn't thought much of Bhodie's past actions, but she was glad to know that he was alive.   
  
"Hurry! I'm freezing, baby!" Bhodie moaned aloud.   
  
Hazel struggled with the locks on the window, and she helped Bhodie into the warm room. Natala grew uncomfortable with Bhodie's presence in the warm bedroom, and her instincts told her not to trust this stranger, even though Hazel seemed to know him.   
  
Hazel noticed Natala's discomfort when the normally hospitable Astorian princess wouldn't greet Bhodie or rush to his aid. She told Natala companionably, as she shut and locked the freezing window, "Relax, Natala, it's okay. It's my old friend, Bhodie, and he survived! He was the only survivor other than me from when Zarbon and Dodoria invaded our ship. He's okay, a bit pervy at times, but he's not a bad fellow."   
  
Natala nodded politely. "Greetiens, Bhodie, excusen." (Hello, Bhodie, excuse me.)   
  
"What the hell is she saying?" Bhodie wanted to know, as Natala went to stay near Caline, Mantros, and Aurora. She hovered over them protectively, and Bhodie couldn't help admiring Natala's curves through her saffron caftan. He emitted a low wolf whistle before he could stop himself. Natala had rich, caramel-and-cinnamon hair and deep, large blue eyes the color of new denim. Bhodie grinned slyly to himself, and he leaned over to Hazel. He forgot about translating Natala's strange words for the moment, for Hazel was still young as ever and cute.   
Bhodie smiled; he could have both women, if he wanted to.   
  
He intended to.   
  
"Been a while, Hazelnut, how've you been?" he asked her huskily, embracing her in a warm bear hug. "I hope that you can forgive me for being such a jerk the last time."   
  
Hazel tentatively hugged him back. "It's alright, Bhodie, just glad to know that you're alive. What happened to you? How did you escape?"   
  
"Got lucky, babes. I survived, and I'm okay," he said nonchalantly. "Hey, have you been waiting for me all of this time, or have you moved on?"   
  
"I-I moved on, Bhode," Hazel told him. "I married someone else, and two of those children in that bed are mine. I never did make it bad to Earth again, but I'm happy. I have had a good life."   
  
"Who's the lucky man?" Bhodie wanted to know.   
  
Hazel told him unthinkingly, "A prince, Bhodie, a real prince. He's also the Chief of Intergalacticpol, the intergalactic police force."   
  
"Whew," Bhodie said in a low whistle. "You hit the jackpot there, Hazelnut. Thought a lot about you while I was Frieza's prisoner, and I won't lie to you, babes; I wish it had been me that you married. Maybe if I hadn't tried to jump you so soon, I could have been the father of those kids."   
  
"Umm…maybe," Hazel said uncomfortably. "But that's in the past now, Bhodie, and I am happily married. I'm glad that you're alive, but we can't pick up where we left off; that's not possible."   
  
"Your royal hubby wouldn't have to know, babes," Bhodie crooned. "But if you insist on my moving on without you, I can always get acquainted with your friend here." He inclined his head towards a nervous Natala, who was fervently wishing that he would leave.   
  
Natala said as bravely as she could, without looking at Bhodie. "I am not interested in you. I myself am happily married with children."   
  
"Doesn't bother me, if it doesn't bother you," Bhodie told Prince Raakon's wife easily, still wanting both her and Hazel. He had always wanted to try a threesome, but he had never met anyone who was interested, not even the Ginyu Girls.   
  
He was trying a clever pick-up line for Natala, when suddenly Caline's body began to shake violently. The frightened little girl then started tossing and turning and screaming in pure terror, "No, Alberm, please, don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry that I angered you! Don't hit me! No, don't make do that! Don't make me do that! Don't make me take you into my mouth! Please, I don't like that! It makes me sick! You knew that I threw up the last time! Don't, I don't want to! Don't whip me! No, not the belt! Anything, but the belt! NO!"   
  
"Caline, Caline, wake up!" Natala cried in distress, trying to shake the terrified Calmagian princess awake.   
  
"Let me go, Alberm, please, I won't make you angry again! Don't whip me, please! No! Don't hurt me, please!"   
  
Mantros and Aurora woke up, scared. Aurora began to cry when she saw Caline screaming and shaking. "Mommy!" she screamed.   
  
Hazel rushed to both of her children and gathered them into her arms, holding them tightly to her chest. Natala was still trying to revive Caline, who was crying and begging Alberm for mercy in her dreams. Caline would not awaken, for she was too scared, and she could not breathe.   
Bhodie stood still in place, paralyzed, as Natala finally woke Caline up. Caline emitted a sharp, piercing scream, as she fell into Natala's arms.   
  
"Caline, Caline," Natala said worriedly. "You are safe now. Alberm is not here. He is far away. He will never hurt you again."   
  
Caline threw herself bodily into Natala's loving arms. Natala cuddled her close and held her tight.   
  
"You just had a bad dream, sweetheart. Alberm is never going to hurt you again. We will protect you from him. You're safe now, for Hazel and I are here. No one is going to hurt you again. It was just a nightmare, love, just a bad dream." Natala's voice was low and soothing, and her arms were gentle and kind; she reminded Caline of Gracina.   
  
"It was real!" Caline sobbed. "It was real, Princess Natala, it was! Alberm did make me those nasty things with him! It happened-on the last night that he coupled with me. I was sick, very sick, and Alberm wanted me to pleasure him and take him into my mouth, but I refused, and it made him angry! So he beat me and made me do everything he wanted and more! Whenever I told him no, he would whip me with his belt, just like Father used to when I infuriated him. I ran away from him and found Tayla. Tayla fought him off and saved me, for he was going to kill me 'cause I knew about him being Frieza's spy. Then he and Reccor kidnapped Petalia, and me but we met up with Commander Jaden and her people, and Commander Jaden killed Alberm. Alberm is dead, and it's my fault because at one time I wished him dead! I told him that I hoped that he would die after the last time that he raped me! I told him that I wished that he were dead! And I got my wish, Princess Natala, I got my wish, for Commander Jaden granted it and killed him! I didn't tell her to kill him, but she did anyway 'cause he was saying awful things to me, so she blasted him through his heart. It's my fault that he died!"   
  
"No, it's not, Caline," Natala told her gently, her heart breaking for this mistreated child. Natala sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Caline into her lap, cuddling her close. "It was Jaden who killed Alberm, not you. It is her that Enma Daiou will hold responsible, not you, and I don't see how he could condemn her for ridding the universe of such a cruel man to save you. And you had every right to be angry and hurt, sweetheart, for Alberm hurt you. Alberm shouldn't have done those things to you, no matter what. He was bad, honey, not you. Your father wasn't much better, for he forced you to marry a cruel man, when you are still a little girl. Caline, you are only eleven years old, far too young to have a husband, much too young to be anyone's wife or mate. Two men hurt and used you, but that's over with now. We all love you, Caline, already, and we won't let anyone hurt you or use you again, not even your father. Gracina and Lektron love you and want to take you home to Astoria with them, and Tayla and Riccan adore you and want to protect you and be your friends. Petalia likes you too, and it is not often that Petalia is friendly to anyone these days. And I like you, Caline, I love you, and I want you to be happy. You are worthy of being loved, and I know that you still have much love to give. We will find a way for you to be happy, I swear that by the Seven Moons." And Natala held up seven fingers to seal it.   
  
Caline's shaking began to cease, as her tears still continued to flow. Her small golden head was still buried in Natala's bosom, as she allowed Natala's kind words to sink in. She was not at all a bitter child; she just wanted someone to love, and for someone to love her. Caline's life had been so empty and bleak until the Astorians had come to Calmag, except for the moments when Queen Kildara or Ridikar (whom Caline used to get along with quite well) had shown her affection. Her older sisters lived far away and had been too busy with their own demanding husbands and families to pay attention to her, and her older brothers treated her and snubbed her the same way that their father, Amitar, had. King Kitchator barely acknowledged her until she became of age to marry (ten years old on Calmag). She had been heart-hungry and soul-hungry, hungry for love and affection. Any love that someone gave her, she would lap it up like a sponge and return it tenfold to whomever had shown her caring.   
  
Caline felt that she had only existed, but not lived, until the wonderful Astorians and their friends came to Calmag. Tayla had befriended her and introduced her to everyone, and Gracina and Lektron had practically adopted her. Riccan and Nikon jostled her and teased her as brothers did, but they never mistreated her or looked down on her the way that so many boys did because she was a female. Caline loved all of the Astorians already; she was even tolerant of Rojal and Dedron, the two brattiest boys in the Clan of Chloe.   
  
She was calmer now, quieter, and more content, as she nestled further into Natala's motherly arms. She whispered a thank-you, and then she added, "I know that this may sound strange, Princess Natala, but I would rather be here with all of you Astorians now than with anyone else, even with the war going on. No matter what has happened, I am very, very happy that all of you came here. I don't feel as scared anymore with all of you here on Calmag. I know that your race is strong, and that they will win over Frieza's forces."   
  
Natala said nothing, but she hugged Caline closer to her in joy, forgetting about Bhodie's ominous presence for the time being. Bhodie rolled his shoulders, as he casually strolled away from the women cuddling the children. He deftly opened the window with ease, allowing the frosty air to flow into the window, making the women and children shiver.   
  
"Bhodie, what the hell are you doing?" Hazel demanded to know, forgetting about the Astorians being averse to cursing (most of the time). "It must be one hundred degrees below Fahrenheit out there! This planet is becoming a giant iceberg! Close that window!"   
  
The snow and hail continued to blow through the open window, as Bhodie just stood, there, shivering, but doing nothing to stop the cold from coming in. But it was something else that was blowing in with the wind that made Hazel and Natala gasp in horror.   
A heavy, red fog was coming in from outside, a huge cloud of crimson dust and smoke, a cloud of gas that was solidifying itself into a gigantic, red Tyrannosaurus-Rex-like creature, as it came inside the bedroom.   
  
Hazel screamed when she saw the familiar Sistrai warrior that could kill people just by vaporizing himself and entering their bodies to force them to self-destruct. She screamed louder when a fat, pink monster who looked like a cross between a blowfish and a puffer fish squeeze himself through the window. Finally, much to Dodoria's embarrassment, Bhodie had to help pull him through the window.   
  
Natala and Caline screamed and clung to each other, and Hazel's children cowered closer to their mother. Hazel cried out, "Bhodie! You joined up with these bastards! You're on their side now?"   
  
Bhodie smiled slyly. "So I am, Hazelnut, baby, so I am. But that doesn't mean that we can't be friends, does it?"


	65. Reunions

Chapter Sixty-Five: Reunions   
  
The next morning…   
  
"Commander Chestra, are you there?" Chestra heard a girlish voice echo through her scouter.   
Jaden was lying in her arms, barely able to move. She and Chestra were taking refuge in an abandoned building, where she and Jaden had slept throughout the night in a cellar.   
  
"Yes, Crystalis, I am here."   
  
"I have bad news, Commander. Pork has been severely wounded. One of those missiles that the Calmagians had landed near us before we could flee, and Pork was caught in the blast. His neck seems to be broken, Commander, and his right foot was severed. He-he has many bruises, internal bleeding. What do I do now?"   
  
"Give him first aid, Crystalis, and take him and yourself to the mountains of Ensley. Steal a vehicle if you can. We are going to have to retreat to there until Diamonique's snowstorm and hailstorm wears off, which should be in a few hours. We're not going to do much good at this time, for Commander Jaden is also severely wounded, and I will need to take her out of here as well. I am preparing to take her there now, and I want you to meet us on Mt. Pykas, the tallest mountain in that range. Fire three ki blasts in a row to signal to us that you have arrived. Take your time; don't worry about fighting or finding Princess Tayla at this time; just get you and Pork out of there."   
  
"Yes, Commander. Signing off now." And Crystalis's voice was gone.   
  
Jaden slowly revived, and she mumbled to Chestra, "Thanks, kid, you've saved my life. Now where in the hell are we going?"   
  
"I am taking you to the mountain range of Ensley, Jaden. The weather is too bad here for us to do much more fighting. We are going to have to retreat temporarily until the effect from Diamonique's winter storms wears off. What was she thinking?"   
  
"I'd like to strangle that ice-haired witch," Jaden grumbled. "She just screwed things up for all of us. And I'm not retreating, Chestra; I have a score to settle with an Astorie brat named Rosynthia, plus there's a Princess Tayla to find and a planet to clear."   
  
"Jaden, please, now is not the time for that. You are too badly wounded, and you barely survived that avalanche that an Astorian girl created. She was very powerful, I tell you, why I saw her fleeing with a Namek guardian-was Dirkan his name?-and she blasted Diamonique with ease. I could not pick up Diamonique's ki on the scouter at all. I believe that she has perished," Chestra said quietly.   
  
"An Astorie brat blew away Diamonique?" Jaden wanted to know. "Not every brat, Astorie or not can do that. What was that kid-a Super Astorian?"   
  
"Maybe," Chestra said thoughtfully. "I would have gone after the girl myself, but I was trying to find you and Diamonique-"   
  
"Why do you bother about that slut, Chestra? She tried to kill you twice!"   
  
"The remains of my conscience are haunting me?" Chestra quipped with a grin.   
  
Jaden sighed. Chestra was her best friend, but Jaden at times thought that Chestra was too kind-hearted to be one of Frieza's fighters, even though Chestra could be as ruthless and deadly as the rest of them.   
  
"Anyway, it was a more practical matter," Chestra told her simply, as two icicles fell near her. Chestra picked it up and sucked on it because she was thirsty. She gave one to Jaden. "Lord Frieza seems to favor Diamonique for some reason, probably because her uncle is one of his allies."   
  
"Or maybe because Lord Frieza wants to jump her bones," Jaden joked between sucks on her icicle. "He does like young women as well as his father does."   
  
Chestra shuddered. "I would question his taste, but better Diamonique than me. She has always said that she wanted a mate with power. I never told anyone this besides Zarbon, but it scared me that time when Lord Frieza had wanted me for his mate. Him and his father, King Cold, wanting me that way makes me quiver to this day. I was afraid that I had been caught in the same trap that I had been in before when my masters had desired me."   
  
"What made them change their minds about you anyway? What made Lord Frieza back down and let Zarbon have you? I've always wondered, Chestra. I never did learn the entire story."   
  
"I-I don't know," Chestra admitted, a bit nervously. "I know that Lord Frieza and Zarbon fought each other in a nasty battle over me; I am surprised to this day that Lord Frieza allowed Zarbon to live and be my love. Lord Frieza said that he was letting us be together as an act of goodwill towards his Head Commander and favorite officer, but how often does Lord Frieza do things without a reason?"   
  
"There had to be a reason," Jaden rasped, for the cold air was making it harder for her injured body to breathe. "Lord Frieza never does anything just out of the goodness of what heart he has. He always has an ulterior motive. Do you have some deep, dark secret that he could have discovered?"   
  
"I don't know, but I'm just relieved that he didn't try to pursue me any further. His father backed off too, and that alone was odd. King Cold is not one to give up a young woman. Anyway, it doesn't really matter now; I have to get you to safety."   
  
"I'm not leaving, Chestra," Jaden wheezed. "I have a battle to finish."   
  
"Jaden, you are not going to finish it right now; now be sensible for once because I can restrain you for a time," Chestra said sternly, her voice carrying a definite threat. It was rare that she ever spoke back to someone that she considered one of her mentors and closest friends, but Chestra was not going to allow Jaden to foolishly put herself in danger until Jaden had healed.   
  
"Don't threaten me," Jaden growled.   
  
"I mean it," Chestra said firmly, her green eyes staring down into Jaden's yellow ones. "I may not be as physically strong and powerful as you are, but my telekinetic powers are more than enough to keep you from doing anything rash."   
  
Jaden growled again, but said nothing. She turned her aching head to the side, silently, but grudgingly yielding the argument to Chestra. The stubborn, hardheaded Jaden was not pleased to give in to anyone, but she knew that Chestra's telekinetic abilities were a force to be reckoned with. It evened out the balance of power between them and made them equals in fighting ability. She was just glad that Chestra was her friend, not her enemy, even though she would never admit to it under slow torture.   
  
  
  
Crystalis was carefully carrying Pork to an aircar that she had spotted in the distance between two damaged buildings. She was flying slowly, with her eyes half-closed to block out the wind, snow, and hail from her eyes. She and Pork were near the Calmagian royal castle, although neither one of them realized it. Crystalis was very tired; the telekinetic abilities and pain-increasing abilities that she had "borrowed" from Chestra had long ago worn off, and her own ki had not been enough for her to fight against the missiles and guns that the CRP officers kept firing at her and Pork.   
  
She noticed one of the Oozarus stomping throughout the business district of Magan, crushing tanks below his feet. It was probably Raditz or Journa or Nappa, and if Crystalis hadn't been so tired and injured, she would have tried to touch the Oozaru to absorb his or her Saiyan and Oozaru powers.   
  
She couldn't fly anymore with Pork in her arms, and so she was forced to land in front of the castle. Maybe she could force someone to treat her fallen comrade.   
Two CRP officers emerged from the bushes near the area where Crystalis had landed. One of the officers recognized Crystalis's uniform as belonging to Frieza's forces, and he ordered the men to shoot.   
  
Crystalis gently laid Pork down on the snowy ground, and she began to gather what ki that she left together to fight off the men.   
  
But Crystalis would not have to throw a ki blast; at that moment, a strange horse-like creature with blood red, shimmering hair came running forth. He threw himself in front of Crystalis and Pork and cried, "Don't shoot them! Please! She has my son!"   
  
And it was then Crystalis recognized the odd man, for he was a Meatian, of Pork's race!   
  
"Who are you?" she asked breathlessly.   
  
The red-haired Meatian turned to her and said anxiously, "I am Steak, this boy's father! Please let him go! Turn him over to me, and I will see that you live!"   
  
  
  
Tayla was carrying Dirkan on her back, when she saw her Nama flying slowly against the snow and wind with Petalia near her. Shalila had carried Petalia as far as she could, but once the snow and hail set in, Petalia had to fly herself. The two ladies had been navigating through the snow all through half of the night until Shalila had insisted that they sleep for a few hours in a nearby cave. Not that Shalila had slept much, for she was too deeply worried about the others. Petalia had slept in her grandmother's lap until Shalila had woken her up and told her that it was time to go back to the royal castle.   
  
Tayla and Dirkan themselves had slept for a few hours in the underground labyrinths in order to get some rest and to escape the cold and wind. Magan was such a large city, or at least it had been. At least the labyrinths were nice and warm unlike the weather outside. Tayla had only managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but she insisted that her beloved guardian sleep the entire time. Tayla had kept watch while she was awake.   
  
She and Dirkan of course felt much better now that Nama was here.   
  
"Nama!" Tayla cried happily.   
  
Shalila was enormously relieved to see that her darling grandchild was all right, and enormously horrified to see Dirkan in the shape that he was in.   
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila ran to him and cautiously put her arms around her Namek husband. "What happened to you?"   
  
Dirkan grinned wryly. "Jaden. Calm down, love, I looked much worse than this earlier; just ask Tayla. The little lady distracted her and tricked Jaden into leaving. If Jaden is still alive, she's probably wondering where 'Rosynthia' is. From what she's told me, she fought Balair as well, and she also saved us from Diamonique. She used some strange attack called 'Blitzer' that demolished that Gemstarian witch and pretty much that entire mountain."   
  
Tayla looked down, her face flushed. Shalila smiled and tousled Tayla's hair, which had long fell from its coronet. Her hair was now long and tangled. Shalila whispered, "I'm proud of you, dandelion."   
  
Tayla nodded a thank-you and continued to blush.   
  
The quartet quickly flew down into the same cave where Tayla and Dirkan had spent the night. The cave was near to the warm labyrinths, so it was toasty inside. Shalila gently laid Dirkan down on the ground, and she lay next to him. Tayla and Petalia laid near her, with Tayla between her Nama and her niece.   
  
Shalila quickly embraced her granddaughter and kissed her on her cold cheek. Then she told Tayla, "Hand me Dirkan, dandelion, and I will take care of him from here."   
  
Tayla handed Dirkan over to her grandmother, who gently laid him over her shoulder. Dirkan weakly embraced his wife, rested his head on her slender shoulder and closed his obsidian eyes.   
  
Tayla then turned to Petalia and asked, "Are you okay? How did you escape?"   
  
"Commander Chestra talked Commander Jaden into freeing us, and Jaden killed off Alberm, so Caline doesn't have to worry about him anymore," Petalia gasped a bit breathlessly.   
  
"Alberm's no loss," Dirkan murmured from Shalila's shoulder.   
  
"That I have to agree with," Shalila added.   
  
"I'm not sorry that Alberm died," Tayla said firmly. "I know that's not a nice thing to say, but it's true. How could he want to hurt his own wife, especially someone as nice and sweet as Caline?"   
  
"Caline is only eleven, too young to be married," Petalia asserted. "Alberm was nothing but a-well you know."   
  
"Poor Caline," Tayla said worriedly. "Won't Prince Amitar try to force her to marry that Filcork Sediment or whatever his name is?"   
  
"Not if we can prevent it," Dirkan promised her.   
  
"Good, 'cause I'd hate for Caline to have to marry another awful man. She told me that Filcork is no better than Alberm," Tayla declared.   
  
"Prince Amitar is a bad father," Petalia added. "I thought that my father wasn't much of a parent, but at least he never hit me like Amitar hit Caline. Caline didn't do anything to deserve his abuse or Alberm's."   
  
"Prince Amitar was a bad father," Dirkan told her. "He died yesterday, I'm afraid."   
  
All three females grew solemn. "How did he die?" Shalila asked quietly.   
  
"He wasn't much of a father, but he was a good fighter," Dirkan told them. "He and some of the other Calmagian soldiers fired their laser guns at a bunch of little green monsters, killing a good number of them-I'm sure that you and Tayla may have seen some of those nasty beasts already-anyway, one of the little green things jumped onto Prince Amitar from behind. The little bastard self-destructed while holding onto Prince Amitar, exploding and killing both of them before anyone could intervene."   
  
"That means Ridikar will be the next king of Calmag, should he live through this war," Shalila said gravely. "Does he or Caline know of their father's death yet?"   
  
"Not that I know of," Dirkan admitted. "I probably should have told Caline when I saw her last; Gracina took charge of her, so Caline should be safe now. Caline has enough to deal with-the loss of both her husband and her father."   
  
"Alberm and Prince Amitar aren't that great of a loss," Petalia said firmly. "They both treated her like dirt."   
  
"Not that I'm glad that they died, but Caline's better off without both of them," Tayla added.   
  
"No one's going to miss them not much," Petalia agreed. "They got their just deserts, at least Alberm did anyway. And now Amitar knew what it was like for someone to hit him for a change."   
  
"We should be able to take Caline home with us now, that Alberm and Amitar are gone," Tayla said hopefully. "She won't have to worry about anyone hurting her anymore, and now that they aren't alive to prevent her, we can take her home with us."   
  
"I do have to thank Jaden for saving us the trouble of dealing with Alberm," Petalia said. "It was horrible to see him die like that, but he would have hurt Caline worst, had he lived. I doubt Caline will mourn them much at all."   
  
"I wouldn't, if I were her," Tayla declared.   
  
"It saves Caline the trouble of getting a divorce."   
  
"And the worry of her father marrying her to that nasty Filcork Sediment."   
  
"Ugh!" Petalia gagged. "Caline's father has bad taste in husbands! At least Caline doesn't have to worry about being married off to anymore hideous men!"   
  
"Girls!" Shalila said, shocked, while Dirkan was trying to repress a chuckle. "Two men in Caline's family have died! Despite the way that they treated her, Caline is still going to feel some grief over their deaths, at least her father's. No matter how bad Amitar was to her, I'm sure that Caline still loved him, and she will feel some sorrow over his death."   
  
"How can she feel sorrow over the death of someone who treated her like used diapers?" Petalia asked. "I certainly wouldn't."   
  
"And Alberm was never nice to her at all. He even forced himself on her before they were married," Tayla added. "I'm sorry, Nama, but he did get what he deserved, for treating her so badly. Now we'll just have to make sure she's not forced to marry Filcork Sediment."   
  
"Maybe the green monsters will get rid of him too," Petalia said hopefully.   
  
"From what I've heard of him from Caline, he's not any better than Alberm," Tayla told her. "He sounds like Alberm's twin. Prince Amitar wasn't much of a father, if he had to pick two bastardi monkens (bastard monkeys) in a row for his daughter."   
  
"Tayla!" Shalila exclaimed, horrified at her granddaughter's language.   
  
"That last sentence I agree with," Dirkan declared vociferously, with a laugh. "She hit the nail right on the head, as they say on planet Earth."   
  
"Dirkan, do not encourage Tayla's bad language," Shalila scolded. She turned to her errant granddaughter. "Tayla, where did you learn such words?"   
  
"Lektron, Bajal, and Alora use them all the time," Tayla said, a bit proudly, without shame, probably because Dirkan was still grinning. Shalila sighed; she knew that she'd get nowhere lecturing Tayla on her bad choice of words, if Dirkan were egging her on. "They use them all the time during their sparring matches, and Lektron called both Alberm and Amitar those words quite a few times. He called Amitar the bastardi monken kingi" (Bastard Monkey King). Dirkan chuckled softly before he could stop himself, and Shalila sharply nudged him in one of his few pain-free areas of his body.   
  
Dirkan mock-moaned. "Ow, love, that hurt! Tayla was just telling the truth, weren't you, princess?" He winked at Tayla, who grinned back.   
  
Shalila frowned. "Dirkan, I am surprised at you! I don't want Tayla and Petalia rejoicing over Amitar's and Alberm's deaths, and I don't want Tayla using foul language." She turned her frown on Tayla, hoping to make her see the error of her ways.   
  
"We weren't rejoicing, Nama," Tayla told her gravely, for she was trying to become solemn because she knew that was what her grandmother expected after a scolding. "We were just stating facts."   
  
"And we shouldn't pretend that we're mourning someone when we're not," Petalia added.   
  
"I agree with that," Dirkan said. "I don't believe in hypocrisy."   
  
"Still," Shalila said with a sigh. "They did die, and we should show proper respect."   
  
"Even if they don't deserve it?" Petalia asked her. "Because they certainly don't deserve any."   
  
"You've always told us that respect goes both ways, Nama," Tayla agreed.   
  
"That you did tell them, Shalila," Dirkan, unable to repress a smile.   
  
"Dirkan…" Shalila said warningly. She said to Petalia and Tayla, looking directly at them. "It is not right in most cases to be happy over someone's death, especially if they are on the same side as us."   
  
Shalila changed the subject then because she just noticed that Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan were missing. "Tayla, where are your brothers and your nephew?"   
  
Tayla told them of their horrible fate, and there were three cries of horror. Tayla hastily reassured them. "Don't worry; Kami Orchida taught me how to break the spell on them; they are not dead, just frozen."   
  
"How do you reverse it then?" Dirkan wanted to know.   
  
"Well, I would have to-" but Tayla would not to get to finish her sentence.   
  
"RARR!"   
  
Shalila, Tayla, Dirkan, and Petalia looked out into the entranceway to the cave, and they saw the red eyes and ugly ape face of a snow-covered Raditz-Oozaru stuffed in the entrance out of the cave.   
  
  
  
Journa had landed several hard punches on Ridikar, who had been the Calmagian boy who had confronted her. She and Ridikar had been fighting throughout the night despite the cold and hail. Ridikar had put up a good fight against the Saiyan princess, but he was no match for her, and he could not even paralyze her. Journa had repeatedly punched and kicked Ridikar in his face and stomach, beating him up and giving him what she thought that she deserved. Ridikar had bravely landed many good blows and kicks, but Journa outclassed him in fighting ability. Ridikar had been trained in warfare from the time that he was ten, but Journa had been fighting since she had been three years old and had killed her first trainer in a sparring match.   
Ridikar was now lying facedown on the ground, with Journa's foot on his neck. Journa was preparing to finish him off, as she bravely stood against the cold winds, snow and hail.   
  
"Any last words, Calmagian?" Journa said evilly.   
  
"You-you whore! You won't get away with this!" Ridikar cried out, but at that moment another Saiyan's foot kicked him hard in his face.   
  
"You shouldn't call my sister, an elite-class Saiyan Princess from the House of Vegeta, a whore," Vegeta, who had just arrived, told Ridikar in a low hiss. "I am the only one who gets to insult her."   
  
Ridikar choked out, with blood dribbling down his chin, "What do you want?"   
Vegeta looked contemptuously down at the wounded Ridikar and said in a sneer, "Perhaps you can tell me where Princess Tayla went to."   
  
"I don't know," Ridikar rasped, "and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you or your sister! She is my fiancée and I plan to marry her!"   
  
"Yes, he did mention that, brother," Journa told Vegeta easily. She then noticed that Vegeta's tail was missing. "I see that someone chopped off your tail too. This Calmagian pig chopped off mine, and as you can see, I wasn't too happy about it."   
  
"Tayla cut off my tail," Vegeta said evenly. "And I would have captured her even then, had not Diamonique summoned up these winter storms! The nerve of that woman! What I ever saw in her, I can't possibly imagine!"   
  
"I've wondered the same thing," Journa agreed. "For a while there, Vegeta, I was starting to question your good sense. I'm glad that you have it back; I'd hate to see Diamonique become the next Queen of the Saiyans."   
  
"She won't become anything; that I can assure you. Now, hurry up and finish off this weakling, sister, for we have an Astorian princess to find," Vegeta ordered, getting back to business.   
  
"You Saiyans will pay for this," Ridikar rasped at both of them. "My people will stop you."   
Vegeta laughed, as a few snowflakes melted on his nose. "You are funny! I ought to keep you alive just to amuse me, but you're not worth the trouble, since my sister has reduced you to nearly nothing." He turned to Journa. "Finish him off, and let's go." He rose into the air to give his sister room to finish off her opponent.   
  
Journa grinned. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits. She slowly levitated into the wintry air, and she launched her most powerful attack.   
  
"FOUR FINGER FLASH!" she screamed, as four red ki lasers shot out from her four pointing fingers.   
Her attack, which would have been enough to kill off ten people at once, would have worked, except for one thing.   
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!"   
  
The Mirror Shield attack deflected Journa's powerful Four Finger Flash attack back onto her, colliding into her and shoving her out of the gray, snowy sky. She fell backwards down into the snow.   
  
Vegeta growled at the guilty Astorian who had attacked his sister, "You'll pay for that, Astorian!"   
  
"Not today I won't!" Rojal laughed arrogantly. He hadn't saved Ridikar out of any particular feeling for him; he had saved the Calmagian prince because Ridikar was (unfortunately) still important to both the Calmagians and the Astorians because his signature was needed on the alliance papers. Rojal still didn't care much for Tayla, but even he had thought that Ridikar had gone too far in trying to rape her. He regarded Ridikar with contempt.   
  
Dedron, proud of winning over all the Saibamen and the three Upper-Low Levels that he had killed, landed next to Rojal. Dedron snorted contemptuously when he saw Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans for the first time.   
  
"This short, spiky-haired boy is supposedly the most powerful Saiyan warrior in the universe?" Dedron asked scornfully. He had seen pictures of Prince Vegeta from Intergalacticpol Most Wanted Posters. Vegeta was third on the Most Wanted Intergalactic Criminal List. He was sixteen, the same age as Dedron, but Dedron foolishly thought that because Vegeta was physically smaller than he was, that Vegeta would be an easy target. "He may be muscular, Roj, but other than that, he doesn't look like much. You demolished his sister for the most part, so he shouldn't be too hard to handle. I can finish this one off myself."   
  
"Don't underestimate Saiyans, or this guy's size," Rojal cautioned his best friend. "Remember that size doesn't always matter. Tayla is smaller than he is, and yet she's as strong as us. Size doesn't always determine strength, so be careful." Then he grinned and said, "Take your time, Dedron, and you can destroy him; just don't do anything rash. Show him what an Astorian Prince of Chloe is capable of!"   
  
"I will!" Dedron told his friend confidently. He strolled up casually to Vegeta, pulled out his sword, and he swung it at the Saiyan Prince. To Dedron's surprise, Vegeta caught his sword-wielding hand easily, and before Dedron could react, Vegeta used his free fist to ram it into Dedron's stomach, crushing it and causing Dedron to spit out watery blue blood. Without thinking, Dedron tried to swing at Vegeta again, but Vegeta quickly punched Dedron's arm hard, and Dedron was in such pain that he dropped his sword.   
  
Before Dedron could fight back, Vegeta released Dedron's fist, and he punched Dedron hard in his cheek, breaking Dedron's cheekbone. Vegeta then kicked Dedron hard in his ribs and then in his jaw before Dedron could retrieve his sword. Rojal knew then that he was going to have to intervene, even if it meant hurting Dedron's pride. But before he could jump into the fight between Vegeta and Dedron, someone leapt upon him from behind and hit him hard in his neck with a fist.   
  
"How-how did you recover so quickly?" Rojal asked his assailant, as a wounded, but resilient Saiyan Princess seized his shirt and put her face in his.   
  
Journa laughed wickedly. "It's not as easy as you think to kill a Saiyan, boy! That shot that you gave me was free! But now playtime is over, Astorian, for now there will be no more mercy."   
  
"And no more rules!" Vegeta added, as he flew into Dedron and kicked him in his chest with both feet. Vegeta's feet crashing into Dedron's chest had the impact a heavy log ramming into him. He continued to rain kicks and blows onto Dedron, who long ago realized that he was outmatched, but he couldn't run away now, as much as that idea appealed to him. Vegeta was merciless towards Dedron, hitting and kicking him every chance that he could get. Dedron managed to land a few good blows himself, but Vegeta quickly overpowered him. Vegeta then clasped his hands together and struck Dedron hard in the middle of his back.   
  
Rojal barely managed to break free of Journa's grip, and he drew his sword to attack her, preparing to slice her in half, but before he could do so, Journa aimed a ki blast at his stomach that hit him hard. Rojal, clutching his sword, fell to the ground onto his knees.   
  
"Journa," Vegeta told his sister. "Let's not waste any more time. We will destroy both of them now."   
  
"Works for me," Journa told him, as she launched herself upon Rojal.


	66. Beginning Of The Takeover

Chapter Sixty-Six: Beginning of The Takeover   
  
"You two ladies try to resist us, and you're dead," Dodoria told Hazel and Natala.   
Caline pressed against Natala, her pale head buried in Natala's soft bosom. She and Natala clung to each other; neither one of them were warriors. They were both terrified of the three horrible men that had crawled in through their window. Aurora began to cry, and Mantros clung to his mother, trembling. Hazel snapped at Bhodie angrily:   
  
"You bastard! These monsters killed our crewmembers and our friends! How could you betray me, the others like this?"   
  
Bhodie smirked. "Simple, baby, remember that I always told you that I would do anything to survive? Well I did, and now I'm an Elite officer in Frieza's forces. Relax, Hazelnut, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you; we can pick up where we left off. Your hubby is probably going to croak in this battle anyway."   
  
"You beast!" Natala hissed angrily. "All of you are beasts! Bhodie, or whatever you're name is, you are worst than a beast, you are a traitor! If my husband was here, he'd give all of you what you deserve!"   
  
Dodoria slurred, "Well your mate isn't here, is he?"   
  
Balair pushed past Dodoria to reach Natala and Caline. He boldly took a lock of Natala's nutmeg hair in his thick fingers and began to stroke it.   
  
"Take your hands off of my hair!" Natala cried out. "I am a married woman!"   
  
Balair grinned. "And that's supposed to deter me!"   
  
"Leave her alone!" Hazel ordered.   
  
Balair laughed. "You want to be next, little one? Maybe I should have some fun with you first. It's not every day that I get to screw the wife of an Intergalacticpol Police Chief!"   
  
"You touch me, and you're dead!" Hazel shouted. "That goes for touching Natala and the kids too!"   
  
"Oh, I'm not interested in brats," Balair purred, "Except for maybe this little white girl with the pale hair. I'm claiming both of these females as my own." He inclined his head towards Natala and Caline to claim "ownership."   
  
"Hey, I wanted the lady as well!" Bhodie protested, meaning Natala.   
  
"Relax, Bhode, I'm letting you have the dark-skinned one that you tried to bed before," Balair told him.   
  
"You're not claiming either one of us," Natala snapped. "We are not livestock or land! You touch any of us, and you'll regret it!"   
  
Balair then boldly squeezed Natala's buttocks. "I touched you, woman, now what are you going to do?" He then yanked a terrified Caline out of Natala's arms before Natala could stop him. Caline screamed, as Balair hoisted her into the air. "Hmmm…cute little girl you are! Don't know if you could survive what I've got planned for you, sweetness, but I'll be gentle if you behave yourself."   
  
Caline began to cry. "Please let me go!"   
  
Balair chuckled, as he slowly licked Caline's white neck. Caline trembled like a leaf in a violent thunderstorm, as the tears cascaded down her face. What had she done to deserve this? First Alberm, and now this monster…she must have been placed under a curse from the moment she had been born.   
  
"Let her go now!" Natala screamed at him.   
  
Balair looked at her contemptuously. "Who's going to make me? You?" He then began to slide his large, red hand under Caline's dress, up towards her inner thighs.   
  
Natala then threw herself upon Balair, punching him ineffectively with her small fists. One of her fists managed to hit his yellow eye, and that time she managed to hurt him. Balair cried out and threw Caline onto the bed. He then seized Natala and slammed her into the wall hard, causing her to dislocate her shoulder.   
  
"Run, Caline!" Natala shrieked. A frightened Caline scurried off of the bed towards Hazel.   
  
"Manny, 'Rora, you both go with her!" Hazel ordered her children.   
Before anyone could stop them, Caline had gathered Mantros and Aurora together, holding their hands with her own. The children quickly made it to the door, and Caline flung it open. Dodoria chased the children to the door. Caline ushered the smaller children out of the bedroom before her, but before she could escape, Dodoria swiftly seized her by her hair, pulling it hard.   
Caline shrieked in pain, as Dodoria slammed the door shut. Dodoria continued to drag her by her hair back towards the others, as Caline struggled helplessly to get away.   
  
"Let her go!" Hazel screamed, knocking off a lamp off of the nightstand and raising it at Dodoria. Bhodie deftly snatched it from her before she had a chance to use it as a weapon. He threw it to the other side of the room.   
  
"Wouldn't want you to do anything rash, Hazelnut," Bhodie told her with a wink. "It might cost you your life."   
  
Balair, by this time, had Natala's slender throat in his meaty hand. He smiled evilly at her.   
"That was a mistake, sweetness, a mistake that you will dearly regret. When I make you my woman, I'm going to have to hurt you, but it will be fun for both of us. Just ask the other Astorian woman that I took prisoner-what was her name, Furla, Fayla, oh, slip of the tongue, Dodi, what was her name?"   
  
Dodoria cracked, "Balair, is your brain getting soft? Her name was Farla, Farla Chloe, that Astorie woman that you insisted on making your personal whore. Her hubby was Princess Tayla's brother-"   
  
"Tayla's brother?" Natala wheezed; it was hard for her to talk with Balair's fingers around her throat. "Was-was his name, Jaypros? Jaypros Chloe?"   
  
"It was a Jay something," Balair told her, forgetting for a moment that he was planning to hurt her. "Yeah, it was Jaypros, now that I think about it. Jaypros Chloe was stupid enough to think that he could stop me from screwing his wife, Farla, who is my concubine now. She's great in bed, knows how to please a man; her hubby sure was lucky. Her stupid hubby tried to fight both Dodoria and me, but Dodoria killed him, crushing his spine and neck! Good thing too. Didn't need that weakling prince trying to foolishly fight me for my woman."   
  
Natala shook, looking at the pink, spiky warrior was grinning proudly. "Are you Dodoria? You killed Jaypros?"   
  
Dodoria chuckled. "He deserved it too. The little prick prince bit my hand; he had good teeth, I'll give him that. But now he's in the other dimension."   
  
"Poor Raakon," Natala whispered out loud, without realizing it. "My husband will never see his brother alive again." A tear slid down her cheek for Jaypros and Raakon.   
  
Balair said thoughtfully, "So you have a husband named Raakon?" He looked at Natala slowly, as if he were seeing her for the first time.   
  
Dodoria jumped in. 'This Raakon wouldn't happen to be Raakon Chloe, would it?"   
  
Natala looked towards Dodoria. "Why do you ask? What have you done to him?"   
  
Dodoria laughed. "Is he the same Raakon Chloe who nearly killed me in the Battle of Chloe? Well, guess what, baby? He's now a diamond statue. Diamonique, one of our comrades, turned him into one."   
  
"That's impossible!" Natala shrieked. "Not unless this Diamonique is a Gemstarian!" She had learned of the Gemstarians from her husband. (Neither she nor Raakon knew that the diamond attack effect could be undone; both of them had heard that it was irreversible.)   
  
Dodoria chuckled. "She's a Gemstarian alright, and she turned Raakon into a gem! And there's no way to reverse the effect. Your hubby will forever remain frozen in time!"   
  
"You're lying!" Natala screamed.   
  
"It's true, baby," Bhodie added. "Rocky is now a rock, literally."   
  
Balair said triumphantly. "So that means you may as well call yourself a widow, sweetness, 'cause your mate is as good as dead!"   
  
Natala screamed, "NO!" And then she collapsed, dangling in mid-air, sobbing hard and loud. "Not my husband! No! I shouldn't have let him fight! I should have told him that I didn't want him to go! How could I have been so foolish? RAAKON!" She began to cry wildly, her lovely cinnamon face turning red.   
  
She was a widow now, essentially, alone once again. Natala hadn't felt this desolate and alone since her parents and brothers had died during the Battle of Chloe. Her whole body shook; how was she going to go on without the only man that she truly loved? The tears cascaded down her smooth cheeks, as she remembered her husband's kindness, his devotion to peace and tolerance, his mostly nonviolent manner. Raakon had been the kindest, most compassionate, most peaceful man that she had ever met, a man who could never kill without cause, a man who had always tried to use violence as an absolute last resort, a man who had tried to teach others the painful lessons that he had learned. She knew that some people had called him a pacifist, but Raakon had been no weakling; he had always stood up for what he thought was right, even when it could have cost him his life.   
  
And then she thought of his protectiveness towards her and their children. He had almost always been there for them, and he had been so gentle and supportive of whatever they had chosen to do. He had always loving towards them, especially her, and he was not easily angered. He had always been willing to give almost anyone the benefit of the doubt.   
  
She had loved waking up to him every morning and falling asleep besides him every night. Each time she had awakened or fallen asleep, his arms had always been around her, holding her close, with her cinnamon-nutmeg head resting on his still strong, muscular chest. Her husband had kept himself in good shape, even though he had not fought in many battles as of late; Dirkan had insisted that he keep up with his training, even though Raakon had no longer been an official warrior.   
  
She had always felt safe with him, no matter what. And now he would never return to her.   
Her sobs grew louder and louder until Balair slapped her face hard.   
  
"Shut up!" he screamed at her. "I can't stand a female whining! Your hubby is dead, woman, so shut up and get over it! You're mine now, so stop whining!" He pulled her against him and whispered, his tone instantly becoming seductive. "You don't need a weakling like him, sweetness, when you have a real man like me to take his place."   
  
Natala made the error of slapping Balair hard across his face. Balair roared with fury and threw her onto the bed, repeatedly slapping her several times and sharply biting her breast with his razor sharp teeth.   
  
"Stop it!" Hazel screamed. She picked up the nightstand, a green hardwood oak-like table with three thick legs and bashed it over Balair's back before anyone could stop her. The nightstand crashed into his spine, but it did not break any bones; it broke into five pieces.   
  
"You whore!" Balair roared, after shaking the broken table pieces off of him. "You have some nerve for a weakling woman! Bhodie, come get this slut of yours before I murder her!" Bhodie made a grab for Hazel then, but Hazel sharply slapped him across his face. Bhodie responded with full force (he had slowly regained his energy a while back), seizing Hazel by her slender brown arms and throwing her to the floor.   
  
"Stop it!" Caline cried. "Leave them alone!"   
  
"Shut up, brat!" Dodoria snarled. "Or I'll-OUCH!" Caline had sunk her tiny teeth into his meaty hand. He threw the small girl across the room towards the window, where Caline hit her white-gold head hard on the windowsill. Caline's body slid to the floor, and she passed out. A thin crack could be seen threw her thin, pale hair, a crack that oozed amber blood resembling honey. Caline's eyes were closed, and she was barely breathing, barely alive.   
  
Natala and Hazel screamed in horror when they saw the innocent child lying against the wall.   
"SOMEBODY HELP US PLEASE!" they both screamed. "HELP!"   
  
Natala stopped screaming when Balair slapped her face hard again. "Shut up! And I mean it! One more sound out of you, woman, and I will order Bhodie to kill your friend, and Dodoria will kill that brat he threw across the room." Balair turned to Hazel, growling, "And as for you, Human woman, if you try to fight us anymore today, both this woman and the brat will perish. And if the girl resists us when she comes to, both of you will die. I can easily find another whore. To put it simply: if any of you three ladies fights us or tries to escape, the other two will die automatically."   
  
"We have no choice," Hazel whispered. "Natala…"   
  
Natala weakly nodded. She had little strength left to fight anyway, and she could did not want anything to happen to her Aunt Hazel, or poor little Caline. The child had already suffered more than enough.   
  
"That's more like it, ladies," Dodoria told them, scooping up Caline and throwing the unconscious girl over his broad shoulder.   
  
"Can't you at least release her?" Natala asked shakily. "She is just a little girl, and she can't do anyone any real harm."   
  
"She has a big mouth for a small brat," Dodoria replied. "And that's more than enough to cause us trouble. Besides, I believe that my pal, Bali, wants to have some fun with her, don't you, Bali?"   
  
Balair chuckled. "Maybe, but I think that I'll take a more experienced woman for right now. Keep her though anyway. Right now, I want to try this Astorie woman out, to see what has kept Prince Raakon Chloe so interested in her all these years. He must have been one lucky Astorie prince."   
  
"C'mon, Bali, Zarbon has ordered us to take this castle over; you'll have to have your fun later," Dodoria told his friend. "Once we take this castle, this strongpoint, then we can have fun with some of the women here."   
  
Balair grumbled. "Fine. Bhodie, go find something to tie these three ladies up with."   
  
Hazel wondered softly, whispering, "What are we going to do now?"   
  
Natala closed her eyes and silently prayed.   
  
  
  
Another bedroom, three floors down….   
  
"Leave us be, please," Steak shakily ordered the Calmagian guards surrounding him, Crystalis and Pork. Steak had Crystalis carry Pork to the bedroom that he had been sharing with his oldest son, Ham. Steak and Ham had stayed behind to help protect the castle should Frieza's forces try to invade there.   
  
Steak knew that Crystalis worked for Frieza; he knew that there was a chance that the girl could kill him on the spot. But Steak had seen something in the Espican girl's eyes; there was something there that he suspected was not entirely evil. He believed that the girl was more scared of her enemies than they were of her. The brown giraffe-like creature was trembling, scared for herself and genuinely worried about her friend, his son, Pork.   
  
She helped Steak tuck Pork into bed, while they waited for the Calmagian guards to bring the royal physician. Crystalis sat on the edge of the bed, shaking. She looked at Pork's father and said fearfully, "I-I don't want him hurt; I don't want to hurt him; he's my friend."   
  
Steak nodded; oddly enough, he did not fear this strange creature, this brown and green minion who only wanted to save her friend.   
  
"I am not going to hurt you," he told the girl, as he sat down next to her. "What is your name?"   
  
"Crystalis Wisteria-Hondas of planet Espica."   
  
"I know that you have done wrong in the past, having worked for Frieza, and I know that my boy here has probably killed for him, as well. Did they force him to do so?"   
  
"He-he thought that his family was dead," Crystalis whispered. "He didn't think that there was anything left for him, so he joined up, with some persuasion. He considered us, me, Commander Chestra, a few other people, his only family because he thought that you and his brother and sister had perished. Please don't hate him, please. He has killed, yes, but it's not entirely his fault; if he hadn't, they would have killed him. He didn't think that he had anything left, so he agreed to work for them and do what they wanted him to do. Then he realized what they were having him do was wrong, but it was too late; he couldn't back out, he had to go on and take those lives. But he's not evil, truly. Please don't hate him, don't hurt him."   
  
"How can I hate him?" Steak asked, astonished. "He is my son, my boy. Whatever he has done to survive, I can forgive him for. What about you, my dear? You don't seem to be so evil yourself. How did you wind up do these horrible things for a living?"   
  
Crystalis whispered, "Same reason as him; I did it to survive, to live, although I probably don't have much to live for. My people are extinct; I am the last of our kind that I know of. Slave traders captured my family and I from our home planet and sold us to the horrible Sistrai! They were so cruel, so vicious, and so merciless!" Her voice shook with sobs, as she continued, "There were seven of us, you see, my Pakati (papa), my Makati (mama), and my three sisters and one brother. Sistrai men are so mean, so nasty, and our Sistrai masters raped my makati, my sisters, and me over and over! They called us cruel names, saying that that as ugly as we were, we were lucky that any man would want us at all." Crystalis' body shook hard, and Steak gently patted her shoulder. He did not consider this strange girl to be a threat. Crystalis took a few moments to calm down before she continued:   
  
"They put restraining collars on our necks to prevent us from absorbing their powers; we can 'copy' the powers of others just by touching them, and we can read minds with complete accuracy. They killed Pakati and my brother, Hystali, and then after realizing that we couldn't bear them children, they killed my sisters and sold me to Frieza. Lord Frieza was mean too, and so were Commander Balair and Commander Dodoria and the others, but they did not rape me. Frieza was going to have me killed because I was too weak physically to be of much use, but Commander Chestra saved me. She already knew that I could read minds, see, and she learned of my Espican ability to 'copy' the powers of others when I accidentally blew up one of the moons near a planet belonging to Lord Frieza, using her power of telekinesis. She convinced Lord Frieza to let her train me, for she thought that my power-copying ability would come in handy. She was training Pork at the same time that she was training me, and we grew to be friends. Princess Journa became my roommate once we were both promoted to Mid-Elite, and she's not too bad; she's much more sociable than the Saiyan men are. She's not so stuck-up and arrogant as her brother, Prince Vegeta is. He scares me something fierce, but he stays away from me pretty much 'cause he knows I can 'borrow' his powers. Balair had started leaving me alone too, even though he would hurt me, if he could. I fear all Sistrai."   
  
"I fear Sistrai too," Steak admitted. "Particularly that horrid one called Balair. I believe he murdered my wife, Poultry."   
  
Crystalis decided not to tell him that Balair had raped and tortured Poultry before he killed her. She had learned this after temporarily gaining Pork's superb Meatian hearing abilities, and she had heard Balair brag about his harming Poultry to Dodoria. She took a deep breath and sighed.   
  
"What's going to happen to us now? What will happen to him? Will they kill him because he worked for Frieza?"   
  
"No," Steak assured her firmly. "I won't allow it, for Pork is my son. I don't believe that it's too late to save him. And I don't believe that it's too late to save you. Do you really want to continue what you have been doing? I don't think that you do, my dear."   
  
Crystalis hung her head down and whispered, "They will kill me, if I don't; I have no choice. No one can protect me, or would even want to."   
  
Steak placed a fatherly arm around the Espican girl's shoulders. "We will, my dear. If there were a way that you could change your ways, would do so? Do you want to continue to harm others?"   
  
Crystalis didn't reply, but she finally shook her head. "I-I don't want to kill anymore, but are you sure that it's not too late for me?"   
  
"It's never too late," Steak softly told her. "As long as you are still alive, you always have another chance to make things right. You can't change the past, or the things that you did then, but you can start anew. If you want to switch sides and join us, I will see that you are helped; the Superior Gran of Astoria is a good friend of mine."   
  
"The Astorians will not want me among them, not after what I did. I was one of those sent to capture Princess Tayla Chloe."   
  
Steak's position did not change. "I am aware of that, my dear; the Astorians can be vengeful, but they are not unforgiving. If they have seen that you truly mean to change your ways, I am certain that they will allow you to join our side. No one is perfect, not even they, and I am sure that they will give you a chance, if you allow them."   
  
Crystalis slowly nodded, and she was about to speak again when her scouter beeped. She then heard Head Commander Zarbon's voice saying, "Attention, all fighters: our plans have changed. Instead of fighting throughout Calmag at this time, we will simply seize the royal castle and take all of the occupants inside hostage, including the Calmagian royal family and the non-fighting Astorian people. We will demand that Princess Tayla be turned over to us in exchange for releasing the hostages. Of course, we do not intend to spare anyone, for our Lord Frieza has ordered the planet to be cleared, but this method will ensure that we have Princess Tayla and not have her killed in the fighting. Commanders Balair and Dodoria have already been apprised of the plans, and they are now beginning our takeover plans. They are currently inside the castle, as we speak…"   
  
Crystalis barely kept herself from shrieking, and Steak had grown pale. His superior Meatian hearing had heard the entire conversation.   
  
"Crystalis," he told her as steadily as possible, "you stay here. I have to go warn the others, for I have heard everything."   
  
"Wait!" she told him. "I will go with you. After the harm that I helped to cause, the least that I can do is help you to warn the others."   
  
"I appreciate it, Crystalis," Steak told her, "but it might be more dangerous for you now at this point, if this Zarbon and the others succeed in taking over. Besides, Pork can't be left alone; he needs you, he knows you. I will do what I can. Just stay here and lock the door; do not answer it unless it's the doctor or me. He already knows that you are here."   
  
Pork murmured in his sleep, "Crysti? Crysti, are you there?"   
  
Crystalis took his hand and held it. "Yes, Pork, I'm here."   
  
"Don't leave me, Crysti, please."   
"I won't," Crystalis promised, as Steak crept out the door. There would be time to get reacquainted with his son when things were settled.   
  
  
  
A third bedroom, one floor up…   
  
Veal and Lelina began to creep downstairs to warn the adults of what had happened in Hazel and Gohan's room. Veal had heard the terrified screams of Natala, Hazel, and Caline, and she had heard the evil voices of Balair, Dodoria, and Bhodie. Veal and Lelina decided to go for help, so they crept downstairs towards the meeting hall, where they knew some of the adults were.   
They found Lelina's Great-Aunt Toria and Aunt Marya quietly talking near the lavatories. "Aunt Toria, it is more dangerous out there than it is in here," Marya told Toria.   
  
"I know, my niece," Toria told her. "And it will not be safe here for much longer either, for dark forces plan to overtake this castle. Marya, I must find your sister, Tayla; she is the only one whom I have taught to reverse the spell that the evil Gemstarian woman, Diamonique, has cast upon many people. Time is running out for them, for if they remain diamond statues for more than thirty-six hours, they will remain in that form forever."   
  
"Does Tayla know this?"   
  
Toria sighed and shook her head. "I just learned the reversal spell myself not too long ago. I taught it to Tayla on the way to Calmag. But I read about the spell further in the Book of Universal Sorcery Based On Ki Power that Kami Orchida had Tayla study out of, and there was a passage that was overlooked-oh, my Kami!-that explained about the time limit on that spell."   
  
"How much time do we left?"   
  
Toria moaned, "Ten hours, I believe. I felt the first victim being crystallized yesterday. I have to go now."   
  
Veal and Lelina had joined them by then. "We're coming with you, Great-Aunt Toria," Lelina said firmly.   
  
Toria looked at the girls thoughtfully. "Veal will go; I need her hearing capabilities. Lelina, you must stay here and help Marya warn the others. You know as well as we do that Frieza's forces plan to take us captive. You and your aunt must help get as many people out of here as possible. Thankfully, this horrific snowstorm should be clearing up soon, but there will be much ice."   
  
Lelina was scared to be the one chosen to stay in the castle, but she only said bravely, "Yes, Great-Aunt Toria, we will do what we can." Her voice trembled, as Toria gently patted her shoulder.   
  
"I know that you are afraid, Lelina, but all of us are in peril now, and each one of us must do our part. Be as strong as you can, for even the mightiest among us can be fearful at times. Don't give up." She kissed Lelina's brow gravely, as she and Veal left to sneak out of the castle. 


	67. They're Back!

Chapter Sixty-Seven: They're Back!   
  
Raditz-Oozaru growled and grinned, as he shoved his large, apelike hand into the cave to reach for Tayla (he recognized her because of her scent). Shalila swiftly cut off the tip of his index finger with her sword. Raditz-Oozaru howled in pain, as he took a swipe at Shalila. Dirkan fired his Tri-Power attack at Raditz-Oozaru, hitting him in the face, burning his red eye. Raditz-Oozaru roared in fury.   
  
"Tayla, take Petalia and get as far into these caverns as you can!" Shalila ordered. "Take care of her!"   
  
"Right!" Tayla told her, as she grabbed Petalia's arm. The two girls leapt off of the ground and swiftly flew into the frosty cavern air towards a large cave, where they sailed into. The girls glided further and further into the cave, leaving Shalila and Dirkan to face Raditz-Oozaru on their own.   
  
  
  
Tayla and Petalia finally had landed on the stone, dirty ground, and the girls decided to run for now. Their delicate feet galloped along the ground with the grace of thoroughbred horses. Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop went the slippered and booted feet of Tayla and Petalia.   
  
The girls found a small pocket in the cave where they had been running in. Tayla settled Petalia down on the dirty floor of the cavern behind a stalagmite. Petalia, who did not like getting herself dirty, despaired when she saw that her beautiful lacy ivory caftan and sea-foam green sash were torn, tattered, and very dirty. The ivory cloth was so filthy now, that the ivory had faded to a dingy shade of beige. Half of the lovely, shimmering sash had been ripped, and it was now threadbare.   
  
"My clothes," she moaned softly, for she was a clotheshorse and somewhat vain. "This was my favorite dress and sash! Curse Alberm and Reccor; if those fools hadn't abducted Caline and I, my clothes would have never been ruined, and I would have never been in this situation! This is the first time that I've noticed!"   
  
Tayla wisely decided not to tell her that it was unusual for her not to notice her clothing. Petalia had always been extremely dressy and showy, although she wore almost anything that she put on well. Petalia loved fine clothes and luxurious, rich fabrics, and normally if a garment so much had a tear or a seam missing, she would not wear it again. And Kami Orchida forbid if a garment had a stain! Petalia never went anywhere without seeing that she was dressed well and had her makeup perfectly applied. Yet very few criticized her for it, for Petalia was a sharp dresser and excellent with makeup. She was always giving the other girls makeovers, and she thought that Tayla would be a little prettier, if she wore a bit more makeup.   
  
Tayla liked to dress well too, but she was not as showy or as dressy as Petalia was. At that time, Tayla had been a more casual dresser than some of her dressier peers, and she was just discovering the art of wearing fancy clothes and makeup on a regular basis. As long as the garments involved were in her favorite colors, and they were clean, comfortable, and coordinated, Tayla was satisfied. And when she was training or sparring, fancy clothes were unnecessary; all she needed were her reliable gray boots, red and gold fighting uniform, and of course, her sword. A week or two could go by before Tayla would put on a spot of makeup, and at her age, she did not need it much anyway. Up until now, she had only really dressed up in Petalia's style when there was a party or a ball. Tayla had been dressing more stylishly after arriving on Calmag because she was a guest and also to attract Ridikar's attention. She had learned most of her makeup tips from Petalia and Lelina, who was also dressier than Tayla, but less so than Petalia. Gracina had taught her how to style her hair so that she would look more like a young lady instead of a tomboy.   
  
Now her red and gold uniform was threadbare, tattered and as dirty as Petalia's clothes were. There was a small hole in the toe of her left gray boot, and Tayla sighed, as she looked at the numerous patches on her boots, for she loved that pair because they were comfortable. She had stubbornly refused to throw them out despite Nama and Gracina's protests about her wearing patched boots. Nama had put her foot down after the Cobbling Laborers back on Astoria had patched the last tear in Tayla's right boot, telling Tayla sternly that if she received another tear, hole, or gash in her favorite boots, Nama would incinerate them with a ki blast so that Tayla could not wear them anymore.   
  
"I don't know which is more stubborn," Nama had sighed to her after the last time the Cobbling Laborers had finished repairing Tayla's boots, "you or your boots."   
  
Shalila had been after her to replace her training boots for some time, and she had threatened several times to reduce Tayla's old boots to ashes. Tayla had seen the stern expression on her grandmother's face the last time that she had made that threat, and she knew that her Nama meant it this time. If they survived this battle, Tayla was certain that her gray boots would be the final casualty, if Nama had her way. Tayla knew (thanks to Veal's excellent hearing abilities) that Shalila had planned to dispose of Tayla's old boots before the battle, but Tayla had put them on and left before Shalila could force her to surrender her favorite pair to Shalila's ki blast.   
  
She idly wiggled her toe that poked out from her gray boot. Perhaps Nama was right this time; time to kiss the pair goodbye if and when this war ended. Then she sat up straight, remembering that Nama and Dirkan were fighting Raditz-Oozaru. She turned to Petalia, who was holding the folds of her once-intact sash. "Petalia, you stay here until I come back."   
  
"Where are you going?" Petalia wailed. "I don't want to be here by myself!"   
  
"I know that you don't," Tayla told her softly. "But I can't let Nama and Dirkan fight that mean giant monkey by themselves."   
  
"Great-Nama and Dirkan have fought many an Oozaru by themselves," Petalia pointed out to her shakily. "This one can't be much stronger. Tayla, I don't mean to be a coward, but I don't want to be alone, and I can't fight like the rest of you can."   
  
"I know," Tayla said gently. "That's why you must stay here. I can't sit here idling away while Nama and Dirkan fight for our lives. You should be okay here; I promise that I will be back as soon as I can."   
But before Tayla could leave, they heard a deep Oozaru-like roar outside. Suddenly, a giant, apelike fist crashed through the wall of the cave.   
  
"AHHHH!" Petalia screamed in terror.   
  
Tayla's body began to tremble, as she reached for her sword. She cried to Petalia, "Run! Get out of here!"   
  
"I can't let you deal with that-that thing by yourself!" Petalia protested, even though she knew that she would be of no use to Tayla.   
  
"It's not a thing," Tayla told her in a trembling voice. "It's Bendros."   
  
"Bendros?" Petalia asked, puzzled. "How can that ape be him?"   
  
"He's part Saiyan, remember," Tayla told her. "But you have to go, 'Talia, 'cause he won't recognize us while he's like this. I have to fight him and get close enough to cut off his tail. Go!"   
  
A terrified Petalia fled down the corridors, praying quickly for Tayla's safety. Oh, weren't they safe anywhere?   
  
"Bendros!" Tayla cried in vain, as Bendros-Oozaru angrily roared at her and tried to grab her. "It's me, Tayla! Princess Tayla Chloe of Astoria! Little Tayla, remember? I'm your friend!"   
  
Bendros-Oozaru did not respond, except by seizing Tayla in his giant hand. Tayla screamed, still trying to reason with her crush. "Bendros don't hurt me please! It's Tayla! Bajal's little sister!"   
  
Bendros opened his mouth, preparing to pop Tayla into his mouth.   
  
"No!" Tayla cried, as Bendros brought her closer to his sharp, Oozaru-like teeth. She was doomed; she had failed to reason with him. She would wind up as Bendros' next snack.   
  
She closed her eyes and huddled into herself, as Bendros pulled her to the lips of his crater-sized mouth. The tears flowed swiftly down her cheeks; she had not wanted to die this way.   
  
"No," she whispered tearfully, "please."   
  
At that moment, something large, slimy and wet brushed against her body, coating her in a thick film of sticky saliva. Tayla whimpered, as her whole body shook violently.   
  
Everything was suddenly wet, so wet and dark…   
  
  
  
Shalila and Dirkan continued to fight Raditz-Oozaru, and then Dirkan hatched a plan to "cut Raditz down to size". Dirkan decided that he would distract Raditz-Oozaru while Shalila fled from the cave to cut off his tail.   
  
Dirkan started firing ki blasts at Raditz-Oozaru and breaking stalactites from the ceiling and throwing them like javelins at Raditz-Oozaru. Raditz-Oozaru was too distracted to notice Shalila slipping past his face to reach the outside.   
  
Shalila swiftly flew outdoors, and suddenly it was so warm and humid! Where had the snow and hail gone? Ice and snow patches throughout the city and countryside were melting away, as if the sun itself were resting on Calmagian soil. The sky was clear, with no traces of clouds. Diamonique's spell must have worn off. She could hear the water rushing down the mountains and the loud drips of melting icicles, as the snow dissolved. A gentle summery breeze was the only wind that could be felt, and it was perfumed and refreshing in the suddenly humid air.   
  
Shalila was relieved to be fighting in warm weather again. While Raditz-Oozaru was trying to grab Dirkan in the cavern, she hid her ki and slid down gracefully towards Raditz-Oozaru's tail. She raised her sword into the air with both hands, and with a quick movement, she neatly sliced off Raditz-Oozaru's tail. Raditz-Oozaru screamed, as his body began to shrink, but before he could finish shrinking, his foot slipped on a patch of ice, causing him to fall backwards towards Shalila. His body crashed down towards her, faster than Shalila could flee, as she was directly in his backward path…   
  
  
  
…"Stop it, Bendros, I'm going to drown, if you keep doing that!"   
  
Tayla's screams had transformed into laughter, as Bendros-Oozaru repeatedly licked her body, like a gigantic Earth hound dog licking a bone. Bendros-Oozaru's rough tongue was tickling her. He had put Tayla down, and she was now backed up against the wall, her only opponent now being Bendros persistent tongue, which felt like a large sloppy-wet piece of stuffed sandpaper. Bendros stroked her soaked hair gently with his right hand index finger. The giant Oozaru had torn a whole in the ceiling of the cavern, and Tayla could feel the hot, humid air flowing in. It was so bright and sunshiny, and the bright glow hurt Tayla's eyes. Bendros-Oozaru was panting like an excited puppy that had found his favorite toy or treat.   
  
"Silly Bendros!" Tayla laughed again; he reminded her now of her dog, Hugs, whom Tayla had to leave behind on Chloe. Bendros-Oozaru torn away more of the cavern ceiling with his giant hands, so that he could fit his head and arms inside the cave.   
His index finger was tickling her body, as it accidentally stroked her torso and a small, budding breast. Tayla tried to stop laughing, but she couldn't. Well, she would rather be tickled and licked than devoured.   
  
Petalia came running towards her, with a giant stick, and the pretty Astorian princess's ivory jaw dropped when she saw Bendros-Oozaru fervently licking Tayla's body and tickling her.   
  
Petalia abruptly dropped the stick that she had been planning to use as a weapon at her feet. "T-Tayla, are you okay?"   
  
Tayla shrieked happily, "Yes, Petalia, I am! Bendros recognizes me! I don't know how, but he recognizes me! I thought that he was going to eat me, but he didn't! It's okay now, Petalia, really!"   
  
Petalia was uncertain, but then Bendros-Oozaru noticed her as well. He looked at Tayla's niece thoughtfully, and then he brought a finger towards her white-gold hair. Petalia shook with fear, but Tayla told her gently, "He won't hurt you now, Petalia, for I think that he recognizes you too."   
  
Bendros-Oozaru gently touched Petalia's cheek with the tip of his giant index finger. He grunted something, and then he turned his face from her. He went back to petting Tayla with the same finger that he had used to touch Petalia. Petalia heaved a sigh of relief, relief that she was alive, and relief that she was no longer the center of Bendros-Oozaru's attention.   
  
"Bendros, you recognize us!" Tayla cried excitedly, as she boldly went up to Bendros-Oozaru and hugged his face with her small arms. To Petalia's shock, she kissed Bendros-Oozaru between his nostrils, which were each, the size of Tayla's head. Bendros-Oozaru' warm breath emitted from his nostrils and mouth, engulfing her with a rich, pungent smell.   
  
"What have you been eating?" Tayla wanted to know, wrinkling her own button nose at the strong smells coming from his breath.   
Bendros-Oozaru moaned, and Tayla sighed. "I sure hope that no people were your meals, and if they were, that they were only enemies." She patted his nose companionably.   
  
Suddenly, Tayla had an idea. She said to Bendros-Oozaru, "Bendros, can you help us? Raditz is an Oozaru too, and he's fighting Nama and Dirkan. Can you stop him?" Bendros-Oozaru growled, and then he nodded his titanic head. He held out the palm of his hand, and then he looked at Petalia.   
  
"I think that he wants us to climb onto the palm of his hand. He's going to give us a lift," Tayla told Petalia casually.   
  
Petalia shuddered. "Are you sure that's safe? How do we know that he won't pop us into his mouth?" She had never seen an Oozaru in real life before she had come to Calmag.   
  
Bendros-Oozaru groaned, as Tayla jumped onto the palm of his hand without fear. Tayla held out her tiny hand to Petalia and said,   
"Petalia, it's okay, really. He won't hurt us. I promise you, Seven Moons Oath!" She held up seven fingers to seal it.   
  
Reluctantly, Petalia slowly approached Tayla and Bendros-Oozaru's ominous hand. She let Tayla guide her onto Bendros-Oozaru's palm. Petalia clung to Tayla, as Bendros-Oozaru gently lifted his passengers out of the cave into the gleaming sunshine…   
  
  
  
"SHALILA!" Dirkan screamed in horror.   
  
He had seen Raditz-Oozaru's body fall down towards Shalila before she could escape, and now Raditz was back in his normal Saiyan form, lying on his back on the wet grass. Shalila was lying beneath him, her back pressed against his.   
  
Raditz leapt to his feet in fury, and Shalila struggled to hers.   
Shalila raised her sword again, preparing to fight Raditz when suddenly Raditz pulled out a small silver gun. He aimed it at her.   
  
Shalila laughed arrogantly, trying to cover up her nervousness. "What is that thing for?"   
  
Raditz shot the gun at her, and a bolt of light surrounded her slender wrist. Before Shalila could react, Raditz shot another bolt of light at her wrist. The light bolts hardened into golden cuffs. Shalila felt her ki drain drastically.   
  
"Restraining cuffs," Raditz told her proudly, with a savage grin. "They cut your ki by more than half, Shalila. We originally brought them for your darling little Tayla, but as you can see, they work on almost anyone. Heh, even the weakest of our forces could control you now. I'm going to make you pay, old woman, for what you and your people did to us Saiyans!" Raditz opened up his hands to fire a ki blast that would surely cripple Shalila, if not kill her.   
  
But before Raditz could act, Dirkan swooped down from the air and grabbed the longhaired Saiyan from behind with his right arm, wrapping it around Raditz's neck. He used his free fist to punch Raditz hard in his stomach, crushing through his armor, breaking ribs and metal. Raditz struggled against Dirkan's grip.   
  
"Dirkan, look out!" Shalila cried. "That gun that he has can shoot restraining cuffs!"   
  
Dirkan took care of that situation real quick. Before Raditz could stop him, he snatched the gun from Raditz's loose hand and threw it to the ground. While he was struggling with the Saiyan warrior, the Namek warrior shot the gun with a fast ki blast, burning it to ashes.   
  
"You'll pay for that!" Raditz snarled, shooting Dirkan a look that could destroy Calmag itself.   
  
Dirkan grinned wickedly. "Say Gooden Boden, monkey!" He raised his hands to prepare for a Tri-Force attack, but before he could launch it upon Raditz, something shot him in the back of his neck. To Dirkan's horror, the shot formed a golden metal band that had been burning to the touch when it had been in liquid form. The collar around his neck cooled quickly after forming into a strong metal band, but the band cut Dirkan's ki by more than half.   
  
"What in Orchida's name just happened?" he growled. And then he knew.   
  
"Curse you, Queen Frost! Even though you're dead, you still manage to cause trouble!" he hissed under his breath. The collar had come from a collaring gun, an original invention of Queen Frost's that Frieza and his forces had been using for many years.   
  
He swiftly turned around and saw a grinning Prince Vegeta and another Saiyan, a female one with the uncharacteristic red hair of a small minority of female Saiyans. Vegeta was dragging Dedron by his ankle, with Dedron's body on the ground. Dedron had restraining cuffs on his wrists, and so did Rojal, whose wrist was being held by Journa. Journa was dragging Rojal behind her.   
  
"I knew that I was right to bring a collaring gun," Vegeta said with an evil grin to the female Saiyan. "The collaring gun has no effect on Astorians; our people have learned that in the past, so the cuffing guns were designed by Queen Frost specifically for them. The cuffing guns would not have worked on other races, so this nice old-fashioned collaring gun came in handy for Shalila's darling Namek. Too bad, Lord Frieza hasn't had any new ones produced in a long time; I was lucky to be able to procure this one. It pays to have connections in Technical."   
  
"Look at them!" the female Saiyan scoffed. "And these two are supposed to be among the strongest warriors in the galaxy! Pathetic!"   
  
Dirkan growled, and Shalila clenched her fists. They were outmatched now and outnumbered, and both of them knew it.   
  
"Cuffing guns!" Shalila hissed. "And collaring guns! Curse Queen Frost! Her evil lives on long after that whore is dead!"   
  
Vegeta said wickedly, as he raised his hands to launch a Big Bang attack on Shalila and Dirkan, "Any last words before I send you to the next dimension? Any words telling us where your precious Tayla is?"   
  
Dirkan rashly drew his sword and began to charge at Vegeta, but before he could do so, a giant, cold shadow fell over the group. He stopped dead in his tracks, and he and the others looked up to see   
Bendros-Oozaru towering over them, beating his chest with one fist. Petalia was sitting on his shoulder fearfully, and Tayla was sitting on Bendros-Oozaru's folded palm, which was folded like a chair.   
  
She called out to Vegeta, "If you want me, monkey prince, come and get me!"   
  
"Tayla Chloe!" Dirkan and Shalila exclaimed, both in fear for her life and anger at her rashness.   
  
Vegeta grinned. "Very well, brat, I'll accept your challenge. Journa,   
Raditz, dispose of the rest of the garbage down here. I'll deal with the loudmouthed brat myself." He flew into the air, not at all worried about Bendros-Oozaru.   
  
Tayla stood up in Bendros-Oozaru's hand and waited. She was going to end this conflict between her and Vegeta once and for all. 


	68. What Became of Farla and Kaydra

Chapter Sixty-Eight: What Became of Farla And Kaydra  
  
(A/N: Raspberry and Blueberry belong to DBZ, and they were minor minions of Frieza. If anyone remembers, in the original DBZ, Raspberry, the humanoid alien, and Blueberry the doglike alien, tried to gather the Dragonballs for themselves so that they could take over the galaxy. They forced Bulma, who had been on Namek at the time, to help them find the Dragonballs. She led them to a giant mother crab, a crab that she had barely been able to get a Dragonball from herself. Raspberry and Blueberry were tricked into thinking that the crab's eggs were the Dragonballs, and the angry crab killed both of them.  
Okay, enough DBZ background info. In this story, Raspberry and Blueberry are members of the Berry Bunch, along with three of my new characters, Chinaberry (named after a bright yellow berry that looks good, but is very poisonous), Strawberry, and Blackberry. Most of the members of the Berry Bunch have made it his or her main goal in life is to get into the Elite, but none of them are strong enough to do so. They slave after the Top Elite officers and try to curry their favor, but the Top Elite mainly uses them and looks down on them. At this time, the Berry Bunch was taking their turn running the prison ward.)  
  
1PM (Frieza Stellar Time) 3PM (Astorian Galactic Time) on Frieza's Mother Ship in the prison ward…  
  
"I don't understand why that woman has been allowed to live," Raspberry scoffed, picking his teeth with his unkempt nail.  
  
"She hasn't spoken a word since the day that Commander Balair took her away," Blackberry, a giant shiny black blue rat-like alien with a shock of bright yellow hair and fluorescent orange eyes, commented. Blackberry, unlike other rat-like creatures, had no hair, but instead had the smooth, slippery skin of a seal.  
  
"I've heard that Commander Balair screwed her good and proper quite a few times before he went to help clear Calmag," Blueberry, the doglike alien commented. "She is cute though; I wouldn't mind boning her myself."   
  
"Must you be so crude?" Chinaberry asked. She resembled a tall, Chinese girl, with an eight-inch-long graceful neck, long, glossy black hair with white streaks, saffron-tinted skin and delicate feminine features. Always classy and regal, she was considered to be the most beautiful out of the Berry Bunch. She was from planet Cara-Camay, and all of her people in the Cara Tribe had unusually long, graceful necks.   
  
"She's nothing more than a zombie…is quieter than a statue…she may as well be one…" Blackberry's voice trailed off.  
  
"I feel sorry for her," Strawberry sighed mournfully. She resembled a strawberry-colored cat with long mint-green hair on her head and an elegant, swishy tail.  
  
"Why? She's nothing more than another one of Commander Balair's whores," Raspberry snorted contemptuously.  
  
"She's pretty enough to join the Ginyu Girls," Chinaberry said kindly.  
  
"Nah, she's too old," Blackberry contradicted.  
  
"Maybe not. She's not much older than Eclipse," Strawberry told him.  
  
"Eclipse is in her mid-twenties," Blueberry pointed out.  
  
"True, but this lady doesn't look much older," Chinaberry asserted.  
  
"Poor thing. Not even an Astorian deserves to become Commander Balair's newest concubine," Strawberry snapped indignantly. She had a strong hatred for Balair, since he had raped her three years ago. Strawberry had tried to report him, but Dodoria had backed up Balair's claim that she had seduced him, and Frieza had not believed her.  
  
"Don't worry too much about her; Commander Balair's likely to kill her as soon as he comes back. No woman has ever lasted very long with him; he gets bored with his new playthings almost as soon as gets them," Raspberry quipped, feeling no real pity or sympathy for Balair's newest concubine.  
  
"Still, he doesn't deserve her. He's nothing but a prick," Strawberry said sharply. The others sighed; they sympathized with Strawberry's anger at Balair, but there was nothing that any of them could do to avenge her. Balair was stronger than all five of them put together.  
  
Strawberry looked at the Astorian princess with pity in her clear, mauve catlike eyes, as she peeked through the small, barred slot in the heavy steel door. The Astorian princess was sitting in a corner, her sky-blue eyes blank and unseeing. She seemed to be comatose, only her eyes were open. She was huddled in a fetal position, and she was very thin, so thin that her bones poked out from her thin, pale flesh. Her whitish-gold hair was now lank and limp, the color of a yellowed, dingy cloth. Her once plump, rosy cheeks were sunken and nearly sallow. A thin, gray blanket, rougher than burlap, was covering her scantily clothed skeleton form up to her neck.  
  
Strawberry knocked on the door and said softly, "Princess Farla? Princess Farla Chloe? I have your meal for you. Princess Farla?"  
  
Farla did not respond.  
  
"Princess Farla?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Princess?"  
  
Farla did not move or respond to Strawberry's promptings. Finally, Strawberry unlocked the door, and she entered Farla's cell. She crept over to the zombie-like Farla, who sat more still than a statue. Strawberry gently nudged Farla's shoulder. She and Farla had formed a sort of bond over the past few weeks; Farla had responded to her positively, although she had not spoken since the first night that Balair had raped her. Farla would usually smile weakly when Strawberry would come to her cell to talk to her, but this time she did not even turn to look at Strawberry to acknowledge her presence.  
  
"Princess Farla?"  
  
Strawberry lightly touched Farla's neck, which had once been slender, but now, was scrawny, and felt for a pulse. Farla's skin was colder than ice water, and Strawberry cried out in horror.  
  
"Sweet Kai!" she gasped.  
  
It took her a few seconds to realize that Farla would never respond to her again.  
  
Or to anyone else.  
  
Strawberry had a superb sense of smell, and she smelled something pungent and stale. She threw back the sandpaper-like blanket and screamed.  
  
For in Farla's clasped hands, was a long, sharp bone from a meal that she had previously eaten, and that bone had been plunged deep into her heart. Ocean-blue blood seeped gently from her chest, coating the bone and dripping down into her lap. Farla's hands were clutching the bone that she had sunk into her heart, as if she were clinging to a life raft.  
  
She seemed to have been dead for several hours.  
  
"Sweet Kami," Strawberry whispered tearfully. "Oh, that poor daughter of hers! That poor little girl!"  
  
  
  
A doctor's office on Frieza's mother ship...  
  
Kaydra Chloe was lonely. She missed both sets of parents, her old parents and her new parents. She hoped that Miss Chestra and Mr. Zarbon would come back to her soon; they had been kind to her, and she had already formed a bond with them.  
  
She also hoped to find her mother, for she loved her the most and missed her so much.  
  
Miss Chestra had not told her that her mother was dead, so Kaydra held hope that her mother was still alive and well somewhere. While Miss Chestra and Mr. Zarbon had been raiding Calmag, she had been placed in the care of Doctor Katsen, the muddy-brown, fat catlike creature with bright green eyes and black belly, tail, and paws. Doctor Katsen was in charge of the entire Medical Division of Frieza's forces, and he had been kind to her, a sort of new uncle.  
  
Kaydra had a horrible nightmare after her nap, a dream of her mother sitting in a dark, cold cell. In this dream, she had seen her mother plunge a sharp, pointed bone into her heart, saying that she had no more reason to live. Kaydra had screamed at her in her dream not to die and leave her behind, but her mother had not heeded her. Mamma had stabbed herself with the bone.  
  
She was now crying hard in Dr. Katsen's arms. The doctor was patting her back and telling her that it had only been a bad dream.  
But she felt deep in her heart that it hadn't been. She knew that it had really happened, just like she felt that the dream with the red monster hurting her mother had really happened.  
But she had to find out for sure…  
  
Two hours later in Frieza's private dining room on his mother ship…  
  
"Lord Frieza, do you read? Lord Frieza, sire, are you there?"  
  
"Yes, I am. This is Lord Frieza speaking." Frieza put down his glass of wine and spoke through his scouter. He caressed his private dining table lovingly with one slender white finger. The table, made of a rich, reddish wood with dark black veins from planet Cara-Camay was smooth and shiny. The wood was expensive, coming from a small timberland on that planet. Frieza was glad that he had enslaved that particular planet, instead of clearing it. Camayan wood was rare and valuable and sold for high prices on the intergalactic black market. The polished dining room table was one of his favorite symbols of his extreme wealth.  
  
"Sire, a distressing event has occurred. Princess Farla Chloe, one of the Astorians that we took captive from planet Dijon, has committed suicide in her cell, using a bone to stab herself in the chest."  
  
"Oh," Frieza remarked calmly. He was enjoying a succulent piece of poultry, a delicious, moist pheasant-like bird that had been imported from planet Cara-Camay. Frieza took a sip of blue-tinted white wine, relishing the dry flavor. He asked serenely, "Anything else about this, Raspberry?"  
  
"Not much, sire, other than Strawberry seems to be very upset over the whole incident."  
  
"Tell her to get over it," Frieza told him coolly. "Farla was just an Astorian and Balair's whore. It is only Balair that will be upset; he'll have to find himself a new playmate, but I'm sure he's had plenty of women while he's been raiding Calmag."  
  
"Sire, what about the child?"  
  
"What child?"  
  
"Princess Kaydra Chloe, the Astorian princess that Commander Chestra adopted, sire. What is to be done with her, now that the mother has died?"  
  
Frieza shrugged, taking another sip of his favorite wine. He looked fondly at the gigantic, gold ring with three large rubies set in a triangle. Crowns of sparkling black gems surrounded each ruby, and in the middle of the triangle was the crest of the Cold family, the crest of an iceberg. He sighed to Raspberry though his scouter, "She's Chestra's problem; I gave the child to Chestra to indulge her. However, have Dr. Katsen send the child to me; I will inform the brat of her mother's demise."  
  
"Very good, sire. Over and out." Raspberry's voice disappeared.  
  
Frieza sighed again, as he ran his snowy finger along the rims of the eighteen-karat gold plates that he always ate his meals off of. He was glad that he had his dining room redecorated. Frieza loved showy displays of material wealth, for it complemented his power and status. He looked around his dining room contentedly, noting the red velour wallpaper decorated with gold stars and elegant silk, sheer black curtains that framed the windows of his dining room. The floor was blanketed with a thick hunter green carpet that had a four-inch pile, plushy and deep. The carpet was spotted with small white dots crossing it in a zigzag pattern. The chairs at the expensive table were made of whitish wood streaked with silver, another rare hardwood called "whilver" that had come from Cara-Camay.   
  
Cara-Camay was a planet well known for it's rare wood goods and fine foods, and it was because of these scarce valuable resources that Frieza had decided to enslave the planet and force the people to submit to him. There were two tribes there, the Cara tribe and the Camay tribe, two peaceable tribes who had lived in harmony with each other since time on that planet began. Frieza knew that most of the Camay people were loyal to him, but the Cara people were opposed to his rule, although they did not dare to contest it.  
  
He decided to contact Zarbon to see how well the clearing of Calmag was going. Surely one of his minions must have captured Princess Tayla Chloe by now. But before he could turn his scouter to Zarbon's channel, he received an urgent message:  
  
"Sire, please come quickly! Princess Kaydra Chloe is firing ki blasts all over the ship, demanding to know where her mother is! She is headed towards the prison section now, sire, and she's nearly killed three men!"  
  
"WHAT???" Frieza exclaimed, as he spat out his sip of wine. "Arrest the brat at once!"  
  
"Two men have already tried that, sire."  
  
"Fine, Kiwi, I am coming," Frieza huffed. Just like an Astorie to interrupt a good meal. He wondered if Tayla Chloe would be that much trouble when she arrived.  
  
  
  
"I…want…my…MAMMA!" Kaydra Chloe screamed, as she fired a shot towards the last minion who had tried to arrest her. "Where is she? I want to know, and I want to know now!" The little blond girl was crying and throwing a huge tantrum, as she flew throughout the corridors of Frieza's ship with the speed of a flying cheetah. Dr. Katsen was frantically chasing the girl down, trying to stop her, trying to calm her down, but the moment that she had felt that something awful had happened to her mother, she had fled from his laboratory and escaped towards the prison section of Frieza's ship.   
  
Kaydra continued to fire reddish-blue ki blasts at her would-be captors, shooting the bolts of light from her tiny hands with ease and grace. One of her blasts crashed into a water pipe, causing it to burst open, and now a waterfall of precious water was flowing down the halls, reaching up to a depth of five feet. Some of the tinier minions, were frantically being swept away by the waves. Kaydra paid them no heed, as she flew above the rising water, sailing gracefully in the air, searching for her mother. Kaydra had been hunting for her mother for the past few weeks, but she had been confined to certain areas of Frieza's ship, so she could not search the entire spacecraft for signs of her mother's existence until now.  
  
Finally, she reached the section of the prison ward where important prisoners would have been held. The prisoners were climbing up the bars and walls of their cramped cells in order to escape the rising water that threatened to engulf them. Kaydra flew around the prison ward, calling out desperately for her mother. Several of Frieza's soldiers went as far as to fire laser guns at the child, but Kaydra easily put up a Shield Field (taught to her by her father), and it deflected the ki blasts. She also used Mirror Shield on them, deflecting their lasers back onto her pursuers.  
  
"Kaydra! Princess Kaydra, please stop!" Dr. Katsen cried in horror, as he, who could also fly, flew above the rising waters to try to catch up with her.  
  
"Leave me alone!" Kaydra screamed at him. "I want Mamma!"  
  
Finally, Frieza appeared, floating above the waters, which had finally stopped rising. Calmly, he ordered his minions to open the water grates to drain the water back into the pipes between the floor and ceiling of the next floor to be returned and purified. When the water had receded, the ground was soaked, along with many prisoners and minions. Thankfully (or not so thankfully, depending on how anyone looks at it), no one had been killed or drowned.  
  
Frieza screamed at Kaydra, "LISTEN, BRAT! STOP THIS BEHAVIOR AT ONCE! LAND NOW AND SIT DOWN! YOU HAVE MUCH EXPLAINING TO DO! DO SO BEFORE I BLAST YOU!"  
  
A terrified Kaydra knew when to quit. Meekly and tearfully, she landed on the wet, gray stone floor of the prison ward. She sat on the floor, huddled into herself and began to sob loud and hard.  
  
"I want Mamma! Or Miss Chestra! Where are they?" she wailed, with gigantic clear teardrops rolling down her plump, pale face.   
  
Frieza's expression was stony, unreadable, as he flew swiftly towards the crying child. The prisoners shuddered, as he flew by them. He was in his first form, very fierce looking, as he landed near the sobbing little girl. The minions and prisoners immediately pitied the child, even though she had caused so much trouble. Dr. Katsen choked, pulled at his collar and cried out:  
  
"Sire, please don't harm her, please! She's just scared, and she wants her mother!"  
  
"Shut up, Katsen!" Frieza roared. "When I want your opinion, I will pry it out of you!"  
  
"But sire…" Katsen protested.   
  
"Quiet!"  
  
He stared down at the wailing girl, who was sitting on the floor before him. The child's whitish-gold hair was tangled now and dirty. Her dress, a nice silk, pink dress with a red, felt rose on the pink belt, was soiled and soaked, soaked from the bursting water pipe. The evil tyrant turned on his scouter, and it beeped several times. Frieza looked down upon her imposingly, with his expression still indecipherable.  
  
Frieza raised his left hand into the air, and then he flew his hand and arm at the child, as if trying to strike her.  
  
"No, sire!" Dr. Katsen screamed. "She's just a child!"  
  
Frieza's flying hand swept towards a sobbing Kaydra, and the little girl cowered, hiding her head between her chubby knees, bracing herself for the blow that was sure to come.  
  
And then to her surprise-and the surprise of the spectators-Frieza's hand swept her up, scooping her into his arm. Frieza pulled the girl close to his armored chest and held her close, and he used his other hand to pat and stroke the child's back. Kaydra's body shook and trembled, as Frieza cuddled her close, holding her tight, as a father would.  
  
Everyone's jaws dropped at this display, this extremely rare display of kindness, from one of the cruelest men in the universe. Frieza continued to pat and rub her back, as Kaydra continued to cry.  
"I'm not going to hurt you, child," Frieza purred. "I don't want to hurt you now; I want to help you. I am sorry that I yelled at you earlier, but I was worried that the water would drown all of us. You're safe, little girl."  
  
Kaydra looked at this imposing monster strangely. "Do you know where my mamma is?" she asked.  
  
Frieza whispered, "Your mamma is dead, sweetheart. She died not too long ago, and I am sorry."  
  
"MAMMA!" Kaydra screamed, and she began to cry harder, her tears streaming down her cheeks and tapping against Frieza's armor. "Why'd she die and leave me? I dreamt that she stabbed herself with a bone and died! She left me behind! I have no pappa, no mamma, and no baby brother! I want to go home! I want my family!"  
  
"Kaydra, shush," Frieza cooed gently. "We are going to be your new family now. Miss Chestra likes you, and so does Mr. Zarbon. And I like you, Kaydra."  
  
Kaydra looked at Frieza skeptically, while the entire crowd in the prison ward wondered in their fearless tyrannical leader was mentally disintegrating. Dr. Katsen made a mental note to move up Frieza's biannual head examination; he was long overdue for one.   
Kaydra's sobs slowly began to cease. "I miss Mamma," she moaned.  
  
"I know that you do," Frieza told her softly, in such a cooing voice that the others didn't know that he knew how to use. "I know that it hurts, Kaydra, but she is gone, and you must accept that. Your mamma wouldn't want you to cry for too long. She'd want you to be happy, right?"  
  
Kaydra tearfully nodded.  
  
"And you must be brave, little one. We will take care of you, okay? You can even call me Uncle Frieza."  
  
"UNCLE Frieza?" the entire group in the prison ward exclaimed.  
  
"Sire, I do believe that you are due for your biannual head examination," Dr. Katsen asserted.  
  
"Katsen," Frieza said evenly, "despite popular opinion around here, I am not going soft in the head, nor am I losing my brilliant mind. I pity the child and I want to help her. Katsen, see that this little girl gets a good meal and have it sent to my dining room. I will take the girl with me there. Come, Kaydra, you will stay with me until Chestra and Zarbon return. Hopefully they will return with a new friend for you." Katsen pulled a small radio out of his lab pocket, and he summoned some orders for dinner through it immediately.  
  
"Who will this new friend be?"  
  
"A young auntie of yours named Tayla Chloe," Frieza told her with a smile. "She is very strong, did you know that? And so are you, my dear; you and Tayla will grow up and become strong warriors for me."  
  
"Why for you?" Kaydra wanted to know.  
  
Frieza chuckled. "I am the most powerful creature in the universe, my dear. There is none that can even match my power; I literally rule the universe and everyone in it, but there are some that don't recognize that. My soldiers, such as Chestra and Zarbon, fight to protect my reign, so that everyone in the universe will benefit from my rule. I do so much, little one, for so many people, and I need strong people like you to ensure that it will continue to happen. I will take of you, and all you have to do is follow my orders and grow up to become big and strong. You have a high ki level for a child your age, which pleases me. There are many good things for you, sweetie, if you fight for me and be my warrior. I reward those that serve me and make me happy. And if you make me happy, I will see that you are happy. Everyone is subject to me, but I am not a cruel man." (Several of the minions quietly snickered at Frieza's last sentence, but Frieza's deadly glare [unseen by Kaydra] silenced them.) Frieza purred, "I like you already, Kaydra, and I will take care of you, along with Chestra and Zarbon. You will be happy living with us, I promise you."  
  
"I miss my family," Kaydra sighed mournfully after Frieza's long speech. "'Specially my mamma."  
  
"I know, my dear, but we will be your new family," Frieza assured her. Kaydra, an affectionate child by nature, threw her tiny, plump arms around Frieza's neck, hugging him tightly, nearly strangling him. If he had been anyone else, his subordinates would have started to tease him, but as he was Frieza, no one dared to say a word.  
  
Frieza tolerated the embrace; he was not overly fond of children, despite his kind words. However, he thought that perhaps he could grow to like Kaydra in time…maybe even love her. Until then, he knew how to put on a good act.  
  
"I like you, Uncle Frieza!" Kaydra gushed enthusiastically, putting aside her grief for her mother for the moment. "I'm very hungry. Do you think that we can eat now?"  
  
"Sure," Frieza told her pleasantly. "Our meals should be waiting for us in the dining room by now."  
  
He set her down gently, and he took her chubby hand in his, and then they both walked out of the prison ward, not paying attention to the shocked expressions of Frieza's subordinates. When they were safely out of earshot, Dr.Katsen sighed, and Raspberry spoke:  
  
"What exactly is our master up to now?"  
  
"I don't like the looks of this," Dr. Katsen admitted. "It is not like Lord Frieza to be that kind, especially towards an Astorian child. Our sire must have plans for the little one."  
  
Strawberry commented, "I pity the child, I really do. I think Lord Frieza should have just sent her home to Astoria, if he wanted to do the right thing for once."  
  
"He doesn't want to do the 'the right thing'," Blackberry retorted bitterly. "All he wants to do with her is raise her to be another mindless puppet for him. She'll just be another one of his flunkies, like the rest of us! Frieza will just use her and throw her away, the way that he did with the members of my race! And he'll do the same thing with Princess Tayla Chloe, should he get his greasy hands on her! He's nothing more than a corrupter, a user, and an abuser! He destroyed my race, and I have been forced to slave after him and those Top Elites ever since. If I was stronger, I would show him a thing or two for killing my people-"  
  
"ZIP! BLAST!"  
  
A cloud of blackish-gray smoke emitted from the dark pile of melted ash that had once been poor Blackberry. The other Berry Bunch members shrieked in horror, particularly Strawberry, who had been a close friend of his.  
  
Kiwi was standing in the doorway of the prison ward, holding a laser gun that projected black curls of smoke from its barrel. Kiwi strolled into the prison ward, casting a threatening look upon everyone in the prison ward, prisoners and minions alike. Kiwi hissed angrily at everyone:  
  
"No one maligns Lord Frieza's name, or even thinks of harming or rebelling against him! There are no races here, and there are only two kinds of people: those who are loyal to Frieza and those who are not. Those are not loyal to Lord Frieza and don't serve him faithfully are those who will die, just like Blackberry, the fool! Thinking that he could smear our Lord Frieza's name and even think of rebelling against him. Only those who are faithful to Frieza will live, and those who dare to oppose him shall perish, just like the Astorians and Calmagians will! The Astorians have been a thorn in Frieza's side ever since his beloved mother, the dear Queen Frost, was brutally murdered by Shalila Chloe, the witch who rules Astoria. All those who try to thwart our great lord and leader will perish! Let Blackberry's demise be a lesson to everyone here today: that not only Frieza will destroy those who are disloyal to him, but his loyalists will obliterate any dissidents as well."  
  
And then Kiwi raised his fist into the air and shouted proudly, "Long live Lord Frieza forever! Everyone shout with me, or suffer Blackberry's fate!" He swished his gun around the cell threateningly.  
  
"Long live Lord Frieza!" everyone, even Dr. Katsen and Strawberry, shouted with as much false enthusiasm as possible.  
  
"That's better," Kiwi cooed, pleased. "The Berry freaks can clean up the remains of their friend. Farewell." And without a trace of regret for what he had done, Kiwi strolled out of the prison ward.  
  
A/N: Kiwi is not my character; he belongs to DBZ. He was a minor minion of Frieza that Vegeta had killed before he killed Dodoria. If anyone has any background info on him, please let me know.  
  
Sorry it's been a while since I updated. So much going on, but I hopefully will be able to update this more often, and the other two stories "Chestra" and "Be Careful For What You Wish For."  
  
*insert shameless plug here* Some of you who have read this story have also read Chestra, but take a look at "Be Careful" too if you have time.   
  
"Be Careful For What You Wish For" only has two chapters, but hopefully it is funny. Master Roshi is desperate for a woman, a permanent woman in his life. He is inspired by the story "Pygmalion and Galatea" a Greek mythology tale that Juuhachigou (Android Eighteen) reads to Marron one night. With this inspiration, Roshi goes to a toy story with his friends Oolong and Umigame (the turtle) to buy a fashion doll for Marron's birthday, only he also decides to get one for himself. Yes, he buys himself a fashion doll, a Barbie ripoff named Candy Apple, and with the Dragonballs, he wishes her to come to life. She is everything he has asked for...and nothing like what he expected. Once Roshi's new amour enters his life, Roshi's life will never be the same again! 


	69. Despair And Discovery

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Despair and Discovery  
  
A/N: Thanks to those of you have stuck with this extremely long story.! I hope you all think that it's been worth my effort so far. I will try to get another chapter of Chestra within the next week; right now I am sort of on a writer's block with that one, but I'm working on it. This story seems to be writing itself, and even I don't always know what will happen next every time I sit down to write a new chapter or continue an incomplete one. My characters have come to surprise me.   
In this chapter, Alora gains an unwanted fan, the battle between Tayla and Vegeta slowly begins to take a turn for the worst--for Tayla, and Bendros meets a new member of his family, but not one that he would want to take home to his mother...  
  
Anyway, enough rambling. On with the story!  
  
  
Gorna, Gracina, Cletos, and Alora slowly emerged from the labyrinths under the city of Magan where they had been taking shelter in until the snow and hail had passed away. Alora had been the first to leave one of the entrances to the labyrinth (this entrance being a city manhole), and when she had entered the outside world again, she noticed that it was bright and sunny outside. She almost had to dodge a giant icicle that collapsed from a tall skyscraper, but she had been able to shatter it with a ki blast.  
  
The sunlight was blinding, and as soon as Alora was able to adjust her vision again, the Sastorian warrior noticed Bendros-Oozaru fifty miles away, along with some powerful ki blasts that had the equivalent power of air missiles. Alora shielded her eyes when she saw two bright, large ki flashes collide together. She could feel many ki signatures, particularly those of Tayla and---a Saiyan's?  
  
"Who is Tayla fighting?" Alora wondered aloud, as she heard Bendros-Oozaru growl from the distance.  
  
"Somebody, help me, please!" a boyish voice shouted from a shorter distance.  
  
Alora swiftly turned around, sword in hand, and she noticed a small ki coming from an aircar. She then heard a loud banging in the trunk, as several little green plantlike monsters were jumping and pounding on the vehicle.   
  
"What the hell are those things?" Alora wanted to know, as one of the green creatures charged at her. The other two leaped off of the aircar in hot pursuit, but Alora held her sword out. She swung it at them like a boomerang (a new trick that she had developed), and the sword in its boomerang position, spun in the air like the blades of a helicopter, and while flying, it beheaded all three of the freakish attackers. The sword swung back to her, with Alora neatly capturing the hilt in her hand. The three heads of the green men fell to the ground, with three sickening plops.  
  
Alora then fired a small ki blast at the keyhole of the trunk of the aircar, and it opened on contact. A naked young man scurried out of the trunk, and he screamed when he saw Alora's swishing tail.  
  
"Don't hurt me, please!" the boy cried aloud. "You Saiyans have already put me through enough!"  
  
Alora sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you, boy, and I am only one-eighth Saiyan, seven-eighths Astorian. Who in Kami Orchida's name are you?"  
  
"Dollan," the boy rasped. "Oh, I hope that you are not on the enemies' side!"  
She scoffed. "I don't work for Frieza."  
  
Dollan then threw himself at her, kissing her battered, torn boots.  
  
"You're my hero!" he exclaimed. "And you are so beautiful, even with a Saiyan tail! Thank you, thank you, and thank you! I am Dollan Rubenstein, and a horrible, yet beautiful woman with blue and silver hair and deadly poisonous nails kidnapped me and nearly raped me! I didn't think it was possible until now for a woman to rape a man! I am so thankful to be alive; I was afraid that the Saiyans and her were going to kill me! The Saiyans made me drive them into Magan, and may Kami Ankor forgive me for that someday! Thank you again, thank you, and thank you!" And with those words, Dollan once again kissed Alora's slender feet.  
  
"Alright, already, you're welcome, now stop kissing my feet!" Alora snapped. "I have a battle to continue, and you have to go!"  
  
"Please take me with you!" Dollan begged her, for he had fallen in love with this odd warrior woman on sight. He had never met a woman like her in his life, and he was instantly smitten, even though she was obviously the opposite of Calmagian ideas of what a woman should be. Dollan threw his arms around her waist; he was a short man compared to Alora's great height. He already loved her long, swishy onyx hair and ebony eyes and her rather muscular build. And her tail was beautiful, long and soft in appearance, even if it was a Saiyan's tail.  
"I am forever in your debt!" he gushed, like a lovesick schoolboy, as he made puppy-dog eyes at her. Alora sighed, recognizing immediately the boy's crush on her; he reminded her of her younger nephews. "I feel as if I am falling in love with you already! When this battle is over, will you consider allowing me to court you?"  
  
Alora groaned; what in the East Kai's name had she been thinking when she had popped open that trunk lid? She sighed, as Dollan continued to cling to her, and his fingers accidentally brushed against her tail, which she had now wrapped around her slim waist.   
  
"You have a soft tail, the softest, furriest thing that I have ever touched," he sighed, infatuated with her. He then gently tugged at a lock of Alora's long, obsidian hair. "Your hair is just as soft as your tail!"  
  
Alora growled at her potential suitor, "Do not touch my tail or my hair, or I'll pop you back into that trunk! You are in my way, now go hide somewhere, will you?"  
  
"I can't!" Dollan cried. "The Saiyans and that horrible blue-haired woman could find me at anytime! Please take me with you, and I will help you! I promise not to be a pest!" He clung to her tighter then.  
  
Alora moaned; her favorite puppy back home on Chloe acted with more dignity than this besotted schoolboy. "Very well, but do not get in my way or the ways of my comrades!"  
  
"I will help you!" Dollan cried out happily. "And you will see that I will make you the perfect husband! You'll never find a man or boy more devoted to you, I swear by Kami Ankor's name!"  
  
Alora growled deep in her throat. She was going to have to find some place to stash this troublesome lad, if not back in the trunk of the car. She told Dollan evenly, "I am already married with a daughter, so I'm afraid that you can't be my husband."  
  
"If he dies, or is already dead, then will you consider being my wife?" Dollan asked tactlessly.  
  
Alora began to count to one hundred in order to control her famous temper, just as Gorna,   
Gracina, and Cletos joined her and her "groupie". Gracina and Gorna raised their eyebrows when they saw a naked, young man clinging to Alora's waist.  
  
Gorna, as almost always, was the first to speak. "Alora Sahara-Chloe! Who is that disreputable nude boy that is holding onto you? Have you encouraged him?"  
  
"Of course not!" Alora snarled, wishing fervently that she had left Dollan in the trunk of the car. "I rescued him from a bunch of little green monsters, and then I opened the trunk where he had been stashed at."  
  
"I am falling in love with her," Dollan burbled. "She saved my life, and I will be forever grateful to her! If her husband is dead, or does die, I will marry her!"  
  
"Are you sane, lad?" Cletos asked him, wondering why a naked boy was holding onto Alora for dear life.  
  
"Not really," Dollan admitted proudly. "I am intoxicated!"  
  
"You are drunk?" Gorna asked sharply. "Well, that would certainly explain your atrocious behavior! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Alcohol is the root of much evil, causing-"  
  
"Please, Gorna, not now," Gracina interrupted quickly, as she tried not to look at Dollan's naked body. Not that Dollan was much to look at, from the three women's opinions.   
  
"I am not intoxicated with wine or beer; I am intoxicated with love! I am high and drunk on this beauty here who saved my life!" Dollan hugged Alora tighter, and Alora wore a pained expression on her face.  
  
"Somebody please get him off of me!" she groaned, trying to pry Dollan off of her body.  
  
"Lad, release her now," Cletos ordered him sternly.  
  
Dollan reluctantly did so, and a relieved Alora stepped as far away from him as she could get. Dollan looked at her, more stricken with love than ever.  
  
"What do we do with him?" Gracina asked.  
  
"I vote that we stick him back in the trunk," Alora quipped.  
  
"I wouldn't mind that, as long as you are with me, my love!" Dollan enthused.  
  
"We'll have to take the boy with us," Cletos sighed. He then took another look at Dollan. "As soon as we find him some clothes."  
  
"I am clothed only in love-love for what was her name-Alora?" Dollan cried happily. "She is so wonderful, don't you all think?"  
  
Gracina whispered to Cletos, "Let's just hope he doesn't act like this if we find Bajal; Bajal will kill him."   
  
Gorna said curtly to Dollan, "Young man, Alora is a married woman, married to my brother. My brother happens to be one of our most powerful fighters, and he won't hesitate to wring your neck, if he thinks that you would make an advance on his wife. I would advise you to restrain your tongue about your infatuation with my sister-in-law."  
  
Cletos asked Dollan, "What is your name, young man?"  
  
Dollan told him, and then Cletos saw a men's clothing shop, a ravaged building behind them.   
  
"Wait here, Dollan," he told him, as he climbed through the window of the empty shop. Within minutes, he had procured a simple shirt and trousers for Dollan, a size too large, but they would work.  
  
Dollan hurried into the clothes, and he asked the Astorians, "I have heard that you can fly, is that true?"  
  
"Yes, Dollan," Cletos replied.  
  
"Good!" Dollan cried happily. "Then my Alora can carry me with you all!"  
  
Alora's face was clothed in horror at this thought. Cletos rescued her. "No, young man, I will carry you."  
  
Dollan was disappointed, but he agreed reluctantly to allow Cletos to carry him away. The Astorians shot off from the ground like rockets, and they soared into the sunny, clear sky.  
  
  
  
  
  
"BLITZER!"  
  
"FINAL FLASH!"  
  
The two powerful attacks from both Tayla and Vegeta collided into each other, causing a whitish-blue, blinding explosion of light that blinded all of the occupants on the ground. Because the attacks were of equal power, neither attack was able to reach the caster's opponent. Their ki attack levels were nearly equal, if their brute strength wasn't.  
  
The battle between the Prince of the Saiyans and one of the youngest Princesses of Chloe was a fierce, brutal one. Tayla had lost her sword during one of Vegeta's Galic Gun attacks on her, and she had not had time to look for it. She had also managed to crack several of Vegeta's ribs with her small fists, but Vegeta had unfortunately succeeded in cracking her lower jawbone, when his fist had crashed into her chin. It hurt Tayla to move her lower jaw for more than a few seconds, so she tried to refrain from talking too much. She had quickly fought back after that, landing a hard punch on Vegeta's chest, sending him colliding into a cliff.   
  
When had he pulled himself out of the chalky white cliff (the type of cliff commonly found on Calmag) Vegeta had retaliated by slamming his hard fist into Tayla's button nose, bruising it and causing it to spurt indigo blood. The life-giving substance had dribbled down on Tayla's chin and onto her already torn and soiled uniform. Tayla had swiftly wiped her face with the back of her grimy hand, and then she landed a swift kick near Vegeta's Adam's apple, fracturing his collarbone.  
  
Now the two royal children had drawn back from each other and switched to ki blasts. Vegeta flew further away from his feisty opponent, and he raised his hand in a Big Bang ninety-degree angle position. He was going to defeat this stubborn brat once and for all.  
Tayla was more than ready for him, as Vegeta shouted, "BIG BANG!" The planet-shattering attack (can't say earth shattering, of course) flew at Tayla faster than lightening, and it would have disabled her for the rest of the battle, if she had not deflected back at him with a Mirror Shield attack.   
  
Vegeta easily ducked when his own attack backfired on him, and the giant ball of glowing yellow light seared over his head and into a cliff, crashing into it, causing it to explode with the power of a nuclear bomb going off. The entire cliff and the wilderness covering it was completely decimated, as trees, debris, rocks and white chalk flew everywhere around Vegeta and Tayla. Both warriors covered their eyes with their arms, as the blinding dust and dirt and rubble pelted their injured, but stable bodies.  
  
That brat could have killed me with my own attack, Vegeta thought in amazement. I have greatly improved, but so has she. What can I do to bring her to her knees?  
  
Tayla panted in great, heaving breaths, as the dust and debris slowly began to settle. Her snarled, ebony hair was coated with white chalk and brown dust, along with her face and much of her body. She looked as if she had been rolling around in both flour and dirt. She thought to herself, He's not going to give up until he captures me or kills me, and from what it looks like, he'll kill me first. I am as fast as he is, but he is so much stronger. The only reasons that I can keep up with him are my speed and my ki attacks, and Dirkan has always said that it takes more than brute strength to win a battle. I really wish that I could find my sword, and then I could just cut off Vegeta's head or something. But the last time that I tried to do that, Vegeta kicked me in my stomach hard. If I am going to kill him that way, I have to catch him off guard, not to mention finding my sword, and throwing him off guard hasn't been easy to do. He's good, very good, and almost impossible to beat. He's much stronger than before; he sure hasn't been slacking off. Well, at least he can't turn Oozaru right now.  
  
Fortunately for her, she saw a flash of shining metal sticking out of a pile of mud. Tayla swiftly flew away from Vegeta, and when she came within close range of the metal object, she cried with delight when she discovered that it was her sword. She quickly yanked it out of the mud pile, squealing in childish delight at finding her favorite weapon. It was a newer sword, with a hilt made out of dark green jade carved in a pole, with morning glory vines climbing around it.   
  
Vegeta caught up with his prey quickly. He hovered above her, smiling evilly. Tayla looked up at him, with her sword poised, as Vegeta's smile hardened into a grin. He reached into his belt, and cursed, for he had dropped both his collaring and cuffing guns during his battle with Tayla. But he had other ways he could restrain the girl. He quickly put his middle and index finger together, as he pointed them at her. Before Tayla could react, Vegeta shot out five small yellow lasers concurrently at her, and the miniscule lasers hit both of her wrists, both of her ankles, and her slender, long neck. She could not prevent herself from being thrown into the snowy wall of a nearby cliff. She was about to throw herself back, but the lasers had already encircled her wrists, her ankles, and her neck, and they were hardening into-cuffs?  
  
Tayla was now pinned in a spread-eagle position to the cliff, with her ankles, wrists and neck were bound to the cliff wall. She struggled against the unexpected restraints, but it was in vain. She could not even move her head, for the cuff holding her neck was secure.  
  
"Let me go!" Tayla screamed in rage. "This isn't fair, Vegeta!" She was aware that she sounded just like Riccan and his younger siblings when they weren't given their way, but she couldn't help it. She was scared and furious at the same time.  
  
Vegeta chuckled softly, as he levitated towards his captive. He smiled into her frustrated face and purred, "All's fair in war, and you should know by now, little Tayla, that I don't ever give up until I get what I want. I am the Prince of all Saiyans, after all." He lifted her pointed chin with his the tips of his finger, and he chuckled further, amused by the look of helpless fury on her face, the in-between face of an adolescent girl, no longer childlike, but not completely womanly yet either.  
  
He whispered silkily, "How do you like your new jewelry, Princess?"  
  
  
  
  
  
Bendros-Oozaru had put up a near-successful battle with Raditz and Journa, and at first the two Saiyan lovers couldn't faze him, even though they used their strongest ki attacks against the Oozaru further Granden of Sahara. Shalila, Dirkan had managed to get Rojal, Dedron, and Petalia to safety, leaving the battle between Bendros-Oozaru and Raditz and Journa.   
  
Bendros-Oozaru roared in heated fury when he saw Vegeta pin Tayla to the cliff with his attack involving restraining cuffs. He growled loudly when he saw Tayla struggle against the restraints helplessly, while Vegeta looked on and taunted her. He saw Tayla spit in Vegeta's face, and then Vegeta slapped her hard for her efforts. However, Tayla did manage to bite one of Vegeta's fingers before he could pull his hand back away from her heart-shaped face. Vegeta hissed in fury.  
  
Bendros-Oozaru was infuriated when he had seen Vegeta hit Tayla's face, and he was so angered by it that he abandoned his battle with Raditz and Journa temporarily to go over to Vegeta to stop him from terrorizing Tayla any further. But before Bendros-Oozaru could do so, he felt himself begin to shrink rapidly, and the fur covering his limbs melted into ordinary flesh.  
  
What was happening? Why was he shrinking? He had finally learned to control himself in Oozaru form, and he had been able to distinguish friend from foe. He had been in complete mastery of his Oozaru abilities; his people and mother would be proud, even though it was against Astorian law for him to put them to further use. Bendros had always followed and respected the law that forbade Sastorians from turning Oozaru; he understood it was for safety reasons, although he had always wondered if there was a safe method of being in Oozaru form. At least, he had been able to gain control of himself before he had devoured Tayla; he would have never forgiven himself, if he had eaten the funny, irrepressible little girl that he knew bore a huge crush on him yet.  
  
But now he was shrinking back into his normal form, and he would be of less help to Tayla and her family than before. Curses, by all the Kais and Kamis, who had done this to him?  
  
He soon found out when he had retransformed back into his natural form, and he felt the ki of the Saiyan girl that he now knew was named Journa. He hastily turned around and saw Journa holding Rojal's bloody sword. Raditz was standing next to him, grinning wildly.  
  
"Any last words, half-breed?" Journa wanted to know. She decided that she was going to finish off the troublesome mixed-breed boy with a Four Finger Flash.  
  
"Hey wait, Journ," Raditz told his mate. "He seems like a strong warrior, and he does have Saiyan blood in him. Hey, demi-Saiyan, what's your name?"  
  
"Why?" Bendros asked edgily. He was now nude, but he paid no mind to it; there were more important things than clothes to worry about.   
  
"Oh, just curious," Raditz replied smoothly. "You are essentially one of us, even with your Astorian blood. Why not fight with your own kind instead of the Astorie weaklings?"  
  
"They're not weaklings!" Bendros hissed. "They're my friends and family! I am to rule the Astorian Clan of Sahara someday when my mother passes on! I am with my own kind!"  
  
"Wait!" Raditz cried, forgetting Bendros' tirade for now. "You said that you are to rule the Clan of Sahara someday? Are you descended from the Sastorian girl known as Aliquina?"  
  
"I don't have time to give my family history," Bendros snapped. "Tayla needs me, so farewell." He flew into the air, but Raditz blocked his path, and Journa swiftly Bendros by his hair. She kicked him hard in his kidney region, and Bendros was in too much pain then to fight for a few moments. Journa seized him by his neck with her arm, and she began to strangle him, just enough to subdue him.  
  
"Answer my mate's question," Journa ordered sternly.  
  
Bendros growled, "If you must know, yes, my great-grandmother's name was Aliquina."  
  
"Did this Aliquina have a previous mate before your grandfather, a Saiyan named Arcan?" Raditz demanded to know.  
  
"Yes, yes," Bendros grumbled (did Journa really have to hold his neck so hard?). "What in Kami Orchida's name is this? Trivia hour?"  
  
Raditz grinned slowly then. "And is your mother named Mauria or Alora Sahara?"  
  
Bendros wasn't going to answer any more questions, but another kick from Journa changed his mind. "Answer his questions, or we'll see that my brother hurts Tayla much more than already has. That slap in her face is nothing compared to what he could do to damage her."  
  
Bendros snarled, "My mother is Mauria, Gran Mauria alright! Now let me go! I have no wish to play with either one of you!"  
  
Journa's smile matched Raditz's just then. She patted Bendros' back companionably, almost lovingly, as she purred, "Well, Raditz, we found a member of your family. Meet your cousin." She released her stranglehold on Bendros.  
  
Raditz laughed. "Well, hello cousin. We are both descended from Arcan; when Arcan returned home to planet Vegeta, he married a little thing named Bitra, who is my grandmother. My father's name was Bardock, and I have a little brother named Kakarot who's currently living on some tiny blue planet that he should have cleared by now. Hell, we're second cousins, isn't that something? You may have Astorie blood in you, but you're strong. What about joining our side and leaving these weaklings behind?"  
  
"Never!" Bendros roared. "I will never work for Frieza!"  
  
"Who said anything about Frieza?" Journa asked richly. "You're just be working for my brother, who happens to be Prince, technically the King of all the Saiyans. You are actually subject to him now, whether you acknowledge it or not."  
  
"I am subject to no one except for my mother and Superior Gran Shalila and Superior Granden Dirkan!"   
  
"Not if Vegeta has his way, you won't be," Journa declared.  
  
"Are you with us or against us?" Raditz demanded to know.  
  
"I think that you know the answer to that," Bendros told him calmly. "I am sorry to see a relative of mine work for a monster like Frieza and a bastard like Vegeta."  
  
"Don't insult my brother!" Journa screamed.  
  
Raditz purred then, "Calm yourself, mate; I think we can make him join us."  
  
"Not a chance that will happen!" Bendros yelled, as he flew away quickly from Journa and Raditz, who took after him in hot pursuit. 


	70. Final Showdown With The Saiyans

Chapter Seventy: Final Showdown With The Saiyans  
  
Toria and Veal flew in the air over the dying city of Magan, horrified at the damage they were witnessing. The proud, erect skyscrapers looked as if they had been crushed into the ground by gigantic fists. Diamond statues decorated the city, gem sculptures of people in terrified agony, many of them with their mouths still opened to scream. Rubble and debris littered the cities, with dozens of Calmagian bodies, bloodied and broken, lying along the streets. Numerous plant-like creatures were joyous self-destructing everywhere and chasing the survivors desperately trying to flee.   
  
Toria instructed Veal to follow her to the rooftop of a major city bank, and they landed on the roof. Toria knew that she had to do something to stop some of this madness before she and Veal went to aid Tayla and the others. Toria's long hair, the color of baked honey, flowed in the wind like ribbons around her slender body. She was dressed in her white silken caftan and gold sash draped over her right shoulder, and the shiny, satiny fabric of both materials glimmered in the bright sunlight. Clear crystal boots adorned her tiny white feet. Her emerald eyes darkened until they were almost black, as she raised her slim, snowy hands with the long, tapered fingers and nails into the air together, with the thumbs touching each other side by side. She then threw her hands back in opposite directions, closed her eyes, and whispered a few words in Ancient Astorian language (a more obscure dialect of Astorian than Chloe Astorian, the common dialect spoken by the Astorian royalty):  
  
"Evi, uni-munden planti cretinis tat causen harmi  
Shai nai raisen anie muri causen fro alarmi.  
Neve aganti wou theyen commiten il cru endeavori,  
Fro theyen wou sleepen fureve."   
  
Translated in Standard, these words meant:  
  
"Evil, single minded plant creatures that cause harm  
Shall not raise any more cause for alarm.  
Never again will they commit a cruel endeavor,  
For they will now sleep forever."  
  
A silvery mist spread throughout Magan and her outskirts, and within minutes, all of the green Saibamen dropped to the ground, and they all fell asleep. Veal watched on, amazed. "Will they really sleep forever?" she asked Toria, after Toria had finished.  
  
"Yes," Toria responded. "And even more so when our people vanquish them."  
  
Toria then closed her eyes and tried to sense Tayla's ki. The High Priestess's ki sensing was much more advanced than most Astorians because unlike many Astorians, she could tell by reading someone's ki what their emotions were, whether they were happy or sad or angry or afraid. She had been training Tayla on this, and Tayla had just started to master it.  
Toria nearly squeaked (something that she had done only twice in her life) when she felt the disturbances in Tayla's ki. She could feel Tayla's mixture of anger and fear in her ki, and then Toria realized that Tayla was in danger, unable to help herself or anyone else. She couldn't divine what danger, but she knew that the girl was in peril.  
  
"Veal," she said urgently, "we must go. And we when arrive at our destination, you must stay near me, and stay out of the fighting."  
  
"I-I don't know," Veal said hesitantly. "I know that I am no warrior, but my father taught me a few fighting techniques to protect myself. I-I could be brave enough, I think."  
  
"I know that you could," Toria told her gently. "But even our most advanced and superior warriors are having difficulty with this battle; I can feel it. It is for your own safety, Veal, for not even I have a chance against the Saiyans and Frieza's forces."  
  
"Can't you just put them to sleep, like you did those ugly plant things?" Veal asked her.  
  
"Not if they have higher ki levels than the plant creatures," Toria told her. "And being a Priestess, I am not allowed to fight physically or shed blood. Now we must hurry, little Meatian, for my family needs our help."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bendros was nearing Vegeta, who continued to taunt Tayla about his victory over her. Tayla repeatedly called the Saiyan Prince a variety of unladylike names that she normally did not use (all learned from Alora, who would have been embarrassed at how much of her coarse vocabulary her plucky and youngest sister-in-law had picked up from her):  
  
"Bastarden Monken Princen! Filti Rojalen Swien! Prickien! Stenchi Monken Swien! Princen Uv Completi Monkens!" (Bastard Monkey Prince! Filthy Royal Swine! Prick! Smelly Monkey Swine! Prince of All Monkeys!) On Astoria, "monkey" and "swine" were among the worst names imaginable to call anyone.  
  
Bendros heard some of Tayla's blue vocabulary and he would have laughed, if she hadn't been in danger. Even his Aunt Alora (whom Bendros suspected that Tayla learned the words from) would have been shocked, and Alora was not easy to shock. Tayla's prim and proper sisters, Gracina and Gorna, would have fainted dead away, even though they themselves had occasionally used the word, "bastard" or "monkey". Bajal and Lektron would have just laughed, seeing nothing wrong with Tayla knowing a few dirty words. Bendros emitted a chuckle before he could stop himself, as he wondered how Shalila or Dirkan would have reacted.  
  
"Insult me all you like," Vegeta told her casually, although he was secretly bristling at being called a monkey and a bastard. The brat would pay for it later. Vegeta never suspected that a Princess of Chloe knew such foul language; from what he knew of Astorian royals, he had always thought that they were a puritanical bunch. At least that was what his father had told him.  
  
Finally Bendros reached Vegeta, with Journa in hot pursuit. Raditz had stopped chasing his newfound cousin to "take care" of the rest of Tayla's family members, take care of course as in destroying them.  
  
"Let her go!" Bendros ordered Vegeta.  
  
Vegeta waved him away arrogantly and said to his sister, "Journa, get rid of him immediately; I don't have time to play with him."  
  
"With pleasure," Journa told him, not caring much if he was her mate's cousin; Raditz wouldn't miss him that much. Journa threw herself at Bendros, punching him hard in his face. Bendros fell back, but he quickly recovered, kicking Journa in her shins. Journa leapt at her opponent, wrapping one of her arms around his neck and catching him a stranglehold that Bendros struggled to break.  
  
Bendros electrocuted her, and Journa screamed out, having never been electrocuted before in her life. The volts of electricity shot throughout her body, and she was stunned, not sure how to react. Bendros wasted no time in taking advantage, as he hit her hard in her back with both fists, shoving her out of the sky. Journa swiftly near the ground, but she began to recover, as she rose back into the air. When she reached Bendros again, Bendros punched her in her cheek, while she kicked him in his stomach. A melee of punches and kicks between them ensued, with them both fighting evenly. She slammed her fist into Bendros' side hard, making him cry out, but she didn't cripple him enough to prevent him from shoving his fist into her chest, denting her armor. Bendros then hit her again in her stomach, this time, putting a hole in her armor, and then he threw his hands back. Before Journa knew it, Bendros emitted a scarf of pure ki from his hands and swiftly wrapped it around her.  
  
"Rings of Saturn Scarf!" he cried out. Journa cried out, as the energy-draining scarf began to bleed her ki away from her. Vegeta knew then that he had to intervene, for no Saiyan had ever been able to fight off a Rings of Saturn Scarf draining attack without some help. Wasting no time, he flew away from Tayla while Bendros was floating in air, robbing Journa of her ki with Rings of Saturn Scarf. He swiftly speeded up behind Bendros and hit him hard in the back of his head, and this eradicated the Rings of Saturn Scarf attack. Bendros nearly fell out of the sky, but he didn't. Journa was free once more.  
  
"Thanks!" she shouted at her brother.  
  
"Fine, now finish him off," Vegeta ordered her. "I have other matters to attend to. Don't let him trap you like that again."  
But just as Vegeta was returning to Tayla, he was greeted with a sharp blow to his face. He growled when he saw who had attacked him.  
  
"Shalila Chloe! How in the hell did you get free?" he demanded to know of a very angry Superior Gran when he saw that she no longer had the ki-restraining cuffs on her wrists.  
  
Shalila scowled and said, "You stay away from my granddaughter! Deal with me!"  
  
"How did you get free of the ki cuffs?" Vegeta roared, and then he felt his body for something. To his horror, the small control box that controlled the ki levels of the cuff wearers was missing. He looked around frantically, and while he did, Shalila slammed her fist into his jaw, nearly shoving him out of the sky. Vegeta fell down several dozen feet before he stopped-right in front of Dedron, whom too had his cuffs removed.  
  
"Looking for trouble, monkey? You found it-in me!" Dedron shouted, eager for revenge, as he kicked Vegeta hard in his stomach. Vegeta then punched Dedron in his nose hard, causing Dedron's nose to bleed. Dedron crashed his fist into Vegeta's stomach, and the two fighters began to kick and punch each other with their best martial arts moves that they both knew.  
  
While this was going on, Dirkan threw the control box into the air, the same control box that had controlled his ki levels when he had been wearing the ki-restraining collar, and he blew it up with a blink of his eye, using his eye lasers. He was grateful that they had figured out how to free their cuffs with that control box. Surprisingly enough, it had been Petalia who had helped them, for it had been she who had found the control box that Vegeta had dropped during his last battle with Tayla. Petalia had hurried over to Dirkan, and Dirkan had remembered seeing such a box; it was similar to the ones that Queen Frost had invented for the ki-restraining collars. He had been able to figure out how to work it, and within ten minutes, he had pressed the right buttons, the buttons that turned off the cuffs of the others and his collar. Once that was done, Shalila, Dedron, and Rojal had no problems with breaking the awful cuffs off of their wrists with just a rip at each cuff. Rojal and Dirkan were now fighting Raditz, with the fight fairly even between all three of them. At this time, they were using kicks and punches to fight each other.  
  
Meanwhile, Shalila was trying to figure out how to free Tayla from the ki cuffs that Vegeta had used to pin the girl to the cliff. "Hang in there, Tayla," she told her comfortingly.  
  
"Yes, Nama," Tayla whispered. "Thank you and everyone else." Shalila stroked her cheek.  
  
Finally, after a few minutes, Shalila realized that she wasn't going to pull off Tayla's cuffs physically (that little bastard prince did an excellent job of restraining her). She told Tayla firmly, "Tayla, I will get your restraints off of you, but this may hurt for a minute or two."  
  
"That's okay," Tayla assured her. "I don't want to be trapped here anymore."  
  
Shalila backed away from her granddaughter, and levitating in air, she held out her hands out, palms facing upwards towards the sky, as if she were about to receive something from above. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments, and after those moments had passed, five small lavender ki balls, each the size of mothballs floated above Shalila's open hands. Shalila juggled the ki balls for a few moments, and then, like an experienced baseball pitcher, she threw each of the ki balls at Tayla, with each ki packet hitting the cuffs confining her granddaughter. Tayla cried out in pain, as the ki balls quickly burned away the cuffs, for the ki balls were also burning her wrists, ankles, and neck as well. A few moments later, Tayla had scorched wrists, ankles, and a neck, but she was free of the awful restraints that Vegeta had inflicted on her. She and Nama flew to each other and embraced, and Shalila looked sorrowfully at Tayla's burned body parts. She was sorry that she had to cause her granddaughter pain, but it had been the only way that she knew to free her.   
  
Tayla winced at the burns, but she had no time to pay much attention to them. She whispered a thank-you to her grandmother, and both ladies decided that it was time to end this battle with the Saiyans once and for all.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
While Shalila had been freeing Tayla, Bendros and Journa were still fighting each other with kicks and punches. Bendros threw Journa into a nearby cliff, with Journa's body crashing into the rocky side; her body created a hole in the cliff that was five feet deep. Journa wasted no time in flying back out of the cliff, as she rose in the air. She crossed her wrists in an X position, and she balled her hands into fists, with two fingers (her index and middle fingers) of each fist standing up, until her fists resembled the heads of rabbits, ready to launch a Four Finger Flash attack.  
  
Before Bendros could reach her, Journa screamed out, "FOUR FINGER FLASH!" Four red ki lasers flew towards Bendros, but Bendros quickly crossed his wrists together in a Mirror Shield position.  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!"  
  
Journa cried out in horror, as Bendros' Mirror Shield attack deflected her Four Finger Flash attack right back at her. As her own attack flew towards her, Bendros chased it, and with one swipe of his hand, he hit the ki attack further towards her, so that it would crash into Journa and cause her more damage.  
  
The extra effort on Bendros' part was successful, for Journa's own ki attack collided into her own body. Journa screamed, as her Four Finger Flash attack, meant for Bendros, was being used to defeat her. The ki from her own attack engulfed her body, burning her, scorching her, making her body temperature rise almost a hundred degrees hotter than what it should have been. The ki power shoved her out of the sky hard, causing her to crash into the ground hard, creating a gigantic crater the size of half of the city of Magan. When the smoke and dust cleared, Journa was lying facedown in the crater, barely alive and very much unconscious. No more trouble could be expected from her; Bendros had won that battle, and Journa was out of the war.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
The battle between Rojal, Dirkan and Raditz had taken a turn for the worst-for Raditz, that is. Dirkan continued to fire his eye lasers at Raditz, while Rojal fired small whitish-blue ki lasers at their Saiyan nemesis with his hands. Raditz was now greatly weakened, but he had some strength left, enough to hold his own. The longhaired Saiyan flew away from his opponents and launched a gigantic ki blast, (similar to Vegeta's Big Bang Attack, only it was done with two hands in ninety-degree angles instead of one), which would have crippled both fighters severely; had not Rojal intervened at the last minute, they possibly would have been taken out of the fighting themselves.  
  
Rojal crossed his wrists in Mirror Shield position and cried out, "MIRROR SHIELD!" just as Raditz's ki ball was flying towards him and Dirkan. Rojal raced in front of Raditz's ki ball, and using his Mirror Shield, he deflected it right back onto the already destabilized Raditz. Before Raditz could escape, his own ki attack enveloped him, catching him in a burning ball of light. When the light dissipated, Raditz was severely burned and damaged. He cried out in anger, but before he could retaliate, Dirkan came up behind him and hit him hard in the back of his head with such a sharp blow that it instantly knocked Raditz out and sent him crashing into an already wrecked bakery that was sitting on the outskirts of Magan.   
  
When Raditz fell through the steel roof of the bakery, his large body landed in a giant vat of donut batter that had not mixed properly. It had been a softer landing for him than it had been for his mate, but he was as badly hurt now as she was. Raditz moaned softly, as he slowly came out of his unconscious state. He raised his head, and it was coated with sticky donut batter and flour. There was also chocolate in the batter, and Raditz licked the chocolate donut batter off of his fingers, as he slowly began to pass out again.  
  
"Not bad; Calmags sure make good chocolate," he murmured, as he passed out once and for all in his sweet and sticky new bed. Chocolate saliva dribbled from his mouth, as his head fell against the steel side of the mixing vat.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dedron was not faring as well in his fighting, as Bendros, Rojal, and Dirkan had been. Vegeta continued to punch and kick his Astorian opponent, even though Dedron was near the point of collapse. Dedron had been holding up well for a while, until Vegeta had launched a Big Bang attack at him, which crippled the bulky Astorian prince so much that his ki was greatly reduced by half. Dedron's attacks were now careless and desperate, with half of his ki attacks missing the Saiyan prince, and his punches and kicks were not as hard or as damaging. Finally Vegeta decided that he was tired of playing with the burly Astorian and decided to finish him off once and for all.  
  
He punched Dedron hard in his face again, this time sending the boy crashing near the ground. Before Dedron could fly up and retaliate against his Saiyan opponent, Vegeta fired a Final Flash attack at him, an attack that would kill the already weakened Dedron once and for all.  
  
Dedron nearly screamed in horror, as Vegeta's Final Flash attack neared him. He raised his arms and wrists in Mirror Shield position, but Dedron had too little ki in him left to successfully deflect the Final Flash attack. Knowing (and grudgingly accepting) that he was about to die, Dedron silently cursed Vegeta just before the Final Flash attack came within range of him.  
  
But Dedron would not die that day...  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!"  
  
Within seconds, Vegeta's Final Flash attack left Dedron and to Vegeta's astonishment and terror, collided into him, thrusting him into the same cliff where he had captured Tayla. Vegeta's body smashed into the wall of the chalky cliff several hundred feet, leaving a giant hole that was discharging clouds of dust and smoke.  
  
Outside of the cliff, a panting Tayla was struggling to catch her breath after using Mirror Shield on the Saiyan prince. Dedron just stared at her, gawking in amazement. Shalila flew to their side, and she quickly inquired about their health.  
  
Dedron gasped for air, and Tayla asked him, "Are you okay?" She wasn't fond of Dedron, but he was her nephew, after all. Family was family.  
  
Dedron wheezed, and he was caught between gratitude that he was still alive and anger that Tayla had intervened in his battle. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, almost had him too, just was about to eradicate him," he said huffily. "If you hadn't stopped him, I eventually would have myself; I just needed time, yes that's it, just needed time. You just delayed the inevitable, Tayla; Vegeta was just a monkey; anyone could have destroyed him. Another minute or two, and he would have been mine. Believe me, I knew what I was doing; I had everything under control; I would have killed him myself within less than a minute. Not bad, but I didn't really need your help..."  
  
Tayla sighed wearily; she hadn't really expected any show of gratitude from Dedron, but his attempt at salvaging his pride was ridiculous. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything that she might regret later on; she was too tired now to argue with Dedron. Dedron's pride had been wounded more than anything else, and he was trying to restore it. Shalila just patted her on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze and Tayla an exhausted smile. Tayla smiled back weakly at her.  
  
Of course Vegeta wasn't defeated that easily. While Dedron had been boasting that he could have taken care of the arrogant Saiyan prince himself, Vegeta had crawled out of the hole that he had made himself when Tayla had sent him crashing into the cliff. Now he was flying back towards the three Astorians, determined to finish them off once and for all. Immediately he charged at Tayla, and Tayla had to ready herself for him quickly. Within minutes, they were back to kicking and punching each other, with each punch and kick landing harder and harder on each other.   
  
Vegeta kicked Tayla hard in her stomach, but Tayla, within seconds of that kick, slammed her tiny fist hard into Vegeta's nose, and this time it was Vegeta who had the bloody nose. He swiftly wiped his nose with the back of his hand.   
  
The brat made me bleed, I don't believe it, she actually made me bleed, Vegeta thought to himself. He wasn't finished with her yet, however. He quickly seized Tayla before she could escape him, and he managed to grab one small wrist. Tayla struggled in Vegeta's grip, trying to prevent him from grabbing her other wrist. She then decided to electrocute the Saiyan prince once more, and Vegeta screamed aloud when the volts of electricity ran throughout his body. His hair was singed and his clothes and armor were slightly scorched. Had Vegeta been a Human or another weaker creature, he would have already been dead, but he was the strongest of his line, and while he was more damaged than before, he was still in the game. Tayla had freed herself from Vegeta's grasp, and she flew away from him as fast as she could.  
  
"What's the matter?" Vegeta called after her. "Decided to finally run away?"  
  
Tayla ignored him for the time being, as she rose higher into the air. Vegeta pursued her, just as Tayla was gathering her ki together for a Blitzer attack. She decided to finally put to use what Kami Orchida had taught her about life-force manipulation and using it to bolster ki attacks. What command of life-force manipulation that Tayla had she had used in her earlier fight with Balair. Tayla took a deep breath and began to power up, quietly summoning her life force to help her. She felt her ki increase, as she used her own life force as a backup battery. Her ki increased to twice its normal level. She had to hurry and use it quickly however, for the drawback to life force manipulation was that it couldn't be drawn on forever. The increased surge in ki would not last for long in someone who had been as damaged as badly as she had.  
  
Vegeta was near her, preparing to launch another Final Flash attack. Tayla knew that she would have to act quickly, for keeping up her life force to power her up was already taking its toll on her young body. She crossed her wrists again in an X position and held her hands open-faced towards Vegeta in clamshell positions. She took a deep breath and drew her hands and wrists back and cried out:  
  
"BLITZER!"  
  
And at the same time, Vegeta launched his attack, shouting:  
  
"FINAL FLASH!"   
  
Tayla's Blitzer attack and Vegeta's Final Flash attack collided into each other; it happened the same as before, with the huge explosion of white-blue light that blinded the casters and the others for several minutes. Finally the smoke and the light cleared, and while Vegeta was rubbing his eyes, Tayla flew away from him again, as she gathered her ki and life force once more.  
  
Vegeta was charging up for another Final Flash attack while Tayla stopped and put her hands together in a praying position the same way that she had done when she had been battling Balair. She gathered even more energy, as she pulled her hands back against her chest while they were still in praying position with her elbows sticking outward. Once again, she ripped her hands away from each other until her palms were exposed. She held her hands at a ninety-degree angle that was similar to the position that Vegeta used in his Big Bang attack, threw them back again in that same position, and then she shot two silvery-blue bursts of radiance out of her palms. The sharp whistling sound in the air whirred, as the bolts of bright, blinding light zipped towards Vegeta. One bolt of ki shot towards his upper chest, but the other bolt flew past him.   
  
Vegeta screamed, as the first bolt of ki (which was much more painful and damaging than Tayla's previous attacks because of her life force backing it) slammed into his body and sent volts of electricity much more shocking and stinging than any of the times that Tayla had electrocuted him. Before the Saiyan prince knew it, the ki stream that flew away turned around a few feet behind him and exploded into his back faster than a comet. The first ki blast struck Vegeta's chest at the same time that the second ki blast shot him in behind. The ki shots collided into each other, after shooting through his sternum and spine, and when the ki blasts met each other in Vegeta's body, electric currents stronger than anything that Vegeta had ever experienced ran throughout his body. Vegeta screamed in terror, as he began to fry.   
  
When the attack had dissipated, Tayla wasted no time in firing a Blitzer attack at him; she had to be as merciless as he had been towards her now. Tayla used most of what ki that she had left to build up her Blitzer attack. The Blitzer attack smashed into Vegeta's back and pushed him out of the sky with the strength and impact of a meteorite hitting him. Vegeta yelled in pain and fear, as his body collided with the hard ground, and his landing was much more painful than Journa's or Raditz's had been, for he slammed into-a parked garbage air truck, the side of the truck instead of the garbage. At least at first, he had been in the side of the truck, but Vegeta's body seared through the side of the truck and right into the garbage, causing the whole truck to tip over. The air truck, which had been abandoned by its owner and still left running exploded into flames, smoke and smelly garbage and Vegeta's body was once again thrown into the air. This time, he finally fell through the roof of a glasshouse, smashing dozens of vegetables beneath his body.   
  
Many of Vegeta's bones were broken, but the Saiyan prince was still alive-barely. Vegeta tried to get up again, but this time he couldn't manage the effort. His body had been burned, cut, and scarred. The brat would pay for this! Vegeta hated to admit it, but the scrawny Princess of Chloe had once again defeated him. He would have to face her again another time; even he knew when to admit defeat-for the time being anyway. He'd have his revenge on her yet.  
  
Before he passed out into unconsciousness, he sent a message on his scouter (which amazingly enough was still working) to Journa, Raditz and Nappa. He wasn't sure if any of them were still alive, but he had to find out.  
  
"Journa, Raditz, Nappa, if you three are still breathing, once you manage to get to your feet again, the order is to retreat!" Vegeta hated saying this and admitting defeat, but he knew that if he went on any further, Tayla would kill him the next time that she launched a successful attack at him. Besides, when he recovered from his wounds, he would be stronger than ever, and he would definitely have his revenge on Tayla Chloe. His brute strength at the time had been much greater than hers, but she was faster with her ki attacks than he had been. But one day, one day, he would even up the score with the Astorian princess.  
  
"Don't think that this is over yet, Tayla!" he choked out before passing out. "One day, when you least expect it, I will defeat you! And you will bow to me and admit that I am stronger, more superior! One day, Tayla, one day! I won't forget this! If you think-"  
  
Vegeta's eyes closed, allowing him to slip into a welcoming black void that would shield him from his extreme pain.  
  
  
  
  
  
Shalila had to catch Tayla's body, as Tayla began to faint. The child must have used up most of what life force that she had in those two final attacks on Vegeta. Tayla landed in her Nama's arms, and Shalila held her close to her bosom. She kissed Tayla's dusty brow.  
  
"Is it over, Nama?" Tayla asked tiredly.   
  
"The battle is, dandelion, but the war isn't," Shalila told her gravely, and a weary Tayla fainted completely this time in her grandmother's arms, fully drained of all of her ki.  
  
  
A/N: Of course none of the Saiyans are dead, but they have essentially been defeated for now. Tayla and her family still have much trouble on their hands, for there are the Top Elite officers to deal with now, and they are stronger and harder to defeat than the Saiyans were. The war is still far from over yet, and there are diamond statues of people to be brought back to life that Toria and Tayla must attend to. How will the Astorians react when they find out that Top Elite is slowly taking over the Calmagian royal castle? Will Toria and Tayla save those who have been turned into diamond statues in time?   
  
And what about those trapped in the Calmagian castle? Will any of them be able to survive or escape, especially Natala, Hazel, and Caline. Will they be rescued? Too soon to tell yet, and the war could go either way. The bigger battles are coming up ahead, but first there are diamond statues to turn back into people. Find out what happens next in Chapter Seventy-One: Restoration (which should be posted in one to four days from now).  
  
P.S. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about Chestra, and as for Be Careful For What You Wish For, I am in a major writer's block for that one, but I will try to come up for something for that story as soon as I can. 'Til then, see you later, and I hope that those few of you who are reading this story are still enjoying it! R&R! 


	71. Restoration

Chapter Seventy-One: Restoration  
  
Five minutes later…  
  
"There you are!" Toria exclaimed, when she saw an exhausted Tayla lying in Shalila's arms. Veal looked at Tayla with worry in her lavender eyes. Both were now hovering in the air near Shalila, Tayla, and Dedron.  
  
"Toria! Veal! What are you two doing here?" Shalila asked. "It is dangerous enough out here, especially, with Frieza's Top Elite officers crawling about-"  
  
"They are not crawling about, Superior Gran, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her firmly. "They have invaded the Calmagian royal castle, and we must hurry as soon as we can. But first, we must bring all those who have been turned into diamond statues back to life."  
  
"How can that be done?" Shalila inquired, as she stroked the tangled, dusty mass that was Tayla's hair.  
  
"I need Tayla for that, Aunt Shalila," Toria told her. "I will have to donate some of my ki to her, however, for she has drained all of her ki and almost all of her life force. Life force manipulation is a useful, but dangerous skill, and Tayla is not in complete mastery of it yet. If she had fired another powerful ki blast, she could have perished. I must build up some of her life force and ki until she can recover."  
  
And with that, Toria flew closer to the tired Tayla lying in her grandmother's arms. Toria murmured an incantation in Ancient Astorian tongue, and a small blue ki ball the size of a marble floated out of the tip of her thumb. The tiny ki packet glided from Toria's thumb and absorbed itself into Tayla's fatigued body, sinking into her heart. Within seconds, some of Tayla's strength began to return to her, as Toria released another tiny blue ki ball from her thumb, and that ki cell also sank into Tayla's heart. Tayla arose from her grandmother's arms, sitting up fully. She stretched her aching muscles, which were slowly healing, thanks to Toria's ki donation.  
  
Her stomach growled; she sure was hungry, and the only thing she had eaten since the war had begun were two croissants that she had taken from a wrecked abandoned vendor's cart. But she would have to think about food later.  
  
Toria took Tayla's hand and guided her out of Shalila's arms. "Tayla, do you remember what I taught you about reversing that evil Gemstarian woman's spell?"  
  
"Yes," Tayla said softly, "I do."  
  
"Good. Everyone come with me, please," Toria commanded.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Within an hour, they found the gem bodies of Arlon, Lukan and Riccan.  
  
Dirkan, Shalila, Rojal, Petalia, Dedron, Bendros, Veal, and Toria had followed Tayla to where Tayla's uncles and nephew had been turned into diamond statues by Diamonique. Tayla was thankful that Diamonique would never bother any of them again; Diamonique had been a cruel young woman who had received her just reward.  
  
To their astonishment, they saw a ragged, injured Calmagian boy who was kneeling and clinging wearily to the diamond statue of Arlon, and Rojal and Dedron gasped when they realized that it was Ridikar.  
  
"Ridikar, you survived?" Rojal asked.  
  
"Of course, I did!" Ridikar declared angrily.   
  
(When Vegeta and Journa had defeated Rojal and Dedron, they had cuffed the Astorian princes and had taken them prisoner. They had not considered Ridikar worthy of their time, so they had left the Calmagian royal heir to die. Ridikar had managed to struggle to his feet after Vegeta and Journa had taken Rojal and Dedron away, and he had hidden in the woods near the diamond statues until he could catch his breath.)  
  
Ridikar once again struggled to his feet and grinned weakly when he saw Tayla. "Tayla, you survived! Wonderful! I thought that I would never see you again!" Ridikar suddenly gained a burst of renewed strength, as he scuttled over to Tayla. Before Tayla or anyone could prevent him, Ridikar seized Tayla in his arms and kissed her boldly on her lips. Tayla promptly shoved him away, extremely embarrassed, and Ridikar almost fell to the ground. Dedron snickered at Tayla, but surprisingly Rojal punched him in his ribs.  
  
"Enough, Dedron," Rojal told him, and Dedron sulked (something that the ungrateful prince had been doing since Tayla had saved him from Vegeta).  
  
Ridikar's humiliation was complete when Tayla angrily scrubbed at her lips.  
  
"I said that I didn't want to marry you!" she declared. "I'm glad that you weren't killed, but that doesn't mean that I want you back."  
  
"C'mon, Tayla, don't be ridiculous," Ridikar panted, hiding his annoyance. "I fought a war for you, and I want to put the past behind us. Can't you give me another chance?"  
  
"No! I don't have to time to deal with you, Ridikar; I have work to do."  
  
"Tayla, please…"  
  
"I said no! Now you must excuse me, for there are people to bring back to life!"  
  
"Tayla…"  
  
"She said no, boy, now deal with it and shut up!" Dirkan growled at him.  
  
Ridikar grew silent immediately, seeing the deadly glint in the Namek warrior's obsidian eyes.  
  
Tayla asked Toria, "Will this spell work on everyone that has been turned into a diamond statue, or will it only work on Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan?"  
  
"There are two versions of the spell: one that will work on those present, and another stronger one that will reverse the magic on everyone. The drawback to the stronger spell is that it will drain all of your ki and most of your life force, and you don't have much of those left."  
  
"I have to try, Aunt Toria," Tayla told her bravely. "Do I have enough ki in me to try the larger spell?"  
  
"Yes, but it will take what ki that you do have left, and you will need to rest for a full day afterwards." Toria stood behind Tayla and made her stand on one foot.  
  
"Tayla, if you wish, I can cast the larger spell," Toria told her.  
  
"You said that practice makes perfect," Tayla argued.   
  
"Very well, I will let you try, but we must hurry for we only have a few hours left," Toria told her.  
  
Tayla stood on both feet again, but then she stood on one foot once more. She closed her eyes and a silvery aura formed around her. She twirled on one toe, and then a toe on the other foot, and she danced slowly around the statues in dance steps resembling a ballerina's. Her steps were light and graceful, some of them resembling ballet positions such as tendus and plies, and some of the steps and dances resembled those used in waltzes.   
  
"What in Kami's name is she doing? This isn't a ball!" Dedron declared.  
  
"Quiet!" Petalia snapped at her brother, and Dedron stared at her. It had been the first time that Petalia had ever snapped at him or scolded him.  
  
"Shhh…" Toria admonished both Cletos Chloe siblings.  
  
"What sort of magic involves dancing?" Ridikar wanted to know.  
  
"Shush," Bendros told him.  
  
Finally, after about ten minutes, Tayla began to recite a chant in Ancient Astorian:  
  
"Statui av diaman bu frigidar aud crysta nonen muri.  
Gami figurias melti backen inta skinni aud blud,  
Aud brea appearen whery wus noni.  
Inst av bing frigidar, bu asu caldar asu suni."  
  
Translated in Standard, these words meant:  
  
"Statues of diamond be cold and sparkling no more.  
Gem figurines melt back into flesh and blood,  
And breath appear where was none.  
Instead of being cold as stars, be as warm as sun."  
  
The silvery glow from Tayla's body left her, and the silver-gray glow transformed into a mist, a mist that spread quickly throughout the city of Magan and its outskirts. As the silver mist left her body, Tayla fainted into unconscious, as if she were in a deep sleep. Everyone cried in horror at this, but Toria told all of them to remain calm.  
  
"It's her body's way of healing itself; she must be allowed to sleep, and she will be unable to be roused from her deep sleep for many hours. She will be all right, when she awakens, and she should have most of her strength, ki, and life force back when she does," Toria assured them. Shalila hurried over to Tayla and scooped the child up into her arms, holding her close, as she slept.  
  
While Tayla was in her deep sleep, miraculous occurrences were happening all over the city…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…A flock of fluorescent pink birds with bright red beaks were resting on three crystal gem statues of three muscular men. Two birds that were mates had built a nest on the head of the largest man, a huge burly male with gigantic muscles. The mother bird was preparing to lay her eggs in the nest on the man's head when suddenly, the statue came to life, and the nest fell off of his head. He let out a yell, and the entire flock of bright pink birds flew away into the sky.  
  
Bajal Chloe looked up in a dazed shock, seeing the flock of fluorescent birds fly off into the sky. He was surprised to find nesting material of weeds and tree branches tangled in his hair. He swiftly brushed them out of his dark hair, and he heard his first cousin, Lektron Chloe grumbling about bird feces on his arms.  
  
"Ugh! Nasty birds!" Lektron groaned, as he rubbed his soiled arm against a lamppost and gagged. "A million places that they could use the bathroom at, and they decide to use my arm instead! Yuck!"  
  
Raakon Chloe, Bajal's brother, was looking around frantically. "Where did Dodoria go?" he asked.  
  
"That's what I'd like to know," Lektron told him. "Hey, that cold-hearted, blue-haired beauty has disappeared as well." He then began to tremble. "Last time that I remember, that woman turned you into a diamond sculpture. How did you come back to life? We thought that we lost you for good!"  
  
"I saw you get turned into a diamond statue as well, Lek," Bajal told him. "I must have been turned into one myself, for the last thing that I remember was that Diamonique woman aiming her laser at me as well. I can't recall anything after that. What about you two?"  
  
Lektron and Raakon couldn't remember anything from the time that they had been turned into diamonds either. Finally, Raakon asked, "Is everyone okay?"  
  
"I think so," Bajal moaned, double-checking himself to make sure that the birds hadn't used him as a toilet. Raakon couldn't help, but examine himself as well.  
  
Raakon suddenly felt a burst of panic, a horrible feeling that someone he loved was in danger. "Hey, guys, we have to get back to the castle!" he cried frantically, his face full of worry.  
  
"What's wrong, Raakon?" Lektron asked.  
  
"Something's happened to Natala; I can feel it, I can sense she's in trouble," he said anxiously.  
  
"Let's go then!" Bajal told his brother. "From the look of things around here-" he and the other men took notice of the now quiet, deserted city and the sleeping Saibamen in the streets-"we won't be able to do much here today. Let's head back and see if everyone is okay!"  
  
"Good," Raakon told him. "I want to check on Natala and our children to see if they're safe. I have a bad feeling that my wife is in danger."  
  
"And I better check on Rina," Bajal told him. "And Alora; I hope that I can sense where she's at."  
  
"I hope that Gracie and the kids are doing okay," Lektron added. He was more worried about Gracina and Riccan, who were out fighting in this war.  
  
And with speed faster than any Calmagian rocket missile, all three Astorian princes leapt off of the ground and flew off into the darkening sky. Nightfall was coming fast…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…"What happened to my bakery?" a plump, elderly Calmagian baker who also owned this particular bakery exclaimed in horror. His bakery mostly sold donuts and pastries, and he was eager to find out how much damage had been done to his business. He had a turkey neck and a long, gray beard with brownish-gray hair both in the beard and on top. He wandered into the wrecked bakery, and he scurried straight to his donut vat, where to his shock, he saw a large, longhaired male dressed in warrior garb sleeping in the chocolate donut batter that the baker had been preparing yesterday just before he had been turned into a diamond statue.  
  
"Sweet Ankor! What is this in my donut batter-a huge man with long hair and a tail? This has been some day! And now all of my batter is ruined, ruined! You, you pig, out of my batter at once!"  
  
The longhaired warrior did not stir; he was in such a deep sleep that he did not even feel it when the baker threw a stale roll at him, hitting him in his head.  
  
"First that blue-haired woman, and now this! The king really should place more restrictions on who can come to this planet," the baker grumbled, as he grabbed a broom and began to sweep his floor…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…"Wow, what a neat crater!" exclaimed a little golden-haired boy with green eyes who had just been a diamond statue a few weeks ago. His two brothers, younger than him, had red hair with blue eyes, and all of them had been playing a Calmagian version of tag (whoever was "it" tagged the others, but he or she had to put handcuffs on them) in the wilderness behind Magan when Diamonique had approached them and turned them into diamond statues.  
  
"Lookie! There's a girl with a furry tail lying facedown in the crater too! Neato! I've never seen a girl with a tail before!" the youngest boy shouted.  
  
"Is she Astorian?" the middle child asked.  
  
"No, dumbo," the oldest boy scoffed. "Everyone knows that Astorians don't have tails."  
  
"I wish I was an Astorian," the youngest boy said wistfully. "Astorians can fly!"  
  
"Do you think that she's dead?" the middle boy asked.  
  
"There's one way to find out!" the oldest boy (he was nine years old) declared. He threw a huge rock at the girl's back, but the girl didn't stir. The girl with the furry brown tail and short, bright red hair didn't move a muscle.  
  
"She didn't move, so she's dead," the oldest boy said a bit gleefully.  
  
"She could be asleep," the youngest boy declared.  
  
"Nah," the middle boy told him. "That rock would have woken her up."  
  
"Hey," the oldest boy told his brothers. "We've never seen a dead body before. I wonder how long it would keep." All three boys were going through a stage where they found anything dead to be wickedly fascinating, much to their parents' horror. Their father had a cooler below their guesthouse where the boys had been keeping dead animals to study them (they all wanted to be scientists someday).  
  
"I'd bet it'd keep for a long time," the second oldest boy responded. "Let's take her home and put her in Father's cooler."  
  
"Great idea!" the youngest child hooted. The oldest agreed, and all three boys slid down into the crater on their bottoms to where the "dead" girl lay.  
  
The oldest boy poked her with a stick hard, just to make sure that she was really dead, and that was a mistake. The girl with the tail suddenly awoke and seized his ankle, and all three boys screamed. The second oldest boy threw a small boulder at the girl's head, and she passed out again, but the boys weren't taking their chances. The oldest boy freed himself from the girl's grasp, and all three boys hurried quickly out of the crater, far away from the scary "dead girl with a tail" who had mysteriously "come back to life"…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…"What in the hell happened?" General Norbrook wanted to know. Filcor Sedemeyer was just as confused as he was. Both men had the misfortune of having been turned into diamond statues themselves, and Filcor exclaimed in horror when he remembered how a self-destructing little green fiend had suddenly killed Prince Amitar, the future ruler of Calmag. Then as he and General Norbrook (who had wisely ordered a retreat back to the castle) had been fleeing from their army tank, which Diamonique had wrecked with a ki blast, Diamonique had fired ki blasts at them and turned them into diamond statues. Diamonique had quickly left, and Dodoria and Bhodie had fired ki blasts at many of the soldiers and CRP officers attacking them, successfully killing most of General Norbrook's troops. Norbrook only had one quarter of his army still alive; most of them either Dodoria or Bhodie had killed, or the Saibamen had killed.  
  
"Prince Amitar is dead," Filcor told Norbrook mournfully. Both men took a few moments of silence to pray for Amitar's soul. When they were done, Norbrook whispered, "His poor children! And our poor king and queen! How am I to explain this to them? How am I to tell Prince Amitar's five children that their father, such a good, brave man, perished horribly? How will Prince Ridikar and his brothers, Prince Julien and Prince Naykiar handle this news? And what about their poor sisters, Princess Rosyn, Princess Meyline, and Princess Caline? Prince Ridikar is only sixteen, and now he will be in charge of all of his siblings! Such a responsibility now for a young prince, let alone one who will rule Calmag someday if he lives. Prince Amitar has gone to join his beloved Princess Shydine now." Shydine had been Amitar's wife.  
  
"Well, I will take care of Princess Caline; her father promised her to me before he died, and I am sure that Prince Ridikar will honor his father's promise. I have wanted Caline for myself ever since she was nine years old," Filcor confessed, not a bit ashamed for desiring a child in the same way that one would desire a woman. After a Calmagian girl turned eight years old, her parents would start preparing her for marriage, and it was normal for men many decades old to start considering her as bride material. Calmagian men did not see any shame in wanting to bed and marry girls between the ages of eight and fourteen.  
  
"Hmm…" Norbrook said quietly. "I have heard that your fiancée has become good friends with the Astorian people. In fact, before this war started, I heard that Princess Gracina Chloe and her husband, Prince Lektron Chloe wanted to take her home with them to Astoria."  
  
"That will never happen!" Filcor declared vociferously. "Caline is mine! I met Princess Gracina and Prince Lektron Chloe just before we learned of Alberm's treachery against Calmag, and Princess Gracina was gracious and kind, but the most headstrong woman that I ever met. She ordered her husband around several times, and he actually did her bidding! He seems to treat her as his equal, and that is a mistake for any man to do. He probably has his hands full with that woman, poor fellow! I will never allow that to happen between Caline and myself. Her father told me that Caline was extremely difficult as well as badly behaved. She would not sleep with her husband unless he forced her. Alberm did not manage her very well, I'm afraid, so it will be up to me to train her properly. She will not cry and whine when I want to bed her the way that I heard that she did with Alberm. I will manage her and make her into the proper, submissive wife that I know that she could be. It will be fun to train her, and I am sure that she could please a man properly, even if she is reluctant. Ah, I can hardly wait to train her little body and taste and sample her sweet flesh!" Filcor drooled at the thought of bedding his future bride.   
  
Norbrook said nothing; he was not entirely sure that Filcor was any better a husband for Princess Caline that Alberm Dunlop of Rendor had been, but Prince Amitar's choice of husbands for his daughter was none of his concern. Norbrook couldn't say anything to Filcor about marrying a child, for he himself had married his wife, Sayri, when Sayri had been thirteen and he had been thirty. That had been thirty years ago, and one of Norbrook's sons had married Princess Rosyn, Prince Amitar's eldest child and Princess Caline's sister. Filcor continued to rant while Norbrook was thinking about his own family.  
  
"I wonder if she can bear me a child within a year," Filcor said excitedly. "I am so thankful that the pregnancy tests showed that Caline was not carrying Alberm's child; there would have been no way that I would have agreed to raise another man's child. Yes, once I get Caline trained and tamed, she will make the proper Calmagian wife; she can still be redeemed."   
  
"I have heard, Sedemeyer, that Princess Caline has refused to marry you, and the Astorians backed her up," Norbrook told him casually. "I'm sorry to say this, but the girl seems to be no more happier about marrying you than she did marrying Dunlop."  
  
"She has no choice, and she knows that!" Filcor cried out indignantly. "The marriage contract for her has been signed; it was signed by both her father and I before he died, and she must honor it unless her brother, Prince Ridikar decides to nullify the contract. He has the power to do that, but I doubt that he would do so. He thinks like his father, and like his father, he believes in a good marriage contract being honored. He will see that Caline marries me. And Caline is not going to fight me and run away from me the same way that she did with Alberm; she will obey me and be mine…" Filcor's voice trailed off.  
  
Filcor was thinking lustful thoughts about the little Calmagian princess when Lieutenant Balboun showed up, hobbling on one good foot. Balboun was saddened because a Saibaman had killed Daukin when Daukin had saved Balboun's life by shoving him out of the way of the exploding monster. The monster's explosion had taken Daukin's life instead of Balboun's.  
  
"Balboun!" Norbrook shouted. "You're alive! There are such things as miracles after all! Did any of your soldiers survive on that cruiser survive?"  
  
Balboun hung his head down in sorrow. "I am the only survivor, General. Private Daukin was with me, but he gave up his life to save mine. I am sorry that it happened that way; it is hard for me to keep from crying, sir. Daukin was killed when he saved me from an exploding green monster; I am sure that you and Sedemeyer have seen those nasty things. Now for some mysterious reason, they are all asleep, but just to be on the safe side, sir, I took a laser gun from a dead soldier and blasted away as many of those nasty things as I could. I found a few men with laser guns, CRP and army alike, and they are out now, sir, killing as many of those green bastards as possible."  
  
"Good job, Balboun," Norbrook said quietly. "I am sorry for the deaths of Daukin and the others; I knew most of them, and they were all good soldiers, good men. Daukin will be remembered for his heroics in saving your life; I will see to that personally. Now, Lieutenant, gather as many men as you can and have them eradicate any of those filthy green pigs that were exploding and killing people. All of them are to be killed, understand?"  
  
"Yes, General, sir."  
  
"Sedemeyer, you go with him and help him."  
  
"Yes, General, sir. Will you inform me if you hear anything about Princess Caline?"  
  
"I will, Sedemeyer, now go." Norbrook pulled out his laser gun, and he himself began to search the destroyed city for any green creatures… 


	72. Tayla Vs Dedron

Chapter Seventy-Two: Tayla Vs. Dedron  
  
And finally, back with Tayla and the others…  
  
Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan were both yawning and stretching their limbs. Riccan wanted to know why Tayla was asleep, and how long he had been a statue. Lukan had been trembling when he came out of his diamond state, and the last thing he remembered was that awful blue-haired girl ("she was a beauty, but meaner than a Saiyan!") shooting him with a laser. Arlon told Lukan that he thought that he would never see him alive again, and the brothers had briefly embraced.  
  
Riccan recovered from his ordeal much faster than Arlon or Lukan did. "Boy, you should have been there with us! Tayla blasted away an ugly red monster named Balair, even though Balair bit her hard a few times. She toasted him for good! And I got to kill a bunch of green men; you should have seen them when I sliced a few in half! I liked hearing the sound of them plopping to the ground, wow! And Arlon and Lukan almost beat up Prince Vegeta! I was hoping that I'd get to see Prince Vegeta's Final Flash attack, but he didn't use it, and I was disappointed!"  
  
Arlon spoke quietly, "Little Riccan here saved my life when Vegeta fired what he called the Big Bang attack at me. The little guy here pulled me out of the way, and I owe my life to him. Thanks, little guy." Riccan grinned and blushed slightly.  
  
"He did very well for his first battle," Lukan added. "I just have a question though: why is Tayla dead asleep?"  
  
"You three were turned into diamond statues, and Tayla cast a spell to reverse the Gemstarian woman's cruel attack," Toria told him solemnly.  
  
"Amazing!" Arlon gasped.  
  
"What happened to the Saiyans?" Riccan demanded to know.  
  
"We defeated them," Dirkan told him quietly, and he briefly explained the separate battles that everyone fought to defeat Vegeta, Journa, and Raditz.  
  
Riccan was cheering. "I knew that Tayla would kick Prince Vegeta's tail, I knew it, I knew it! Wow, I can't wait until she wakes up! When is she going to wake up? I want to know!"  
  
"She'll wake up soon enough, young man," Dirkan told him firmly. "For now, leave her be, she needs her rest."  
  
"I think that we could all use a few hours of sleep before going back to the royal castle to face the rest of Frieza's minions," Shalila told everyone authoritatively. Toria had explained to everyone about Balair and the others invading the castle on their way to finding Arlon, Lukan, and Riccan. "We will also need time to plan a strategy to save everyone inside, if it is not too late."  
  
"Those poor people, our families, our friends," Petalia murmured sadly.  
  
"I want to go fight the bad guys now!" Riccan declared loudly. "Why do we have to wait, Great-Nama?"  
  
"Because we need to rest, Riccan, and while we are resting, we must pray to the Kais and to our ancestors for the safety of everyone in the castle," Shalila told him firmly. "Toria, what did you say about the reasons that they are taking over the royal castle?"  
  
"From what I have divined from my visions, the one called Zarbon has thought up this strategy in hopes that we will give up Tayla, one person, in exchange for the lives of many, the many being the castle's occupants. They are not going to kill anyone right away until they are certain that they know where she is. We can rest for now, Aunt Shalila, but not for too long; time is running out."  
  
"Time is running out for what or who?"  
  
Everyone looked up in the sky where Bajal Chloe's voice had come from. Bajal, Raakon, and Lektron were landing slowly on the ground in front of everyone.  
  
"What's going on?" Raakon wanted to know.  
  
Shalila briefly explained the upcoming hostage situation and what had occurred before to her three grandsons, and Raakon, like Riccan, wanted to get back to the castle right away, but Shalila and Dirkan ordered everyone to stay and rest for a few hours.  
  
"And we must formulate a plan soon before we return and advertise to Frieza's Top Elite officers that we're still ready to take them on," Dirkan told them firmly.  
  
After Dirkan and Shalila had finished speaking, five more people arrived to join them: Alora, Gracina, Gorna, Cletos, and Dollan. Cletos was carrying Dollan in his arms; Dollan spent the entire time in flight reciting an impromptu love poem dedicated to "his" Alora. In order to control her temper, Alora had been counting to one thousand (as her sister, Gran Mauria Sahara, had long ago told her to do in times when she could not give way to anger or annoyance), and she had been on the number six-hundred-and-eighty five when they had finally found the others.  
  
"Who's the young man?" Dirkan asked of Cletos when Cletos and the others had landed.  
  
"Alora's biggest fan!" the normally solemn Cletos teased, and Alora punched him hard in his ribs.  
  
"I'm going to marry her if her husband dies, or turns out to be dead already," Dollan announced brightly, and Alora nearly fell over.   
  
Bajal glared darkly at the lovesick Calmagian boy. "I am her husband, and no, young man, I am not going to die anytime soon, so you will have to forget about her," Bajal told Dollan edgily.  
  
Dollan gulped when he saw the size of "his" Alora's husband. "You're-you're her husband?"  
  
"That's right, kid," Alora told him a bit cheerily, as she strolled over to Bajal, pulled his head down to hers and gave him a long, hard, passionate kiss. Bajal swept her up in his arms, and he returned her affection with an extended steamier kiss that almost shocked everyone watching. Dirkan sighed and put his head in his hands at this showy public display of affection; Alora and Bajal wouldn't know what discretion was if it hit them in the form of a ki blast….  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Lektron and Gracina, however, for once, were not mortified with Bajal and Alora's display of steamy passion, for they knew how they felt. Before everyone knew it, Lektron had swept his wife up into his arms and kissed her long and deep, with Gracina returning his passion intensely. His parents making out in front of him embarrassed Riccan, and he didn't hesitate to express his opinion of it.  
  
"Ewww! Gross! Mamma, Pappa, can't you two do that somewhere private? Yucky!" Riccan declared, as everyone laughed. He thought his Uncle Bajal and Aunt Alora making out was gross too, but then they weren't his parents…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Raakon's face fell; he wished that Natala had been able to be with them so they could be "gross" in Riccan's words as well. Raakon was deeply worried about his family, especially his wife. Dirkan noticed his sadness, and he patted Raakon's back.  
  
"She's going to be okay, Raakon; we will find a way to save her," he told him consolingly. "We'll find a way to save all of them."  
  
"I can't sleep, Dirkan, knowing that my wife and my children are in danger," Raakon said worriedly.  
  
"You must at least rest," Dirkan told him firmly. "You will be no good to us or your family, if you are not fighting your best because you are too tired. We will save your family and everyone else; don't give up, kid." Raakon gave Dirkan a small smile; Dirkan still called him a kid even though Raakon was nearing his forties. He and Dirkan had always had a special bond, somewhat similar to the bond that Dirkan had with Tayla. Dirkan was not normally affectionate with many people, but just then, he and Raakon embraced, in an embrace like brothers or like uncle and nephew. Dirkan patted his back again.  
  
"It's going to be okay," Dirkan assured him once more…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…While Dirkan was reassuring Raakon, Gorna was talking quietly to Rojal, talking proudly, much to Rojal's surprise and solemn happiness. "Rojal, son, I want you to know how proud I am of you," Gorna told him with pride in her voice. "You have done well fighting; you are becoming the warrior that you were meant to be. You have done well these past couple of days, Rojal, and I am pleased to have you as my son and as my heir to Astoria's throne."  
  
Rojal smiled. "Really, Mother?"  
  
"Really," Gorna told him firmly. "You are growing up, Rojal, and you are not a boy anymore, but a man. Your father will be pleased as well. Well done."  
  
Rojal was amazed; his mother had never said so many kind or praising words to him in his life. He had strove much of his life to please her, and he had finally done so. He sensed that his stern, sometimes peevish mother was changing; she was not any softer, but she was kinder.   
Gorna patted him on his shoulder, and she gravely kissed his brow. Gorna had always been regal and formal when she was not acting snobby, and she didn't show affection often, so Rojal was stunned. This kinder side of his mother would take some getting used to. They embraced briefly, but firmly.  
  
"I love you, my son," Gorna whispered to him quietly. "Both you and Lelina. You have both done me proud, and I am sorry that I don't tell you both more often than I should."  
  
"Mother," he told her quietly. "Is it ever too late to say that you're sorry?"  
  
"What do you wish to apologize to me for?" Gorna wanted to know, unable to remember any previous offense that Rojal had committed.  
  
"It's not to you, Mother, not this time. It's to Tayla."  
  
"Tayla?" Gorna asked, puzzled.  
  
"She saved Dedron's life, my best friend's life," Rojal told her quietly. "I always used to hate her so-"  
  
"Hate is a strong word, Rojal, and a very ugly one. It is not a word that we should use often when dealing with people, especially our own family members. I don't think that either one of us ever really hated Tayla; I think that we both envied so much that it became confused with hatred. Do you really think that you ever hated her?"  
  
Rojal looked down, now ashamed more than ever. "No, Mother," he whispered. "I was so jealous of her, so jealous of her power, her strength, her popularity. But, Mother, I can see why everyone likes her so much; Dedron and I have been so nasty to her, and yet she intervened and saved Dedron's life. Dedron wasn't even thankful, but I sure was, for Dedron is my best friend, the closest thing to a brother that I have. I feel so ashamed for how I've been acting towards her. I hope that she can forgive me someday for how badly I behaved towards her. I just envied her so much; she had attained what I am still striving towards. I want to be as strong as her, to have my Awakening too."  
  
"You will get there, Rojal. The only reason that Tayla beat you to it was because she was caught up in battle first. You will receive yours someday, Rojal, and you will become as strong as she is, if not stronger. And I am sure that Tayla will forgive you; if she has forgiven me, who has behaved far worst towards her, she will forgive you as well. She has never been known to refuse an overture of peace from someone in her own family; she is a strong, temperamental child, but loving and kind as well. Just tell her what you have told me; we both owe her our love and acceptance."  
  
"The words will stick in my throat when I speak to her, I know they will."  
  
"Just speak from your heart," Gorna counseled him. "As I did."  
  
Rojal nodded…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Meanwhile, Cletos was standing near his children, and he was struggling to speak. Dedron looked at him, sulking; he had lost respect for his father years ago and didn't think him worthy of much attention. Petalia, who was more forgiving, was looking at Cletos with her heart in her blue eyes. Cletos held out his arms hesitantly towards both of them, and Petalia, after a few tense moments, ran into them immediately.  
  
She began to sob into her father's neck. "Oh, Pappa, I didn't think that you loved us anymore!" Cletos was more ashamed of himself than ever. "I was beginning to think that you hated us, hated me because I look like Farla!"  
  
Cletos didn't correct her about calling her mother by her actual name. He just pulled her close and hugged her tight, so tightly that he nearly squeezed the life out of his daughter. "I've never stopped loving you, Petals, not you or Dedron. I know that I have been a poor father for a long time, but I swear that I will make it up to both of you. I am so sorry, Petals, that I hurt you. I never hated either one of you, ever. I will make amends for hurting and neglecting both of you, I swear that by the Seven Moons of Astoria." Cletos held up seven fingers to seal his oath. Petalia just hugged him tighter.  
  
"Fi luven, Pappa," she whispered. (I love you, Pappa.)  
  
"Fi luven, Petals, fi luven toi," Cletos whispered back. (I love you, Petals; I love you too.) He then looked away from his daughter and at Dedron, who had his arms crossed and was sullen.  
  
"Son, I love you, you know that now, don't you?" Cletos asked him pleadingly.  
  
"Hmmph," Dedron told him coldly, as he turned his back on his father and looked away. Cletos could hear his own heart break just then; his own son had just rejected him. He had to keep himself from crying, as Dedron icily walked away without a backwards glance.  
  
"Son?" Cletos asked desperately.  
  
Shalila, who was still holding Tayla in her arms, had been watching, and she went over to Dedron, still carrying Tayla. "Dedron," she said sternly. "At least answer your father, if nothing else. He is trying to make amends with you and Petalia. I understand that you are hurt by his past actions, but at least listen to him before you turn him away. He is your father, your only parent."  
  
"Yeah right, some father I have!" Dedron spat out bitterly. "He didn't give a Saiyan's tail about Petalia or me all these past years; why should he care now? I am almost a man; I can more than take care of myself, and I don't need anyone!"  
  
"Dedron, you're mistaken," Shalila told him gently. "You need us, and we need you. You are part of this family, and we do love you. Now go to your father, and at least let him speak to you. It is not his fault that your mother left, nor is it yours or Petalia's."  
  
"No way!" Dedron hissed at her furiously, so furiously that Shalila was taken aback. "You want to know something, Great-Nama? I wish, boy, did I ever wish that you had allowed my mother to divorce my father! She'd be with that bastard Uncle Jaypros, married to him, but at least she would have stayed on Chloe! At least, she wouldn't have run out on us! You should have granted Farla a divorce!"  
  
"Dedron, I couldn't have," Shalila protested (she, the proud Superior Gran, protesting?). "You know Astorian law-"  
  
"The hell with Astorian law! The hell with this 'no divorce except for adultery, abuse, incest, etc…yeah, yeah, yeah'! You know what, Great-Nama, you're right! It wasn't my father's fault or my fault or Petalia's fault; it was my mother's fault and my Uncle Jaypros' fault! But they are not the only ones to blame!" Dedron grew angrier and angrier, as he spoke, and Dirkan and Raakon rushed over to him and Shalila to see what was going on.  
  
"You know who else is to blame for my slut mother and my bastard uncle running off together, Great-Nama? YOU! It was YOU who ran them off because you wouldn't grant my slut-whore mother a stupid divorce! You should have done so, and then my father would have been rid of that slutzini! Then Father wouldn't have shunned us the way that he did! So this is mainly your fault, Great-Nama, for if you had allowed my whore mother to get a divorce, she would have stayed! YOU are to blame, as well as them!" Dedron roared, and Shalila didn't know how to react to that, but Dirkan certainly did. He noticed his wife's gray eyes fill with tears, and her tears increased his fury at Dedron.  
  
Dirkan snarled at Dedron, "Don't you EVER, and I mean EVER speak to your great-grandmother like that again, do you understand me, young man? If I EVER catch you speaking to her in that tone of voice or put her down again, I will give you the worst beating of your life!"   
  
Tayla awoke with a start at the sound of Dirkan's shouting. "What's going on, Nama?" she asked sleepily of Shalila.  
  
"Nothing that we can't handle, child," Shalila told her quickly, but a tear slipped down her cheek before she could prevent it. Tayla noticed it immediately.  
  
"What's wrong, Nama?" she asked worriedly, now fully awake and seeing more unshed tears in her Nama's eyes.  
  
"Don't worry about it, dandelion, just go back to sleep."  
  
Dedron shouted back at Dirkan. "YOU butt out! This is between me and Great-Nama, the very woman who forced my mother to leave with my bastard uncle! It is just as much her fault that my mother, my whore mother ran off with my uncle! She could have granted that divorce or imprisoned both of them to force them to stay! She's supposed to be running this planet and our family, and yet, she couldn't keep my mother from leaving. She should have just let my slutzini mother and my bastard uncle stay together, and then Father could have found someone else, someone who wouldn't have abandoned him! Then Father could have been the father that he could have been to us, instead of being the pathetic weakling that he now is! I'm ashamed to call him my father now, and he thinks that just because he says, 'I'm sorry', I'm just supposed to fall down and forgive him! It's not happening! He and Great-Nama have both ruined my life and Petalia's as much as my mother and uncle did! Next to Farla and Jaypros, Great-Nama is to blame for this mess, for she could have done more to make my mother stay! So thank you, Great-Nama for helping to ruin my life!"  
  
Tayla shouted indignantly, as she jumped down from Shalila's arms before Shalila could stop her, "It is not Nama's fault that your mother ran off with Uncle Jaypros! She is not to blame! She was right in refusing your mother a divorce because Cletos didn't do anything to her! Nama always knows what she's doing, and she didn't make your mother or Uncle Jaypros leave! They chose to do that themselves; Nama didn't make them go anywhere! How dare you blame her! You apologize to her right now, Dedron!"  
  
"Tayla, please…" Shalila begged hopelessly.  
  
"He's going to apologize to you, Nama," Tayla insisted furiously. "No one talks about you or to you like that! You tell Nama that you're sorry, Dedron, right this instant!"  
  
"Make me, brat!" Dedron growled.  
  
"Don't tempt me!" Tayla hissed. "I don't want to do to you what I did to Vegeta earlier! Tell Nama that you're sorry now!"  
  
"I'm not apologizing, brat, so shut up!" Dedron yelled, as he bawled up his fists.  
  
"No! Not 'til you tell Nama that you're sorry!"  
  
"Butt out, brat, this isn't your affair!"  
  
"Yes, it is!" Tayla insisted. "Anything or anyone hurting Nama is my affair! Now apologize!"  
  
"Make me!" Dedron ordered her, posing into a combat position.  
  
"Don't push me, Dedron!" Tayla posed into her fighting stance.   
  
"You're not the boss of me, Tayla, even though you are Great-Nama's pet! Everyone knows that you're Great-Nama's darling little baby, her precious lapdog who says, 'Yes, Nama' and 'No, Nama' and sits up and begs for her. Yes, that's what you are, Tayla, Great-Nama's lapdog! She pats you on the head, gives you a bone, rubs your tummy, and says, 'Good Tayla, good little puppy dog, good little lapdog'! I bet that you lick her wounds and fetch her slippers; only you probably drown them in your drool!   
  
"Dedron, shut up! That's more than enough!" Dirkan roared. "You will apologize to both Tayla and your great-grandmother now! You have no right to insult either one of them!" The shouting was now drawing everyone's attention, and within minutes they rushed over to the scene that Dedron was creating.  
  
"Dedron, restrain your tongue now!" Shalila ordered, her pain turning into fury.  
  
"Dedron, stop this immediately!" Cletos shouted.  
  
"Dedron, please don't be mean to Tayla," Petalia pleaded tearfully.  
  
Dedron ignored them completely, as he continued to rant at Tayla, "I bet you sit on your haunches besides her and wait for her to scratch behind your ears! I bet that you sniff her butt and her crotch as well, and she probably gives you your table scraps while you bring her balls in your mouth in hopes that she'll throw them for you! No wonder Great-Nama doesn't allow any pets in the palace, she already has a lapdog of her own. Great-Nama and her little loyal doggy; I've heard her say before about dogs becoming like their owners, and that describes you both to a tee! Both of you just know when to cause trouble; that much you and your 'owner' have in common! And furthermore-"  
  
Dedron didn't get a chance to finish his cruel speech, for Tayla lost her mighty temper completely and punched Dedron hard in his face, between his beady eyes. Before anyone could stop her, Tayla punched Dedron in his face again, knocking him backwards to the ground. She landed one more punch in his face, and Dedron was knocked unconscious this time. Tayla would have continued, for in her fury, she did not realize how much damage she was doing, but Shalila and Dirkan quickly pulled her off of Dedron before she could attack him further.  
  
"Enough, Tayla, calm down," Dirkan ordered her. "You have proven your point; no more of that."  
  
"He insulted Nama!" Tayla screamed, struggling to get free of his and Shalila's grip. "And his calling me a lapdog didn't help either!" She was near tears.  
  
"Tayla, enough, calm down," Shalila counseled her sternly. Tayla continued to writhe, trying to get back to Dedron, but Shalila and Dirkan held firm, with Shalila holding her under her arms and Dirkan holding her kicking legs. Shalila and Dirkan carried a furious Tayla over to a log, where both of them sat down with her. Shalila held Tayla close to her and began to stroke her hair and back, a soothing gesture that had always helped to placate her on the occasions when she had lost her temper when she was younger. She massaged slow circles along Tayla's spine, and the angry young girl began to calm down. She eventually relaxed enough for Dirkan to release her legs, and Shalila pulled her further into her lap, as Shalila continued to massage her back and stroke her hair. Tayla's eyes were now full of tears because of Dedron's cruel words and because of her own behavior, of her losing her temper. She began to weep bitterly into Nama's shoulder, as Dirkan patted the girl's back and wiped her unceasing tears away. Tayla choked and gasped for air, her tears now in heaving sobs. The traumatic events of the war, as well as Dedron's horrid speech were now finally getting to her, and she cried loud and hard.  
  
Riccan was about to run over to Dedron to challenge him for making Tayla cry, but Gracina, anticipating that, swiftly scooped him up and held him tight to her bosom. Lektron stayed near them to ensure that Riccan would not do anything rash, for Riccan's temper could be as bad as Tayla's at times.   
  
Raakon quickly examined Dedron and determined that he would just have bruises and a concussion; Dedron would have no lasting damage. Raakon began to treat Dedron's wounds, as Dedron lay there, unconscious.  
  
After handing Riccan over to Lektron, who told Riccan that under no circumstances was he allowed to leave him until Lektron said that it was all right, Gracina hurried over to Shalila, Dirkan, and Tayla.  
  
"Is she okay?" Gracina asked worriedly, as she touched Tayla's hair.  
  
"She'll be all right," Shalila assured her, as she continued to rub Tayla's back while Tayla continued to cry. About ten minutes later, Tayla's sobs finally ceased, and Shalila asked her gently, "Are you all right now, dandelion? If I let you up, can you stay calm and not attack Dedron again?"  
  
"I-I think so, Nama," Tayla stammered weakly. "But I'd rather stay here for a while, if you don't mind."  
  
"If you want to sit here with Dirkan and I, that is fine; you need to rest more, child. I understand that you were angry, but you must keep a better control on your temper when someone talks to you like that. If you have to, walk away; a good warrior knows how to control his or her temper and keep anger under restraint."  
  
"He shouldn't have talked to you like that; he shouldn't have talked about us like that," Tayla declared indignantly.  
  
"No, he shouldn't have, but you must be careful not to let cruel words from foolish people ignite your temper, Tayla. Dedron's words were not worth your losing control at him like that; he was very unwise, and you do not want to sink to that level, dandelion. Sweet Kami, your temper can be so fierce! You cannot attack someone out of turn like that again; you must use restraint, or you could end up hurting or killing someone without good cause. You have great strength, Tayla, but sometimes I wonder if you realize how strong and dangerous you can be. If you feel that you can't control your temper, walk, or even run away until you can calm yourself. Go somewhere and meditate or talk to one of us about how you feel."  
  
"Am I going to have to apologize to Dedron now?" Tayla asked quietly.  
  
"What do you think?" Shalila asked her gently.  
  
Tayla sighed. "I guess I will have to then."  
  
"Good choice," Dirkan told her. "It is always best to have as few enemies as possible; your grandmother and I have learned that the hard way. And it seems that you have learned the hard way as well today." He patted her cheek gently. He told everyone around them, "All right, everybody, the show is over, and Dedron will live. Everyone is to get some rest immediately, no more words out of anyone!"  
  
No one questioned or defied Dirkan's orders, and after the others began to find soft places in the grass to sleep for a few hours. Dirkan and Shalila decided that they would stay awake to keep watch; Tayla wanted to stay awake with them, but both rulers firmly insisted that she rest herself. 


	73. Things Go From Bad To Worse

Chapter Seventy-Three: Things Go From Bad To Worse  
  
Six hours later into the night, back at the royal castle in King Kitchator's ballroom…  
  
"You fiends! You bastards!" King Kitchator roared at Zarbon after Dodoria had just blown away five of his best guards with his mouth blast. "How dare you invade my planet just to capture a little girl? Was all this force and violence really necessary?" Zarbon had learned the name of the Calmagian king through Alberm.   
  
"We have been sent to clear your planet, as well, Your Majesty," Zarbon said with a sneer. "However, if you can convince the Astorians to surrender Princess Tayla Chloe to us, then we will leave your puny planet with the girl, and you will never see or hear from us again. Now, for the last time, Kitchator, where is Princess Tayla?"  
  
Kitchator was cradling a frightened and sobbing Queen Kildara in his arms, as he stammered nervously, "I told you all that she went out fighting with the others; I have no idea where she could be now."  
  
"Find a way to find out," Zarbon told him coldly. "I know that you Calmagians pride yourselves on your technology. Use that knowledge to contact the Astorians still fighting and order them to surrender Princess Tayla to us. We are growing impatient, Kitchator, and so is our Lord Frieza."  
  
Zarbon, Balair, Dodoria, and Bhodie had succeeded in taking over the castle quickly, and very few people had managed to escape them. Many of the non-fighting Astorians and their friends had followed the Calmagian royal guards through the labyrinths under the cave, but Balair had discovered them escaping, and he had ordered the would-be-escapees back upstairs. To enforce his order, Balair had used his vaporizing attack to execute half of the Calmagian guards that had been helping the Astorians and their friends to flee.   
  
All of the castle's occupants and their guests had been forced into the largest and nearest ballroom where Balair and Bhodie were now keeping them hostage. The few foolish people (all Calmagian) who had tried to escape had been shot to death with ki blasts from Bhodie for even trying. Balair had sharply warned the hostages that ten people would die for any one person who tried to flee. For now, all of the frightened captives were sitting on the shiny electric blue streaked marble of the gold and silver ballroom, all huddled together. Steak and Ham were furious that they could not fight, and they were angry that they once again couldn't help themselves or anyone else.   
  
Balair had taken Pork as his hostage in order to force Crystalis to help him gather the other hostages together. Balair had sworn to both Lower Elite Officers that he would have them executed for their "treachery" if they did not continue to help the Top Elite Officers with their evil plans. Pork and Crystalis no longer wanted to work for Frieza, but Balair warned them that if they betrayed Frieza, then he would kill Steak and Ham on the spot. Pork and Crystalis were now patrolling the ballroom to ensure that no one escaped. Both young fighters had tears in their eyes, and Steak watched both of them with pity at their plight and anger that they were being forced back into a life that they now wanted to escape. Steak swore to himself by Astoria's seven moons that he would find a way to get his son and Crystalis out of the clutches of Balair and the others.  
  
Balair was sitting down on the steps of the marble dais in the center of the ballroom with a terrified Caline in his lap and a shaken Natala next to him. Caline was huddled into a ball in Balair's lap, quietly weeping into her nightgown while Natala clenched her fists in fear and anger, as Balair sat besides her stroking her hair. Natala had pulled away from him earlier the last time that he had done that, but Balair had literally twisted her arm and warned her that the next time that she resisted him, he would bite her arm off, and then he would rape Caline right then and there.  
  
Hazel was arguing with her captor, her once potential lover, Bhodie, who was holding her at gunpoint with a laser gun that Bhodie had swiped from a guard that he had killed.  
  
"How can you do this to us? To me? Why do you want to fight on the bad guys' side?" Hazel demanded to know. "Why do you want to hurt innocent people, especially women and children who can't defend themselves? What kind of monster have you become, Bhodie?"  
  
Bhodie grinned and said smoothly, "Hazelnut, honey, relax, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, I promise! You should be thankful that I still want you, baby; I've managed to keep you safe from my ol' pal, Balair. I'm afraid that Natala and Caline aren't as fortunate as you are right now. I'm afraid that ol' Bali has developed a taste in little girls; he seems awfully fond of that sweet little Caline-"  
  
"That is sick!" Hazel hissed. "Caline is just a kid, and a sicko like Balair wants to have sex with her? He's nothing but a pervert, a child molester! What is it with you, Bhodie, are you into little girls now too?"  
  
"Heck, no way," Bhodie laughed. "I prefer a woman closer to my own age, like you, Hazelnut! When your friends here go to sleep, you and I can sneak off somewhere and pick up where we left off! And this time I won't take no for an answer; you're mine, brown sugar buns!"  
  
"You know that I hate it when you call me that! I told you never to call me that again!" Hazel yelled uselessly; oh, what was the point?  
  
"You didn't object to 'Hazelnut', but you object to 'brown sugar buns'?" Bhodie was amused.  
  
Bhodie chuckled to himself as he listened to Balair speak. He and Hazel were standing near Balair and Caline, and Balair was whispering obscenities into Caline's elflike ear, describing in horrific detail what he was going to do to her once he got her into bed with him. Caline was crying harder now and begging him to stop saying those nasty, horrible things, but Balair just laughed and continued to explain in graphic detail all of the things that he would do to her in bed. Caline sobbed louder when Balair told her that he was going to take her upstairs and mate with her soon.  
  
Finally Natala had heard enough and she hissed at Balair, "Leave her alone! She is just a little girl! Stop saying those nasty, foul things to her!"  
  
Balair snapped at her, "Didn't I tell you to behave earlier; apparently, your hubby didn't train you well in obeying your man! Maybe now that he's in the other dimension, I'll be able to teach you properly after I train this little lady."  
  
"Don't you touch her!" Natala snapped angrily. "You are not going to force yourself on that poor girl! I'll do what I have to stop you from violating her; she's a child!"  
  
Balair was about to strike her, but then he changed his mind. Caline continued to sob long and hard, her terror of being raped again overwhelming her. She had escaped one horrible fate just to enter another. Finally the Calmagian child princess's sobs and tears were starting to grate on Balair's nerves, and he turned to Natala and said silkily, "I'll tell you what, sweetness: I was going to screw this sweet little thing tonight, but I'd have to knock her out to get any enjoyment out of her; her tears are starting to get on my nerves. You let me screw you instead, if you so insist that I leave her alone."  
  
"And if I don't?" Natala asked in a trembling voice.  
  
"Then I'm taking her upstairs right now," Balair told her, as he began to rise with Caline in his arms. Caline kicked and struggled, but Balair slapped her hard across her face. "You're mine, brat, and unless she offers to take your place, I'm taking you with me to make you my new playmate!"  
  
Natala cried out in horror, "No! Let her go, and I will take her place! I am a grown woman, and I can handle what you are about to dish out; Caline is but a child, and she's endured more than enough already."  
  
Balair threw Caline down the flight of five steps on the dais, and Caline fell on her side. She curled into a ball again, too panicked to move. Balair laughed at both Caline and Natala, and he said to Natala, "Offer accepted, princess, but if you back out, or even try to resist me once we get to a bedroom, I come back downstairs and claim the brat instead. Either way, I'm getting some tonight from one of you two. If you don't want me to screw the girl, then you better behave and please me, got it?"  
  
Natala nodded weakly, and she whispered, "Let me check on Caline, please, and then I will go with you."   
  
"Five minutes," Balair told her. "That's all I'm giving you."  
  
Raakon, please, please forgive me wherever you are at right now. Forgive me for what I am about to do, please forgive me in advance for betraying our marriage vows. I know that you are frozen forever, but I still consider myself your wife. Wherever you are now, I beg you to understand why I am doing this; I can't let him hurt that poor little girl, I can't! Caline has endured more than enough with Alberm; she doesn't deserve any more pain. Please forgive me, Raakon, please, Natala thought silently to Raakon, as she slowly stepped down the flight of stairs towards Caline.   
  
Natala gathered Caline into her arms and hugged her close, stroking her hair. "He won't hurt you now, sweetheart; you're safe from him. I'm not going to let him or anyone else harm you. I will be going with Balair now."  
  
Caline slowly realized that Natala had offered to take her place as Balair's newest conquest. She then shrieked, "No, Natala, I can't let you do that! I can't let him hurt you!"  
  
"Shush, Caline," Natala told her as firmly as possible. "You have been hurt enough, and my mind is made up. I promised Gracina that I would look after you, and I will keep my word, and even if she hadn't asked me, I would have done so anyway. You are safe for now, and I will keep you out of his clutches."  
  
"I shouldn't be letting you do this," Caline sobbed. "I've already been raped before, and you hadn't. I'm used to it. I've already been used and abused; one more time won't matter that much."  
  
Natala was horrified at hearing this. Caline had sounded like someone three times her age, someone old and jaded, and someone who was certain that nothing good would ever happen to her again.  
  
"No one is using or abusing you again," Natala told her, barely able to keep the tears out of her voice. "Caline, don't feel like you have to throw yourself away; you don't. It will be all right; it will be all right now. I will keep you safe; just stay here and pray."   
  
Natala stroked Caline's hair again and whispered, "It will be okay, Caline, it will be okay, I will be fine." Actually Natala wouldn't be, but she was an Astorian, a Princess of Chloe since her marriage to Raakon; a Princess of Chloe could take anything.  
  
"Caline, listen-" Natala began again, but Balair roughly seized her arm and pulled her away from Caline.  
  
"Time's up," he growled. "Let's go."  
  
"Gooden boden fro noy, Caline. Sta safen." (Good-bye for now, Caline. You stay safe.)  
  
Balair, still squeezing Natala's arm, abruptly led her out of the ballroom. As he was taking her away, Caline began to cry again. Hazel tried to go to the girl to comfort her, but Bhodie wouldn't allow her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I am so sorry," Crystalis whispered to Steak, as she and Pork stood near him and Ham while Steak and Ham were sitting on the floor. None of them had yet noticed that Balair had taken Natala away out of the ballroom.  
  
"Papa, please forgive me," Pork begged. "I don't want to hurt any more people or work for Frieza anymore, but they're making us."  
Steak stood up and patted his son's shoulder and addressed both of them, "Keep faith, both of you; I am sure that Shalila and the others will come rescue us. They won't kill anyone yet until they have Tayla. We will get you two kids away from them."  
  
"Father, I feel so awful for the lives that I took," Pork whispered in deep shame. "I don't know if I even deserve to get away from them. Maybe it's too late for us."  
  
"It's never too late, son," Steak assured him.  
  
"I want to make those bastards pay, Father!" Ham declared angrily. "It's just like before, Papa. And now they forced my little brother to work for them! I wish I were an Astorian right now, Father; I wish that I could electrocute those son-of-a-whores and blast them away the way that the Astorians can! I hate being so weak, Papa; I hate it! I hate that I couldn't stop those bastards from taking us captive or forcing Pork to work for them again! And if they do anything to Veal, Father, so help me, I will-"  
  
"Enough, son," Steak admonished him, looking around anxiously to make sure none of their captors heard. "You fought them the best that you could, son, we all did. We will just have to hope and pray, Ham. All we can do now is wait."  
  
"While more people die, Father?" Ham wanted to know.  
  
"Son, if we fight them now, or try to flee, more people will definitely die," Steak scolded him. "Believe me, I want to hurt them too, but we can't risk the lives of others. We will have to wait."  
  
Ham crossed his arms and sulked angrily. Steak sighed and patted his back. He felt like Ham did, but neither one of them could afford to do anything at this moment. They both hated feeling so helpless.  
  
"Are you scared, Crysti?" Pork asked Crystalis.  
  
Crystalis nodded and asked back, "Yes, are you?"  
  
"I don't want to be, but I am," Pork admitted to his best friend. "I don't want to work for Frieza and his bunch any more, do you?"  
  
"I don't," Crystalis confessed. "I wish we were strong enough to defy them." She looked to be near tears, and Pork hugged her. They both embraced each other tightly, like brother and sister. They had grown close to each other like siblings during their time under Frieza, and it had been easier for them because of Commander Chestra, who had trained both of them.  
  
"I hope Commander Chestra is okay," Pork told Crystalis. "I don't want her to get hurt."  
  
"Neither do I," Crystalis admitted. They both feared the other Top Elite officers, but they both had genuinely liked Chestra, who had never abused them. She could be tough trainer, but she had always been fair and decent to them. Steak watched and listened to the two of them for a few minutes, and then he turned back to Ham.  
  
"All this time, Ham," Steak whispered to his oldest child, "I thought that Pork was dead. The Superior Gran even had Chief Prince Gohan investigate to try to find out, but all these years, we have heard nothing of him. I always hoped and prayed that maybe he would wind up on Intergalacticpol's Most Wanted List, so that at least we would know if he was alive or not. And after several years of hearing no news about him, I finally had to give up my poor boy again. And now he's alive once more, once again. I almost feel as if I have my whole family back, once and for all."  
  
"Not entirely, Papa," Ham whispered back, although he himself was happy that Pork was alive. He knew that Veal would be glad to see their brother again. Perhaps there were Kais after all. "We don't have Mama with us. I still miss her."  
  
"I know, son, I know. I still miss her myself. I can still remember the day that her father arranged her marriage to me. Your mother was very shy around me at first, especially since we had only met each other twice before our marriage was arranged by both of our fathers. But we grew to love each other in a short amount of time; I never desired another woman during our marriage. She made me very happy, and I hope that I did the same for her. She was so gentle, so sweet, so open-minded, so forgiving, and so willing to give anyone a chance, just like Princess Natala is now. She is-" Steak covered his mouth and stopped himself. He blushed.  
  
Ham said slyly, forgetting about their troubles for a few moments, "Papa! You like Princess Natala, don't you? Heh, heh, I've noticed you looking at her before; she's a beautiful woman, but it's too bad that she's married!"   
  
"Yes, son, it is too bad, but Prince Raakon is good to her, he is her husband, and I must continue to try to put her out of my mind," Steak said too quickly. Ham grinned at his father, as Steak looked away from his son.   
  
Steak had been in love with Natala for years; she was so much like his last wife, Poultry, that it broke his heart. He loved Natala for her own sake now, but it had been her qualities of gentleness and kindness that had been like Poultry's that had first drawn Steak to her. Steak quietly envied Raakon Chloe his wife, and he considered Raakon to be one of the luckiest men in the universe to have such a beautiful, kind, loving woman as his mate. Steak had tried a few times to court other Astorian women, mainly servant women and visitors from other clans, for there were Astorian women that would see him despite the fact that he was from another race, but those relationships had never worked out. He wanted a woman like Natala or Poultry for himself and for the children, but Steak had not yet found anyone who lived up to his standards.  
  
He looked around the room for the object of his affection, but he could not see her. He only saw Hazel with Bhodie and a sobbing Caline. Steak pitied Caline and thought that her father was a heartless, thoughtless bastard who had carelessly arranged marriages to his daughter without even thinking whether the man involved would be good to her. A man such as Prince Amitar would have been frowned upon on planet Meat, for while Meatian fathers arranged their daughters' marriages mainly for alliances and fortune building, they would not marry their daughters off to men who would treat them badly. And if a Meatian daughter truly were against marrying the man, most good Meatian fathers even then wouldn't force the issue, but try to find someone else for her if they could. No Meatian father would ever marry his daughter to someone who would abuse, neglect or cheat on her. Steak had nothing against arranged marriages, but he thought that in Caline's case, Prince Amitar had done a pitiful job in marrying his daughter to a son-of-a-whore like Alberm Dunlop of Rendor.   
  
And Steak had met Caline's new fiancé, Filcor Sedemeyer, a couple of days before the war started when Filcor had joined the Meatians at their table to say hello. Steak and Filcor had talked a good bit, about Filcor's supposed upcoming marriage to Caline, and Steak's concerns about finding a suitable husband for Veal. (One reason Steak had taken his daughter to Calmag with him was to see if there were any men there good enough to be a Meatian girl's husband.) Filcor's chauvinistic, sexist remarks about what he expected from his marriage to Caline greatly bothered Steak, and Steak had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at the Calmagian businessman and warrior. Steak decided after that meeting with Filcor (and seeing how the men in the royal family behaved towards females), he would not allow Veal to marry anyone or be courted by anyone here. He would just have to hope and pray that there were Astorian males who would want to court Veal. Veal should have been married by now, and she would have if those blasted Saiyans hadn't invaded planet Meat! Steak had thought that the boy, Tuna, had been a nice, kind, suitable husband for his daughter when Veal had begged her father to arrange her marriage to him.  
  
He shook those thoughts out of his head for now; he didn't even know where Veal was, and he couldn't sense her ki. He prayed that Veal had somehow managed to escape. But where was Natala? He couldn't see Natala anywhere.  
  
And then to his slow realization, he noticed that Balair was also missing. Sweet Kami! Steak had noticed that Balair had desired Natala as well as him, only Steak knew what Balair was like, and Balair would hurt Natala.  
  
Both of them were gone!  
  
Steak gnashed his teeth. He had to find a way to sneak out of here now! He wouldn't let that Sistrai bastard hurt Princess Natala, even if it meant that he would lose his life.  
  
But if he died, who would care for his children and Crystalis, whom Steak had started to consider as one of his own?  
  
Oh, sweet Kami, what was he going to do? Could he even do anything?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Zarbon, I sent you, the other Top Elite officers, some Upper Low-Levels, and the Saiyans to Calmag to clear it; that should have been more than enough. Are you certain that you need more soldiers?"  
  
"Yes, sire," Zarbon spoke through his scouter to Frieza. "The clearing of Calmag had been going well until the Astorians caught wind of our arrival. Then some of us started losing to them, Jaden and the Saiyans have been severely wounded to the point where they must retreat, and I cannot get a hold of Diamonique at all. I suspect that she has perished-"  
  
"The Saiyans were unable to stop the Astorians! How come?" Frieza demanded to know through his scouter.  
  
"From what I could get out of Vegeta, and this was after he came out of unconsciousness, he himself fought Princess Tayla Chloe. Tayla once again defeated him, and Dirkan and an Astorian boy defeated Raditz. Dirkan defeated Nappa, who is barely alive now, and some half-Saiyan, half-Astorian boy defeated Journa. I did manage to get a description of the girl before Vegeta and I cut off communication, and she is of slight build, sire, with long black hair and brown eyes, shorter than five feet. She shouldn't be too hard to spot when she and her family come to rescue their friends."  
  
"You will see that is captured, won't you, Zarbon?" Frieza asked impatiently.   
  
"Yes, sire. If it was she alone, even then we could handle her, but the rest of her family is as strong as she is. Shalila and Dirkan, as you well know, sire, are dangerous by themselves. I will need more soldiers, perhaps all Elite this time, Mid-Elite if possible, if you wish all of the Astorians on this planet to be destroyed."  
  
Frieza sighed, "Very well, Zarbon, you shall have them. Some will have to be Lower Elite, however, for I only have five Mid-Elite officers at this time that I can spare for Calmag, but they are the best of the Mid-Elites and Lower Elites. Even with those, you should be able to finish off Shalila and her people. Again, see that Princess Tayla is spared; don't fail me, Zarbon."  
  
"I won't, sire. When do you think that they will arrive?"  
  
"They are within Calmag's vicinity; I would say in one or two days at the very latest, some even sooner than that. Now is there anything, Zarbon?"  
  
"Not at this time, sire."  
  
"Have Chestra gather together the wounded and load them onto the ship. I hate to drag a Top Elite officer away, but someone has to bring the wounded back here. I don't understand as to how Vegeta, Journa, Nappa and Raditz were once again defeated. Vegeta had been much stronger than before; apparently the Astorian brat, Tayla Chloe has been keeping up."  
  
"She'll be a valuable asset, sire," Zarbon said reassuringly.  
"I do hope so. She may have a companion when she comes back. Chestra's Kaydra is much stronger than I thought she was. Kaydra could become Tayla's equal someday. It's going to be a pain, having to manage Astorian brats as well as Saiyan brats, but hopefully it will be worth it. Farewell for now, Zarbon, and see that this mission is successful."  
  
"Yes, sire. Signing off now." Zarbon cut off communication. 


	74. What Happened?

Chapter Seventy-Four: What Happened To Tayla, Dedron, Riccan, And Ridikar?  
  
Three hours later in the wilderness on the outskirts of Magan…  
  
The Astorians and their friends had been well fed, and now Shalila was wondering where Tayla had wandered off. She had asked Gracina and Lektron to look for them because Gracina was looking for Riccan and wondering where he was. When they had asked around, everyone said that the last time they saw Tayla and Riccan was when they had been sparring two hours earlier to prepare to fight Zarbon and the other Top Elite officers. Not even Toria's visions would reveal anything to her about Tayla and Riccan's whereabouts; at times her visions of the future or the present would be blocked when the spirits didn't want her to know all right away. Toria was frustrated, but she knew that she would have to be patient.  
  
And Dedron was missing as well. Everyone had asked Rojal and Petalia if they had seen Dedron, and Rojal told everyone that the last time he had seen his best friend was shortly after Rojal had apologized to Tayla for the way he had been treating her.  
  
"I saw Dedron come up to Tayla for some reason. He looked to be apologetic, and I thought that maybe he was trying to say that he was sorry. He really isn't bad all the time, just angry and confused, although he shouldn't have talked to Tayla like that yesterday or about Great-Nama the way that he did. I meant to talk to him about it, but he kept changing the subject earlier when I broached the topic."  
  
Petalia added, "I noticed something strange today; my brother was talking to Ridikar, and they seemed awfully chummy. I never knew they were that close, and it puzzled me that Dedron had spoken to him for so long. When he left Ridikar, I asked my brother what he and Ridikar had been talking about, and he just snapped at me, told me to mind my own business. I tried to apologize to him, but he told me to butt out and leave him alone. I know he's acted that way towards others, but that's the first time that he has ever treated me that way. I'm worried about him."  
  
"So am I," Rojal told her.  
  
"And I'm worried about Tayla and Riccan," Petalia continued. "I hope that they are okay."  
  
"I hope those kids aren't messing around somewhere," Dirkan muttered. "This isn't time to go off and play."  
  
"I can't sense Tayla's ki anywhere," Shalila said worriedly. "Not even a faint trace. I can feel Riccan's and Dedron's ki signatures, but they feel so far away from here."  
  
"My wife I and will go find them, Nama," Lektron assured her.  
  
"We were about to leave to find Riccan," Gracina added.  
  
"I do hope so," Shalila told both of her grandchildren. "We need to get going, and the last thing we need is for three children to be lost or wandering off, especially since one of them happens to be one of Frieza's targets, Frieza's prey. I know that Dedron and Riccan are missing too, but they are not the ones that Frieza is after; Tayla is."  
  
"We'll find them, Nama," Lektron assured her again, and then he and Gracina left.  
  
After Lektron and Gracina had left, Dirkan said thoughtfully, "You know, Shalila, Ridikar is missing as well."  
  
"Ridikar? Where would he go?" Shalila wondered. And then a thought struck her. "Dirkan, does he know yet that his father has died?"  
  
"Not yet," Dirkan sighed. "I just went to tell him, but I can't find him anywhere either, and his ki feels like it's coming from very far away."  
  
"You don't think that Ridikar would try to go back home by himself, do you?" Shalila asked.  
  
"Knowing how rash that boy is, he's capable of anything," Dirkan growled. "I just hope he doesn't do anything to expose us or put us in greater danger!"  
  
"Four children missing," Shalila murmured. "And one of them is in danger from Frieza's minions kidnapping her, and another one is the future king of Calmag. Sweet Kami, I hope those four are all right, especially Tayla. I don't like that she left without telling me where she was going. And for Riccan to worry his parents like that! And poor Cletos; he doesn't know what to do to make things right with Dedron."  
  
"He could give Dedron a good cuffing," Dirkan said with a smile.   
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila scolded, but then she laughed. "But then, I should have given him one myself yesterday! The nerve of that boy!"  
  
"Tayla took care of him for you!" Dirkan declared, and he and Shalila both laughed harder. Dirkan continued, laughing, "Tayla Chloe, your own personal bodyguard! In a short time, you'll be replacing me with her as your valiant protector!"  
  
Shalila continued to laugh, but then she sobered down and whispered, with a gentle smile on her face, "Tayla may be able to protect me in your place, but there are certain things that I need you for that I couldn't use her for. And this is one of them…" She slid her arms around Dirkan's neck and kissed him gently, and then the kiss deepened. Dirkan growled with passion, as his arms wrapped around Shalila's waist and buttocks and lifted her off of the ground. The Superior Gran and the Superior Granden of Astoria kissed each other hungrily, passionately, with tongues and all. Dirkan nibbled on Shalila's lower lip and Shalila pressed her lips against his harder, as she crushed herself against his body. Dirkan pulled her small, slender body against his, as he pressed his hips to hers. He then broke their amorous kiss, as he moved down to nibble and kiss at her neck and collarbone. Shalila playfully dabbed "butterfly kisses" all over his face, as Dirkan devoured her shoulders with his fangs. They kissed and necked like that for a few minutes, and when they finally eased their ardor, they were both breathless.  
  
"Wow!" Shalila exclaimed, barely able to breathe. "It sure has been a while since we've done that! A week or two perhaps!"  
  
Dirkan chuckled, a low sexy chuckle that made his wife blush to this day. "We may be considered 'old' to all these young folks, but we still have it what it takes to be lovers! Ah, I wish that we had time to indulge ourselves, and go a little further!"  
  
"Remember the first time that we kissed?" Shalila asked excitedly. "I still remember it even though it was decades and decades ago. Sweet Kami Orchida, Dirkan, you sure knew how to kiss then, and you sure know how to kiss now!"  
  
"You were the first and the only one that I ever kissed," Dirkan said, panting.  
  
"And you said that you had no experience with women, but you kissed me that first time, as if you knew exactly what you were doing!" Shalila declared happily. "Shall we relive that moment one more time before we go find the children?"  
  
"I'm up for it, if you are," Dirkan told her in great gasping breaths, and of course Shalila was, as they "relived" their memories.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Lektron and Gracina leapt off of the ground and flew into the sky, floating low over the tops of the trees in the wilderness outside of Magan. They noticed giant pieces of fiberglass resting on the tops of the tree, pieces that had once been part of Magan's "unbreakable" dome. Finally, Gracina gasped when she saw two young boys, one almost a man, and the other one still a child, lying facedown in the dirt deep in a thicket near five tree stumps. She called out to Lektron, and within seconds, the couple had landed in the wilderness near the bodies of the boys.  
  
"Sweet Kami!" Gracina cried when she and Lektron found both Dedron and Riccan lying in pools of blood. "Dedron! Riccan! Wake up! Are you boys all right?"  
  
Dedron, as if just awakening, slowly arose, rubbing his eyes, and he looked around in mock horror, exclaiming, "Tayla, Tayla? Where is she? Oh, no they took her! I am so sorry!"   
  
Lektron then knelt near Dedron, checking him for injuries.  
A kneeling Gracina was cradling Riccan's head in her arms and tried to rouse him. Slowly   
  
Riccan awoke. "Mamma?"   
  
"Riccan, are you alright, sweetheart?" Gracina asked her son worriedly.  
  
"Where am I? What happened?" Riccan asked. He looked around for Tayla, and then he cried out, "Where's Tayla?"  
  
"Tayla!" Gracina cried aloud.  
  
"Tayla!" Lektron shouted. "Tayla, are you here?"  
  
"Tayla!"  
  
"Tayla!"  
  
"She's gone," Dedron moaned. "The Saiyans must have taken her."  
  
"The Saiyans?" Gracina asked, her sky-blue eyes widening to the size of plates.  
  
"Yeah," Dedron told her in a weary tone, "it was them, it had to have been. You see, Aunt Gracina, the Saiyans must have held out better than we thought that they did, and while I was here with Riccan and Tayla, about to apologize to her for the things that I said to her earlier today, Vegeta and his bunch accosted us. They were injured badly, but they still overpowered us! Vegeta hit Riccan in the back of his head, and I tried to fight Raditz and Journa, but one of them must have knocked me out as well, for I remember nothing from the time that Journa struck out at me. They must have taken Tayla away!"  
  
"Those bastards!" Lektron roared. "If that Saiyan royal brat and his friends do anything to Tayla, I'll-I'll kill them! They have some nerve!"  
  
Gracina was near tears, as she clenched her fists. Her poor baby sister! Once again those monkeys had taken Tayla away!  
  
"I hate Saiyan full-bloods, I hate them," she whispered fiercely. "Why couldn't they have left us alone? Why couldn't they leave Tayla alone? And look what they did to Riccan, my son, and Dedron." Lektron crawled over to his wife, and he gathered her and a woozy Riccan in his arms.  
  
"They will pay!" Lektron growled.   
  
Riccan looked up at his parents, and he was about to say something, but before he could, he passed out again.  
  
Gracina shook her son. "Riccan, Riccan?  
  
"Riccan?" Lektron asked worriedly.  
  
No response.  
  
"Riccan, Riccan?"  
  
"Riccan!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Three hours earlier…  
  
Tayla and Riccan were kneeling by a rushing stream of clear, cold water; this stream was one of the few non-polluted bodies of water in this part of Calmag. The children scooped up small handfuls of the icy liquid and poured it into their thirsting mouths, drinking greedily. Tayla then left Riccan for a moment to check on a net in the stream that Raakon and Dirkan had lain there just a couple hours ago after both men had awakened. She squealed in hungry delight when she saw a school of large fish trapped in the net. Happily, she pulled the net out of the chilly stream, with the fish struggling and flopping about.  
  
"Dinner!" she cried aloud.  
  
Riccan scurried over to Tayla, who was pulling the net of fish onto the sandy, muddy shore of the bank of the stream. Tayla told Riccan to gather the others for dinner, and Riccan eagerly did so. Their stomachs growled loudly at the thought of fried fish. Tayla began to gather wood for a fire, and afterwards, she tied some strong sticks together to make a spit to fry the fish on.  
  
Within ninety minutes, Tayla and her family and friends were dining on the fish, and the fish was made to be very salty, but Astorians liked their food that way; they could tolerate much higher levels of saltiness in their food better than other races, and high amounts of salt had no bad effect on their health. Dirkan, who did not care much for extreme saltiness, had eaten his two fish with a minimum of salt, of the salt that Lektron had "borrowed" from an abandoned grocery store. Veal had taken hers with no salt, and she relished the large fish that she was now dining on.   
  
Dedron was sitting ten feet away from Tayla and Riccan, and he had been sullen and moody still, as he greedily devoured three fish. Tayla was daintily nibbling on her fish, and when she had swallowed her food, she whispered to Riccan, "I'll be back; I have to go apologize to Dedron."  
  
"Apologize to Dedron?" Riccan nearly exclaimed in horror, as if Tayla had proposed that Riccan start dressing like a girl for now on. "But he hurt you! Why should you have to apologize? He should apologize! I ought to go beat him up!"  
  
"Because I lost my temper," Tayla explained patiently. "And no, Riccan, you are not getting in a fight with Dedron right now; save your strength for fighting the Top Elite officers that Dirkan was telling us about. I can handle this."  
  
"He doesn't deserve an apology," Riccan told her.  
  
Tayla privately agreed with him, but she knew that she had gone too far earlier when she had hit Dedron for talking so ill about her and Nama. She was still furious with her nephew, but she had promised Nama and Dirkan that she would avoid fighting with him for now; Nama had told her that they did not need to be fighting amongst themselves, and Tayla knew that her grandmother was right.  
  
But when she walked over to Dedron to apologize, Dedron stood up and abruptly walked over to talk to someone else-and Tayla's jaw nearly dropped when Dedron went straight to Ridikar.  
  
Ridikar? Why would Dedron want to talk to Ridikar?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dedron's sullen look had dissipated the minute that he caught up to Ridikar. Ridikar looked at Dedron strangely.  
  
"Yes?" he asked Dedron.  
  
Dedron asked him quietly, "Do you still wish to marry Tayla?"  
  
Ridikar's face paled slightly. "I-I am not sure anymore. She has a fierce temper." Ridikar had spent much of his time awake wondering how safe a wife Tayla would make. He did not know yet that his father had died; Dirkan intended to tell the boy after they had finished eating. Dirkan had ordered no one to tell Ridikar of his father's demise until then.  
  
"She can be controlled," Dedron told Ridikar steadily, and Ridikar blinked. Dedron continued wickedly, "If she can be controlled to your satisfaction, would you marry her then?"  
  
"Sure," Ridikar told him. "I was considering changing my mind about marrying her because of the way that she had attacked you. I'd be afraid that she'd do the same thing to me."  
  
"Not if you use this."  
  
"Use what?"  
  
Dedron smiled devilishly, and to Ridikar's amazement, Dedron held a silver gun-the same silver gun that had created the ki-restraining cuffs used on Dedron, Rojal, Dirkan, and Shalila earlier.  
  
"I found it earlier just before we left to bring the diamond statues back to life. Vegeta or one of the other monkeys must have dropped it. You can use this on Tayla, and you'll be able to overpower her."  
  
Ridikar looked at the gun uncertainly. "You want me to cuff Tayla? I-I don't know about that, Dedron; it would be like putting her on a leash like a dog."  
  
"Well she does act like a dog," Dedron told him. "You heard me call her Great-Nama's lapdog earlier today. And she does need to be restrained; with this you can force her to marry you or whatever. Here's what I was thinking: you use this on Tayla and take her far away from here; you'll probably be able to find someone to marry you two. And when we kick the behinds of Frieza's warriors, you bring her back as your bride, and then she'll have to stay here on Calmag-and your marriage will be legal by both Astorian law and Calmagian law. Not even my people will be able to object because there will be no legal reason for Tayla to divorce you." Dedron saw Ridikar's eyes widen in surprise for a few moments. But he looked at the Calmagian prince again, and this time Dedron noticed a sly smile cross Ridikar's face.  
  
Ridikar said thoughtfully, his smile widening, "It sounds like a good plan, Dedron, but why are you so eager to be rid of her? Won't your people need her to fight?"  
  
"It's time that someone else was the hero. And Tayla does need someone who can keep her under control. She'd be a good, strong queen for your planet, and it would solidify the alliance between Astoria and Calmag. I think it's time that Tayla settled down, and I believe that you would make her a good husband, even if you did try to force yourself on her before. Tayla did lead you on, and no girl should be allowed to do that, especially to such an important personage as yourself. You are far more valuable than she is, someone who will someday rule an entire planet, and what is she? Just a lesser princess, someone who should be honored to be your wife and the future Queen of Calmag. I think that she was being foolish and ungrateful, and I totally agree that you two should marry. Look at how well things worked out for my great-aunt Kildara; she married your grandfather, and she is now Queen of Calmag herself. You would be good for my youngest aunt. She needs to be put in her place and humbled, and just think of the strong warrior sons that she could bear you." Dedron smiled gleefully at the welcome opportunity to get rid of Tayla once and for all.  
  
"I like your plan, Dedron, but what about her family and her guardian, Dirkan? Won't they try to stop me?"  
  
"Leave that part to me; I will gladly do anything to help you two get back together. The difficult part will be to get you two alone together, but even that we should be able to handle. I noticed her coming to talk to me, but I left quickly to come propose this plan to you. What do you think? Do you still want her badly enough to do anything to keep her?" Dedron asked, as he placed the cuffing gun into Ridikar's hand. He also handed Ridikar the control box for the cuffs.  
  
"I do, and I think with these ki-restraining cuffs, she will learn to become a humble wife, and when she learns to respect and obey me, I will release her from the cuffs. This works out perfectly, and I will see that you are rewarded for this, Dedron, should everything go well."  
  
"Reward me, if you wish, but don't tell anyone of my part in this; that's the only condition other than not bringing her back here until you two are properly wedded and bedded. Good luck to you, Ridikar and congratulations in advance." Dedron held out his hands in proper Astorian position, and Ridikar shook them.  
  
"Now we just have a few details to work out…" Dedron continued, and his voice lowered to a whisper, as he and Ridikar discussed Dedron's evil plan to have Tayla carried off.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
An hour later…  
  
Dedron knew very little about kindness and decency, but he was a great manipulator. He knew just how to get Tayla alone; all he had to do was extend the olive branch towards her the same way that Rojal and Gorna had. He had heard Rojal apologize to Tayla earlier, and it had angered Dedron to no end, but he said nothing to his best friend about it. Dedron would be rid of Tayla soon enough. Dedron grinned evilly to himself when he heard Tayla forgive Rojal. So his best friend had now become friendly with that little wench; that was all right because Tayla would soon be gone.  
  
Tayla just left Rojal, and she and Riccan were having a quick sparring match to warm up for their next upcoming battle against Zarbon and the other minions when Dedron strolled over to them. Tayla had Riccan in a headlock when Dedron spoke:  
  
"Tayla, may I see you alone for a few moments?"  
  
Tayla mentally put up her guard. "For what?"  
  
"I owe you an apology for earlier today, and I would like to talk to you alone about it, if I may. I realize how great a warrior you are, and I realize now that Rojal and Aunt Gorna were right in making amends with you. It would take just a few minutes to talk to you because I want to make up with you; there are just a few things that I would like to say to you in private."  
  
Tayla frowned for just a moment; it was not like Dedron to be this polite towards her, but she had forgiven Gorna and Rojal, and she felt that she owed Dedron the same courtesy. She had never expected Gorna and Rojal to start being nice to her, and Dedron's peaceful approach towards her threw her off-guard as well. Nevertheless, Tayla was not one to be unrelenting and grudging towards her own family members; she could forgive easily anyone in her own family, even someone like Dedron.  
  
She turned to Riccan and said quietly, "Riccan, would you excuse us for a few minutes? Can you go spar with the others for a little bit until I can join you again?"  
Riccan scowled; he hated leaving a good fight or sparring match unfinished. Plus, he suspected that Dedron was up to no good; Gracina's oldest and most rambunctious child was more perceptive than most people gave him credit for.  
  
"I don't think that I should leave you alone with him," Riccan told her. "I think that he's up to something."  
  
Dedron put on what little charm that he possessed, hiding his anger at Riccan seeing through him. "Riccan," he said easily with a casual smile, "I just want to apologize to Tayla and talk to her, that's all. Why would I hurt her now? I just want to make amends, is that so wrong?"  
  
"I don't trust you," Riccan retorted. "And I don't think that Tayla should either." There was no love lost between Gracina's oldest son and Cletos' oldest son. He said to his closest friend and aunt, "I'm not leaving."  
  
Dedron hid a fist behind his back, clenching it. That little brat of Gracina's was going to be a problem; he had to get Tayla alone. "Riccan! C'mon, little buddy! Let me talk to Tayla alone; I'm not going to bite her."  
  
"I'm not leaving. You want to apologize to Tayla; you can do so while I'm here," Riccan said firmly, with his arms crossed in the exact same way that his mother crossed hers when she had made a final decision on something and would not be persuaded to change her mind. Riccan also wore his mother's determined "my decision is final, and that's the way it is" expression as well. He paid attention to his mother far more than she thought he did. Tayla looked at her young nephew, who had appointed himself her protector, and she decided that it would be far safer to have someone with her. After all what harm could Dedron really do against two people such as her and Riccan?  
  
Dedron sighed, but then another plan came to him just in time. "All right, Riccan, why don't you both come with me then, over to those tall bushes? And then you will see that you had nothing to worry about. I just want to make amends with Tayla, that's all."  
  
Tayla looked at Dedron skeptically, but then she said slowly, "Alright, we will come with you, but we must not take too long. We will all be leaving here shortly."  
  
"That's the spirit!" Dedron told her happily while Riccan continued to scowl. Both children reluctantly followed Dedron over to the bushes he had told them about. Dedron continued to lead them further into the thicket for about half an hour, until they came to a woody place where five tree stumps lay. Dedron easily led Tayla to the most comfortable looking stump and settled her down there. Tayla watched him warily; why was he suddenly being so cooperative? Riccan's frown deepened, as Dedron led him to a tree stump and had him sit down.  
  
"Okay?" Tayla said, hoping that Dedron would say whatever he had to say and get it over with. She was feeling very uneasy about being alone with him now, even if Riccan was with her.  
  
"Okay," Dedron began smoothly, as he walked behind Riccan and stopped. Before Tayla could intervene, Dedron suddenly punched the back of Riccan's head hard with his fist, knocking him out. Not knowing who or what hit him, Riccan cried out just before he passed out into unconsciousness and fell facedown into the grass.  
  
Tayla jumped off and yelled, "Hey, what did you do that for?" Dedron just smiled.  
She tried to run to Riccan's side, but before she could do so, two beams of light shot out from nowhere and each beam hit her two wrists. Tayla cried out in horror when she discovered that she was now wearing ki-restraining cuffs. She looked at Dedron with fear in her eyes while Dedron laughed wickedly. Her face grew pale, and then she realized too late where her forgiving heart had led her. She discovered then the folly of misplaced trust.  
  
She continued to stare down at the horrible cuffs restraining her ki severely, and she began to feel faint and weak, as her ki was reduced to nearly nothing. She tried to scream for help, but before she could do so, someone hit her in the back of her head as well, and she was knocked out easily. Everything went black, and Tayla knew no more.  
  
Ridikar, Tayla's assailant, scooped her up into his arms and laid her across his broad shoulder. He said excitedly, "That was almost too easy!"  
  
"Shhh!" Dedron scolded him. "Get her out of here now before the others come! Go, go!"  
  
Ridikar wasted no time, as he ran away with Tayla deep into the wilderness. Dedron then moved to the next phase of his plan, and he picked up a heavy fallen tree branch and bashed himself hard in the side of his head. He bit his lip to keep from screaming at the pain of the tree branch hitting his skull, and he was relieved to see his blue blood covering the branch. Then he fired a couple of small ki blasts at himself, just enough to create some damage, as if someone had attacked him.  
  
He had to make this look good…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Ridikar was running through the wilderness quickly, with an unconscious Tayla bobbing up and down on his shoulder. Finally, he had to stop, and he carried Tayla into a nearby cave.   
  
Ridikar laid her down, and she did not stir. He knew that the ki-restraining cuffs would keep Tayla's power at almost nothing, but just as a precaution, Ridikar yanked some vines off a tree near the cave, and he tied her ankles together and her wrists together securely.  
  
He looked outside the mouth of cave, and to his horror, he saw a fleet of round, silver pods flying through the darkening sky.  
  
"Frieza sent more soldiers?" he cried aloud. He paled then, wondering what to do now and where to go. The plan had been for Ridikar to leave to the nearest undamaged town and find someone to marry him and Tayla, but now more of Frieza's minions were coming? What was he going to do? He began to tremble.  
  
It wasn't that far to Benedon, the nearest town that he knew had not been Frieza's forces had not harmed. In Benedon, he and Tayla were supposed to be married, and then Ridikar had intended to bed her and try to impregnate her, if he could. Ridikar hoped that Tayla's body had matured enough to where she could have children. He had been with other women before; his first sexual experience had been when he had been fourteen, when his father had taken him to a classy bordello to be "educated" in handling women in bed. He considered himself a good lover, and his previous partners had had no complaints about his prowess or techniques.  
  
Tayla finally awoke, very slowly, and she screamed when she noticed that she was tied up. "What's going on?" she cried loudly, now fully awake. "Where am I? Riccan! Dedron! Somebody help me, please! Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I tied up?"  
  
Ridikar rushed to her side and lay down beside her. He began to stroke her hair, as much to calm himself as her, as Tayla tried to crawl away. Ridikar pulled her back against him and held her close. "It's okay, Tayla, I'm not going to hurt you. We're just running away to get married, that's all, and then I'll bring you back to tell your family goodbye."  
  
"Marry you?" Tayla shrieked, her fear turning into anger. "I told you that I don't want to marry you; now let me go! I'd sooner marry Prince Vegeta than you!"  
  
"Oh, really?" Ridikar mocked, forgetting about Frieza's new soldiers for now. "I could have that easily arranged. I could-"-a thought came to him just then, something that Dedron had told him to use should Tayla continue to fight him-"turn you over to him and others. I could turn you over to Frieza's soldiers, but I won't do that. I just want you for myself, Tayla, is that so much to ask?"  
  
"Yes it is!" Tayla screamed. "I don't like you, and I don't want to marry you! Now let me go back!" She tried to writhe to break free of her bonds, but then she realized that she was still wearing the ki-restraining cuffs.  
  
"Get these things off of me!" she cried.  
  
Ridikar laughed. "Not yet, not until you learn to behave and become the proper, obedient, submissive little wife that you're meant to be. I'm taking you to Benedon, my love, where we will be married, and I will plant my seed within you. Once you are pregnant with my child, even your grandmother won't have any choice, but to leave you behind with me."  
  
"Ridikar, my family needs me to fight," Tayla pleaded desperately, her anger fading back into fear. "I can't marry you now; my family needs me, and I have to go back and help them, I have to."  
  
"If you marry me quickly, I'll let you fight with your family, but then you must agree to give up fighting after this war is over and be my wife and the mother of my children. It isn't so bad with me, Tayla, it really isn't. And you wouldn't be lonely; Caline is your friend, right? Caline would be your companion, and I would keep her close to us."  
  
"I thought that your father was so eager to marry her off to Filcork Sediment," Tayla scoffed. "She doesn't like him, but apparently that doesn't matter much to either one of you!"  
  
"It doesn't really matter at all; Caline would be foolish to refuse such a good and prosperous man for her mate. He really isn't that bad as she claims. Filcor Sedemeyer would be a good husband and a good ally," Ridikar argued. "But I could insist that they live in the castle with us. You and Caline could see each other every day, Tayla, and you both would be happier, I am sure. Think about it, princess, your children and Caline's children could be raised together, and all of you would grow up together. We'd all be so happy with each other, Tayla, you can't imagine the respect and esteem that you would have as my wife and future Queen of Calmag. My father would see that we would be taken care of!"  
  
"But, Ridikar-"  
  
"But nothing, Tayla. You are mine, and you are just going to have to accept it. My father and grandfather will see that this marriage that we are about to have stays legal and binding. Your cousin, Prince Lektron, may have beaten him up earlier, and I will make him pay for that, but my father is still stronger; he is to be king right after Grandfather dies."  
  
"Ridikar, your father is-" Tayla decided then and there that Ridikar needed to know the truth about his father's death.  
  
"Don't insult him, Tayla. I know that you think that he treated Caline badly that one day, but Caline had it coming to her. She defied us, the heirs to Calmag's throne right in front of everyone and totally embarrassed us in front of your people. It wasn't well done of her, I'm afraid, and Prince Lektron had no right to interfere with my father's disciplining her. Princess Gracina, your sister, shouldn't have intervened either, and now they both made things worse. My father and I will practically have to drag Caline down the aisle on her wedding day, kicking and screaming. She is such a difficult girl, really; you two seem to have that much in common, but you both will grow and learn. She will learn to obey me, her father, and her husband, and so will you!"  
  
"Ridikar, your father is-"  
  
"That's enough, Tayla; I don't want to hear it anymore. You will be quiet from now on until we reach Benedon. Just to make sure that no one hears you, however, I am going to put this gag into your mouth." And with that, Ridikar pulled out a handkerchief, and before Tayla could say another word, he stuffed it into her mouth and tied the cloth securely around her face with a double knot.  
  
Tayla began to struggle, and tears started forming at the corners of her cocoa-colored eyes. Ridikar brushed the tears away with his thumb, and then he gently kissed Tayla's now pale cheek, nuzzling the smooth adolescent skin. He began to whisper sweet nothings into her slightly pointed ear, so similar to Calmagian ears, saying:  
  
"I love you, Tayla, and don't worry, you will be happy with me, I promise."  
  
Tayla then closed her eyes and tried to keep any more tears from coming. Ridikar just pulled her back against him further and wrapped his arms around the tiny girl, cuddling her close, as he leisurely stroked her hair and arms. Tayla began to sob, but her sobs were so muffled that she herself could barely hear them. 


	75. Natala Fights Back In Her Own Way

Chapter Seventy-Five: Natala Fights Back In Her Own Way  
  
Three hours earlier, back at the royal castle at the same time that Dedron had convinced Ridikar to kidnap Tayla…  
  
Balair had Natala in his arms, as he flew up several flights of stairs with her, caressing her breasts, as they went along. Natala was trying to remain brave, but the very thought of coupling with a man other than her husband revolted her. She didn't want to sleep with a man other than her beloved husband, whom she would never see again.   
  
Finally, she could hold back the tears no longer, and they began to flow freely, as Balair at last found a bedroom, a royal guest room-the same room where Shalila and Dirkan had been staying in!  
  
Sweet Kami, he's going to rape me in Raakon's grandmother's room…what else is he going to do? Natala thought to herself in horror, as a sob escaped her.  
  
"Now don't cry, sweetness," Balair told her in what he thought was a soothing voice. He stroked her hair, and Natala tried to pull away, but she knew then that it was useless. She tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that Balair wouldn't touch Caline now, but it didn't soothe her for long. Knowing Balair, he probably would go after Caline once he had finished with his current conquest.  
  
Balair wasted no time in carrying Natala into Shalila and Dirkan's bedroom. He then tossed her onto the hunter-green and gold decorated bed, and he leapt onto her before she had a chance to flee. He pinned her beneath him and pressed himself against her, licking her face and neck.  
  
"Such silky hair," Balair purred, and then his tongue danced along the curvature of Natala's slim, graceful neck. "Tell me, sweetness, did you husband please you? Did he know how to pleasure a woman?"  
  
Natala recovered a bit of her spirit. "Yes!" she snapped. "And ten times better than you ever could!"  
  
"We'll see about that, but now tell me, what did he do to please you? Where did he touch you at that you liked the best?" Balair wanted to know, his curiosity increasing with his desire.  
  
"That's none of your business," Natala hissed. "You could never measure up to him!"  
  
Balair laughed. "You're not the first woman that I had who claimed that I couldn't measure up to her previous lover or mate, and I've proven everyone wrong so far! Trust me, you're going to like this, especially if you don't put up a fight. Remember what I said what I would do to Caline, if you didn't comply and please me! Now lie still like a good girl, so I can get this dress off of you." And with two rips, Balair had torn off Natala's lacy mauve caftan and pale gold sash. Natala squirmed uselessly, but Balair pinched her breast hard to make her behave. And with another rip, he had removed Natala's beige lace shift and her beige lace underwear. Within less than two minutes, Natala was nearly nude, and she knew that she would have to think fast to delay Balair taking her. Balair started fondling her scantily covered body, as he repeatedly licked and kissed her face, neck and breasts. Natala shook with revulsion, and she could barely repress her sobs.  
  
"So very beautiful, so sweet, so mine, all mine…" Balair murmured, with his face between Natala's nude breasts. He then kissed her hard, and Natala's fear increased when her attacker began pawing her between her legs, trying to feel her, trying to make her enjoy what was coming.  
  
She had to act quickly before it was too late. Her time was fast running out; she would have to save herself.  
  
She barely managed to free a hand from Balair's grip, and she held it out between them. "Wait…" she whispered.  
  
Balair laughed wickedly. "I wait for no woman."  
  
Natala had to work fast; Balair was not going to wait much longer. She took a deep breath and began her act. She had acted in a few plays on both the moons of Chloe and Cornsilk, and she had been told that she was a good actress. She hoped that she would be able to pull of the performance of a lifetime.  
  
"I understand that, but isn't lovemaking so much better when you wait and get to know the person that you are about to mate with?" Natala asked, wanting to know. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? I am afraid of you, but I don't think I would be as much, if I was able to get to know you better before you took me. You want me to enjoy this, don't you? Well, I would enjoy it much better, if I knew the man who was about to become my new lover? A woman takes longer than a man to warm up, you know, but I am sure a man of your experience would know that." Natala closed her summer-sky-blue eyes for a moment, hoping that her diplomacy skills would work with an oversexed Sistrai warrior. Back home, she and Raakon had been among Shalila's international diplomats, as well as healers, and she and Raakon had often worked together to maintain peace between different Clans and their nations.  
  
Balair chuckled. "I prefer more action and less talk. You can get to know me afterwards."  
  
"But it would make things so much pleasanter for me," Natala insisted. "And if I am pleased, wouldn't you be pleased too? Isn't part of receiving satisfaction from sex having your partner enjoying it as well? Who are you? Where are you from? And what made you join Frieza's forces, and why is that you continue to work for him? I just want to know what makes you tick."  
  
"Makes me tick?" Balair wanted to know, not understanding the expression at all. "I'm not a clock."  
  
"It's an old planet Earth expression that my husband's grandmother uses all of the time, meaning essentially what makes you, well, be you. In other words, I'm asking you what makes Balair be Balair? What makes you work? What motivates you to do the things that you do? What stirs your emotions? What's in your heart? Your mind? What are your goals, your dreams? A woman likes to know these things about a man."  
  
Balair looked at Natala oddly, as if seeing her for the first time. "You are one strange woman, do you know that? I've never had a woman ask me about myself; most of the time, they just want to get away from me."  
  
"Perhaps because you move too fast for them; a woman likes it when a man takes his time courting her and letting her get to know him," Natala pointed out. "I know that it excites some men to force themselves on a woman, but believe me, it is much more pleasurable for both partners, if a man takes the time to get to know his partner and tell her about himself. I would like to know about you, Balair, your people, your ways of thinking. What makes you be you? What is Balair? Who is Balair? Who is this man who wants to become my lover? Why do you want me to become your lover?"  
  
Balair looked at her, as if she had sprouted another head. "You ask a lot of questions for a woman, especially one who is about to be bedded."  
  
Natala said as silkily as possible. "Please tell me about yourself; it would make me happy, and a woman is more likely to enjoy mating, if she is happy." She put on her best appealing look, the look she sometimes used with more difficult people to get her requests granted, or to bring things about. Raakon had named that expression, "Natala's heart-melter".  
  
Balair chuckled softly. "So you want me to tell you about myself, eh? I guess we have a few minutes." Natala released a sigh of relief, as Balair continued, "Well, let me see, where do I begin? Well, you know me as Balair, of course, but my pals call me Bali, and I am a Sistrai warrior, once considered to be low-level, but that changed when the King of Sistra (Sistra is my home planet) discovered my skills as a fighter and recommended me to the great Lord Frieza. Frieza had one of my father's cousins train me; his name was Sagash, a fine, upstanding Top Elite Officer, my mentor and friend. Sagash taught me what I really needed to know, everything from surviving, to fighting, to know when to suck up to Frieza and when to shut up. He taught me how to fight dirty, and he was a great warrior himself, one of the greatest that I ever knew. He may have been half-Egimarian, but he was still considered family, and he possessed all of the good Sistrai qualities. He was a low-level on Sistra himself, but like me, he worked his way up, and he taught me everything that I needed to know. He showed me that a man doesn't have to remain a low-level, if he doesn't want to, he can move up and become the best, and that's what we both did. He taught me things about women, and he took me to my first whorehouse, so that I would know how to be a good lover. He was like a second father, brother, and friend all in one, and I miss him to this day."  
  
"What happened to him?" Natala asked softly, remembering the name "Sagash" from what her husband had told her. Raakon had fought against Sagash himself, and he told Natala that the half-Sistrai, half-Egimarian warrior had been a difficult opponent to defeat, one of Raakon's worst enemies in the Battle of Chloe.  
  
Balair's face darkened, and his yellow eyes narrowed to slits. "That Rybanese whore, Jaden, killed him! He was training at about the same he was training Dodoria and myself, but we both had our Final Evaluations before Jaden had finished her training. He screwed her a few times against her will, but so what? It was his right, he was a man, and Jaden was no more than a slave, a whore! She should have been thankful just to be alive, but no! She had to turn Sagash into glass and kill him, shortly after we just lost in the Battle of Chloe. I hate her to this day, oh, Kami, do I hate her! I hate all Rybanese, even though Jaden is the only one left out of the Rybanese that I know of! I am grateful to the Hycanese to this day for eradicating all of the Rybanese on planet Ryban and destroying them! But they couldn't have killed off Jaden, no, she had to live and kill one of my best friends! And someday, I will make her pay for that, and I will destroy her!"  
  
Natala said sympathetically, "I am truly sorry for that, Balair, I am sorry that you lost your friend and mentor like that. Such a sad ending for your friend; he must have meant so much to you."  
  
"He did. He meant so much to Dodoria and I; he was a hard, tough trainer, but he was a good friend and mentor, someone that we both looked up to. I will never forgive Jaden for destroying him, ever! I wish that she had died in that Battle of Chloe, I hate her so much!"  
  
"I don't blame you; she hurt you so much when she killed your friend, didn't she?"  
  
"She did! Losing Sagash was like losing an older brother!" Balair roared, as Natala patted his arm kindly. Balair looked at her in amazement; why was she suddenly being so nice to him?  
  
"But I'm sure that he would be proud of you, Balair," Natala told him gently. "You have become a Top Elite Officer-that is the highest rank that you can obtain in Frieza's forces, isn't it?"  
  
"Sure is, and Sags was so proud of me the day that I shot myself into Top Elite. He told both Dodoria and I (Dodoria made it into Top Elite at about the same time that I did) how proud he was of us, and how we had been his best students ever. I hope that I've done him proud and became a credit to him!"  
  
"I know that you did, from what I've seen," Natala told him honestly. She truly thought that Balair had followed well in this Sagash's footsteps, and if Sagash had meant for Balair to become a cold-blooded, cruel warrior with no mercy for anyone, he had definitely done his job.  
  
"Thanks, sweetness," Balair said jovially. "It's nice to know that a woman thinks of me so highly! Hell, you're going to please me better than I thought you would; the last Astorie woman that I screwed screamed and cried the whole time, and I had to hurt her to subdue her. But you sound like a reasonable woman who knows what's best for her."  
  
"It's no use for me to fight the inevitable," Natala replied. "But there is so much more that I want to know about you, Balair; I've mainly heard about Sagash and Jaden, but it's you I am interested in."  
  
"Really?" Balair asked easily.  
  
"Really. Do you have a mate, a family, parents, siblings?"  
  
"I ought to call you a Princess of Questions instead of a Princess of Chloe, but to answer your questions, the first is no, I just have concubines, no mates. I do have a family back on my home planet, but both of my parents are dead; my father was killed fighting the Rybanese, and my mother died giving birth to me. Sistrai and Rybanese are among the few reptilian races that can give birth live; most reptilian races lay eggs. As for siblings, I have four sisters and three brothers, with me being the third oldest in the family, but I haven't really kept in touch with them for a long time. My father had two other wives after my mother died, so my youngest siblings are only half-siblings. Anyway, there's not much more to tell about them."  
  
Natala was trying to think of more questions to ask Balair, and finally she came up with a few. "What do you think personally of your liege? What motivates you to keep working for Frieza? Have you ever questioned anything that he does or made you do?"  
  
Balair was thrown off-guard; no one had ever asked him those things before, but then no one had dared to. He allowed himself to ponder Natala's questions, and he was still thinking when his scouter beeped. Balair growled and cursed, but he was forced to answer it.  
  
"Balair?"  
  
"What is it now, Zarbon?"  
  
"Don't talk back to me like that, Balair. Lord Frieza has been kind enough to send us help; I have to go greet them, inform them of what's going on, and lead them here; they are nearing Calmag's surface now."  
  
"Great, wonderful, why are you telling me this?"  
  
"Because I have to leave, Balair! You will have to be in charge until I get back, and I need you to come back downstairs to watch the hostages."  
  
"Have Dodi or Bhodie do it; I'm busy."  
  
"Your bedtime activities will have to be put on hold, Balair. You are just going to have to bring your little Astorie woman back downstairs and keep her there with the others. You are out of playtime, and I have to go. I expect you down here in ten minutes, Balair; don't dawdle. Farewell for now; I am signing off." And before Balair could protest, Zarbon's scouter channel had closed.  
  
Balair cursed, as he dragged Natala to her feet off of the bed. "Curse Zarbon, one day I will have his position! How dare he order me about like that when all I wanted was a little fun and recreation? Ugh! Well, woman, let's go back downstairs; we'll have to continue our fun later."  
  
"Can I at least put something on?"  
  
"Use a bedcover or something; good idea, because I don't want the other men seeing the goods on my new woman, and you do have a fine body that I can't wait to try out," Balair told her, as he released Natala long enough to allow her to wrap a quilt around her body and pin it with one of Shalila's gold safety pins that had been lying on the dresser.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Marya and Arlina were praying in a corner with Kekron and Nikon sitting nearby. Tayka had finally fallen asleep in Marya's lap after she and her twin sister, Tila, had cried for hours because of the "mean monsters" scaring everyone and killing people in front of them. Tila had also been crying, but she was too scared to go to sleep, for fear that she wouldn't wake up again. Instead she had latched herself onto Kekron, clinging to him (she harbored a minor crush on her cousin), and Kekron held her close, trying to rock her to sleep.   
  
Rina had been running around the room, hoping that her parents had returned, and a furious Dodoria, impatient with her scurrying about the ballroom, had bluntly told Kekron that if he or someone didn't settle her down, Dodoria would settle her permanently, as in killing her. Rina had bitten Dodoria's thumb earlier when Dodoria had grabbed the little girl's tail. Dodoria had flung the three-year-old away from him and ordered Kekron to retrieve her. So now Kekron not only had Tila to soothe, but Rina to restrain. He had bribed Rina with his last chocolate sugarplum to calm her down and get her to sit still. But convincing an active three-year-old part-Saiyan child to settle down and not run around was harder than persuading Dirkan not to cuff someone for interrupting his meditating without good cause. Rina wanted to get up and leave to find her parents, but Kekron told her that she would have to wait (something that no three-year-old, Astorian, Saiyan, or Human, really knows the meaning of). Kekron finally gave her his extra compass and protractor and ruler to amuse her, and Rina was finally content to sit down and play with her treasures.  
  
Tila was still trembling in Kekron's arms, but she had calmed down quite a bit. "It's going to be okay, Tila, really," Kekron told her, trying to stay as positive as possible. "Our family will save us, and we will be okay."  
  
"I want my mamma," Tila whispered, looking at him wistfully.  
  
"I know," Kekron moaned, deeply worried about his mother too, for he had seen Balair take his mother away. He had jumped up to go after them just before Balair had taken her out of the ballroom, but Natala ordered him to go sit with the others and take care of Arlina.  
  
"I want Pappa too," Tila told Kekron. "He and Mamma could beat those meanies up! Don't you want your parents?"  
  
"Yes, Tila," Kekron told her quietly. "I do. I hope they are both okay. Why don't we pray for your parents and mine, okay?"  
  
"Okay, but who should we pray to? The East Kai, Kami Orchida, or our ancestors?"  
  
"I would say all of them."  
  
"Okay," Tila said. "Can I pray in your lap? Will they still listen to me, even if I'm not kneeling?"  
  
"I'm sure that they would," Kekron assured her, and they both closed their eyes and prayed.  
  
While they were praying, Caline joined them and sat down besides them. Tila, sensing Caline's ki, finished her prayer quickly, and she opened her eyes, the aquamarine eyes so like her mother's. Tila and Tayka were fraternal twins, with Tayka looking like Lektron, and Tila looking like Gracina. Tayka was the stronger one of the twins, and Tila was the prettier one. Tila, the youngest child, was the only one out of her siblings who was not training to become a warrior; she was training to become a healer or a scribe. The twins were different as night and day, but they were still close, and they both welcomed the prospect of a new sister, an older sister such as Caline, whom they hoped would come home with them. All of Lektron and Gracina's four children adored Caline, even the rambunctious Riccan and Nikon, and nosy Tayka had heard her mother wish that she could take Caline home to Astoria with them. Tayka hoped that it would happen, and she had told Tila so.  
  
Tila noticed Caline's red-rimmed eyes and saw that she had been crying. "Are you okay, Caline?" Tila asked.  
  
Caline shakily nodded. Tila, forgetting about her own pain for a few minutes, went to hug her. Caline embraced her in return and both "sisters" held each other for a long time.  
  
Kekron had ended his prayer quickly as well. He asked Caline, who was still holding Tila, "Do you know where Balair took my mother?"  
  
"It is my fault," Caline told him mournfully. "She took my place with Balair, so that Balair wouldn't rape me. I'm thankful not to have to go with him, but now I feel awful because Balair will be hurting her instead of me. I am so sorry, Kekron, I wish that I could have stopped her."  
  
"I wish that I could kill that bastardi!" Kekron cried. "He's going to hurt her, I just know that he is."  
  
"I'm sorry," Caline whispered again. "I should have gone instead."  
  
"No," Kekron sighed. "It's not your fault, Caline; my mother was just trying to protect you. You're just a little girl, and no one should hurt you the way that Alberm and others like him have. Don't feel guilty or blame yourself; it's like my mother to want to help others, no matter what it costs her."  
  
"I wish there was more I could do to help," Caline told him. "I wish that I could save your mother."  
  
"I wish for once in my life that I was a warrior," Kekron said. "I wish that I was as strong as my father; my father could have beaten Balair, for he did it before. If my father were here right now, Balair would be on his knees begging for mercy! My father is one of the strongest men that I know! He gave up fighting for a while, but he went back to being a healior-that is a warrior who also is a healer. And you know what? I'm glad that he did because when he comes back, he'll show Balair a thing or two!"  
  
"Kekron, shush now," a velvety voice ordered.  
  
  
"What?"  
  
Natala had returned, wearing the same hunter-green and gold quilt that she had wrapped around herself in Shalila and Dirkan's bedroom. She settled herself down near the children, and Caline, bringing a startled Tila with her, promptly flung herself into Natala's arms. Kekron seized his mother and hugged her tightly. Arlina and Marya stopped praying for now, and Arlina rushed to her mother, throwing her arms around her neck.  
  
"Mamma, my prayers have been answered!" Arlina exclaimed excitedly; normally she was solemn and quiet. "Balair didn't hurt you, did he?"  
  
Natala permitted herself a smile. "No, Arlina, I was very, very, lucky. Your prayers were answered."  
  
Caline squeezed Natala hard, so hard that Natala could barely breathe. Who knew that such a small girl could harbor such strength? "I am so glad that you're safe, Natala!" Caline cried. "Thank you for saving me!" She wept on Natala's bosom. Tila, who was now wedged between Natala, Caline, and Kekron, just hugged Natala for no reason, except to seek comfort.  
  
"Thank you, thank you," Caline cried again and again.  
  
"Mamma, what happened? Did Balair harm you?" Kekron wanted to know.  
  
"He molested me, yes, but I managed to get him to talk about himself, so he did not force himself on me. I am eternally grateful to the ancestors and Zarbon."  
  
"Zarbon?" Kekron asked. "What did he do?"  
  
"He made Balair stop; that's why we came back downstairs, son, because Balair has to take Zarbon's place in watching the hostages. The bad news is that Zarbon sent for more troops."  
  
"Oh, no!" everyone in the group moaned.  
  
"Aren't those Saiyans and the others enough?" Kekron asked.  
  
"Apparently not," Natala sighed. "At this rate though, right now, I'm just thankful that Balair is too busy now to touch Caline or I. At least he won't be bothering either one of us for now."  
  
"You saved both of us!" Caline declared, hugging her tighter, if that was possible for a delicate child like herself. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you! I was so scared of Balair; he's five times as bad as Alberm! I thought that I was going to be raped again, and I would rather die than be raped again! You saved me, Natala!"  
  
"Easy, Caline," Natala said soothingly. "You're safe for now, and Balair has released me because he and Dodoria are needed to patrol the ballroom. I told you that things would be okay, sweetheart, see things are working out much better than expected."  
  
"And now Caline can go home with us, can't she?" Tila asked, completely going off the subject.  
  
"We'll see, Tila," was all that Natala could trust herself to say. She turned to Caline and Tila and added, "Girls, would you both let me talk to Kekron and Arlina alone for a few minutes; there is something that I have to tell them."  
  
Tila and Caline slowly climbed out of Natala's arms, and they both went to sit with Marya, who took them with her over to her and Arlina's corner. Natala gathered Arlina and Kekron together in her arms, and she ushered Arlina on her lap.  
  
With tears forming in her pale turquoise eyes, she said shakily, "Kekron, Arlina, I am sorry to tell you both this, but your father has-been transformed-into a diamond statue, and as far as-as I-I kn-know, he can't be changed back!" And then Natala lost what self-control that she had left, and she began to cry hard before she could stop herself.  
  
Kekron's face paled, but Arlina told both her mother and her brother calmly, "Mamma, don't weep, please don't cry. Pappa is not dead; I can feel him. He still lives, Mamma."  
  
"But how can that be, sweetheart?" Natala whispered.  
  
"Aunt Marya told me something that she had seen in her visions, Mamma. She told me she saw Great-Aunt Toria and Tayla reverse the awful spell that the Gemstarian woman placed on the people, the ones that had been turned into diamonds. Pappa was a diamond statue, Mamma, but he's not any more; he's alive, Mamma, he's still alive! And he's coming for us, I know he is, and the others will be joining him soon. They will be coming; those who had been turned to diamonds are alive again!"  
  
Natala's tears of grief became tears of joy at her daughter's words. "Sweet Kami, he lives! He's alive! Wonderful! I will see my Raakon, your father again!" Her face brightened, as her smile widened. She hugged Arlina and Kekron tighter. "Your father lives, children! He is alive!"  
  
Kekron's face was alight with hope and happiness. He was too happy to speak.  
  
Just as their happiness started to increase, Marya interrupted them, and her face was distressed. Natala's face fell at Marya's worried expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
Marya sighed, "My sister is in danger."  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Tayla! Dedron has betrayed her, I saw him do so in my mind, and he has convinced Ridikar to abduct my sister, cuff her with ki-restraining cuffs and take her far away to force her to marry him. I have always seen such evil in Dedron's heart, but I never realized until now just how much it would affect him."  
  
Kekron said unsteadily, "Doesn't Rojal and Aunt Gorna dislike Tayla too?"  
  
"They were only jealous of her," Marya told Kekron as calmly as she could. "But Dedron's negative feelings towards Tayla go beyond jealousy and envy; they have turned into hatred. Dedron's envy and hatred for Tayla has consumed him to the point where he will do anything to be rid of her. Dedron is just as dangerous to Tayla, as the Saiyans and the others who work for Frieza are. He is such an angry young man, so angry at his parents and Nama and Tayla, blaming them for his problems and Farla leaving with Jaypros. Farla and Jaypros' adulterous affair has caused such problems and repercussions, far-reaching consequences, consequences that will continue to affect us for years to come."  
  
"Are you angry with Aunt Farla and Uncle Jaypros for leaving?" Kekron asked   
  
Marya said wistfully, "I think that Farla and Jaypros were so in love with each other, that they did not stop to consider the consequences of what they were doing. They knew that they were doing wrong, but they allowed themselves to be blinded with their love and their lust for each other. Farla and Cletos should have never married; Farla has always loved Jaypros, but she had been infatuated with Cletos for a long time. I saw the look of pain in Jaypros' eyes the day Farla and Cletos had married. I counseled Cletos at one time not to marry Farla in haste, but he was so in love with her and so happy with her at the time. Actually, I told Cletos he shouldn't marry Farla at all, and I told Farla to wait longer before marrying Cletos. I know that Mamma meant well when she helped to bring Farla and Cletos together after Farla and Jaypros broke things off the first time, but that was one marriage that should have never been allowed to happen. Even Aunt Toria told them to wait, but they would not listen. I pressed my brother, your Uncle Jaypros, to tell Farla how he felt, that he still loved her, but Jaypros just couldn't work up enough courage until after Farla and Cletos were married with two children. So, no, Kekron, I am not angry with Farla and Jaypros; in fact, I pity them, and now they will never get the chance to make amends because both of them have perished, living with our ancestors now."  
  
Natala nearly shrieked. "Farla is dead?"  
  
"I had a bad dream last night," Marya confided tearfully. "I felt the despair and hurt in Farla's heart, and she took her own life, poor woman. I saw another person in my dream, a small girl, and one who looked just like Farla. I tried to gather more information about her, but the ancestors and spirits have closed that door to me; it seems that they don't want me to know anything about her. I will see later, if Aunt Toria lives, if she has seen anything about this girl."  
  
"Could Farla have had any children with Jaypros?" Natala wanted to know.  
  
"Perhaps, it seems that she did, but I can't get any clear visions about them."  
  
"What will we do now?" Kekron wanted to know.  
  
"Tayla is in danger," Arlina said.  
  
"Mamma, couldn't one or two of us sneak out of here unnoticed?" Kekron wanted to know. "Balair and his bunch can't watch everyone at once."  
  
"Not for now, son," Natala told him as firmly as possible. "Remember Balair's threat about killing ten people for every one person who escaped? We will wait for now; it is all we can do."  
  
"That is best," Marya agreed, "although I am very worried about my sister. I must go and pray that Ridikar does not harm her, and that Dedron will see the error of his evil ways before it is too late. The poor child!"   
  
Tayka was now awake, and she had joined the others. So had Rina, who wanted to know what was going on with the older members of her family.  
  
"We must remain strong, for everyone's sake," Natala said as bravely as possible. "Children, gather close to me all of you. I will tell you the story of the time when our ancestors took back Astoria from the Saiyans; that is a good victory story."  
  
All of the children, especially Caline, who had only heard bits and pieces of the Astorians taking Astoria back from the Saiyans, loved this war story; it was their favorite. They loved hearing how they won over the Saiyans, of Shalila and Dirkan fighting King Dayrus the Oozaru, of Shalila training under Dirkan, and of the first Bajal Chloe conquering the Astorian moons, taking them back from the Saiyan occupants.  
  
Natala began, her voice steady and confident, "A long time ago, on a tiny blue planet called Earth that sat in the Milky Way Galaxy, lived a tiny, red-haired girl, and her brave warrior mother, the first Tayla Chloe, the wife of Superior Granden Roccon, and the mother of Shalila Chloe, our Superior Gran and heroine…" 


	76. Petalia Learns The Truth

Chapter Seventy-Six: Petalia Learns The Truth--And The Importance of Telling It  
  
In the middle of the night, early next morning…  
  
The reactions of the Astorians, Veal, and Dirkan had alternated between anger that the Saiyans had abducted Tayla again and fear for Tayla's life and safety. They were planning to split up into separate search parties to look for her.  
  
Shalila had been especially angry and saddened, and no one could console her. The Superior Gran had tried to relieve her feelings by decimating a condemned hardware store with a strong ki blast, but she really would have preferred to destroy the Saiyans instead. At one moment, she would be in tears, and then the next moment, she would be so angry that not even Dirkan or Toria would dare to come near her. And there were times when she would be both angry and sad, her reactions a mixture of tears, curses, and shouting so loud that a Meatian in the Milky Way Galaxy could have heard it (if there had been any Meatians living in the Milky Way).  
  
"Those bastards! After all we did to defeat them, they take my dandelion away anyway!" Shalila hissed in one of her mixed-reaction moments. Dirkan had tried to counsel her to stay calm for everyone else's sake, but she was inconsolable and too angry to think straight.  
  
"I'll destroy them all, Dirkan!" Shalila cried with her fists balled up. "Especially that brat, Vegeta! Who in the East Kai's name does he think he is? Who in the East Kai's name does Frieza think he is? I saw Tayla defeat Vegeta; I saw her! I knew that there was no way that Vegeta could have recovered that quickly, even if his race does possess the gene that makes them stronger after surviving a life-threatening injury! Something is not right with those Saiyans, something is not right!"  
  
Dirkan was furious himself, but for the sake of Shalila and the others, he had to remain calm and to keep his wife calm, which at this point he knew would be harder than convincing Frieza to surrender to Intergalacticpol wearing a wedding caftan and high-heels while singing Astoria's worldwide patriotic anthem. Before he could stop himself, Dirkan chuckled to himself at the thought of Frieza prancing around in an Astorian lace wedding gown and heels and squeaking at the top of his voice, singing off-key, "Astoria, sweet Astoria, I would give my life for thee…" The Namek burst out laughing before he could prevent it.  
  
"DIRKAN!" Shalila yelled in a terrible voice so sharp that it would have sliced Dirkan's heart open, had it been a knife. "What are you laughing at? Don't you realize that Tayla is in danger? What is so funny?"  
  
Dirkan tried to wipe the grin off of his face, but he couldn't.  
  
"What's the joke?" Shalila angrily demanded to know.  
  
Dirkan was forced to tell her, and after a few tense moments, to the Namek warrior's relief, Shalila herself began to laugh. "Frieza in a wedding gown! Dirkan, I'm sorry that I yelled at you; you do know how to cheer me up! That was hysterical! You have a lively imagination, my love, thinking of Frieza singing Astoria's patriotic anthem!"  
  
Everyone was puzzled to see Dirkan and Shalila, their respected leaders, laughing, and they all looked at their Superior Gran and Granden in a mixture of disbelief and disapproval.  
  
Gorna was the first to speak. "Nama, how can you and Dirkan be laughing at a time like this? Kami only knows what those monkeys are doing to Tayla at this moment!" she furiously demanded to know.  
  
Shalila and Dirkan sobered immediately. "We are sorry, Gorna and everyone else," Shalila said. "I was upset, and Dirkan was just trying to cheer me up. All of us are worried about Tayla."  
  
Dirkan was unable to hide a small smile. "If it will make you feel better, Gorna, your grandmother was upset and angry with me at first when I burst out laughing. I was thinking at how it would have been easier to persuade Frieza to surrender to Intergalacticpol wearing a wedding gown and singing "Astoria, Sweet Astoria" than it would have been to cheer your grandmother up."  
  
It took a few moments, but soon everyone else had managed a small laugh or chuckle or giggle at the thought of the deadly dictator of evil singing the official planetary patriotic anthem of the world that he hated the most while wearing a wedding caftan. All except for Toria, who was trying to concentrate on finding Tayla, and Gorna, who had little patience for jokes anytime let alone in a serious situation like this.  
  
"We need to find Tayla," Gorna reminded everyone sternly, "and not plan Frieza's wedding wardrobe. Dedron and Riccan, are you boys certain that you didn't see which direction the Saiyans took Tayla?"  
  
"I didn't," Riccan piped up worriedly. "Someone hit me in the back of the head, and I saw nothing. I can't figure out who hit me either."  
  
"I was passed out myself," Dedron told his aunt sincerely. "Riccan and I didn't see anything after we passed out." The others grew quiet and thoughtful then, and Dedron turned away from all of them, chuckling maliciously to himself.   
  
He turned around quickly to catch the distressed, anxious look that had returned to Great-Nama's face, and it made him smile. He had somehow convinced himself that Great-Nama was one of the ones responsible for his mother abandoning him for that bastard Uncle Jaypros, and his anger and hatred towards his mother and his uncle had now extended to his great-grandmother and his youngest aunt. Dedron was not the least bit sorry that Tayla was gone; in fact it wouldn't have bothered him at all, if Ridikar never returned her at all. The malicious, burly Astorian prince chuckled to himself when he thought how easily Aunt Gracina and Uncle Lektron had believed his lie about the Saiyans abducting Tayla. He had thought of the falsehood just after Ridikar had fled with Tayla, and not even Ridikar knew that Dedron had planned to blame Tayla's abduction on the Saiyans. Dedron mentally patted himself on the back for being so clever…nothing could go wrong with his devious scheme, nothing!  
  
Dedron was smiling with the smile of a cat that had just eaten its owner's favorite pet bird and gotten away with it. He went over across the meadow to a large rock and sat down on it, grinning widely. His family did not notice his grin in their distress over Tayla's disappearance and their planning to find her. Petalia approached Dedron, who was still smiling broadly, as if he himself had defeated Frieza and destroyed him. They were both alone, far away from everyone else now. She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face.  
  
"Dedron, why are you smiling?" Petalia asked him reproachfully. "Don't you realize that Tayla is still missing?"  
  
Dedron tried to wipe the smirk off of his face as fast as he could, but not quickly enough to appease his sister. "Oh, um…sorry…guess I must have been thinking of Frieza in a wedding dress, you know what Dirkan said earlier."  
  
"I'm worried about her," Petalia said distressingly. "Do you think that she will be okay?"  
  
"Sure she will be," Dedron told her confidently. "She's Tayla, after all, and she kicked Vegeta's tail earlier; she'll be sure to do so again. Relax, Petals; Tayla's a survivor."  
  
"But can she survive Saiyans? Oh, Vegeta and his bunch are such horrid creatures! Dedron, something must be done! How do we know that they aren't torturing her? Or doing to her what Ridikar tried to do to her before-oh, speaking of which, what happened to Ridikar? Everyone's starting to wonder where he ran off to."  
  
"Who cares?" Dedron told her breezily. "Good riddance; now let's get some food, I'm starved."  
  
Petalia snapped, "How can you think of your stomach at a time like this? I couldn't touch a bite right now!"  
  
"Petals," Dedron said impatiently, "you hardly eat anyway, having to worry about your figure all the time. Don't tell me you are on one of those crazy diets of yours again?"  
  
"I'm not on a diet!" Petalia nearly screamed. "I don't need to be on one! I am just too worried to eat. Are you sure, Dedron, that you didn't hear those Saiyans say where they were taking Tayla?"  
  
"For the last time, I didn't!" Dedron snapped at her. "Why in Kami Orchida's name are you so worried about her anyway? A couple of months ago, you wouldn't have cared about her any more than I did."  
  
"A couple of months ago, she wasn't really my friend, but things have changed since the voyage here to Calmag. She's not bad at all, Dedron, and she's helped me very much with dealing with Farla running away and Pappa's neglecting us. Pappa told me earlier that Tayla had yelled at him on the day that Dirkan and Bajal attacked Ridikar in his cave where he had taken Tayla. He said that Tayla's words had helped him to realize how badly he had treated us and neglected us. I love Pappa dearly, and I forgive him, but I am glad that Tayla yelled at him that day because it helped him come to his senses. It's nice to have a father again, I think so anyway, even if you don't."  
  
"I don't forgive and forget that easily, Petals, and you know that," Dedron snarled. "As far as I am concerned, I don't have a father."  
  
"DEDRON! How can you say that?" Petalia cried, now near tears.  
  
"Sorry, Petals, but he can't win me back the same way that he so easily did you," Dedron told her.  
  
"Dedron, Petalia!" Cletos' voice echoed across the field. "We need to get going, and you two will be with me!"  
  
"Coming, Pappa!" Petalia called immediately. Dedron did not respond.  
  
"I hope we find Tayla soon," Petalia whispered to her brother.  
  
"Ah, don't worry, Ridikar will take good care of her. It's not like Tayla's alone; Ridikar will look after her, after all, he is taking her away to marry her," Dedron said casually before he thought.  
  
"Well, perhaps, but we should really get going," Petalia replied. "Ridikar was such a jerk, as Great-Nama would say…Dedron, what did you just say?" The lovely, golden-haired Astorian princess just realized that her brother had said that Tayla was with Ridikar.   
Petalia's ivory face paled even further. "Tayla is with Ridikar? Ridikar has Tayla?"  
  
Dedron began to tremble and shake when he realized that he had just exposed himself to his own sister. He started to stammer, "It was a joke, Petals, as in ha, ha, funny. The Saiyans really do have her, and I just know it! Now let's go to Pappa before he starts to worry."  
  
But Petalia was not so easily convinced. She knew her brother better than anyone else, and she had covered up some of his smaller misdeeds in the past before they came to Calmag in a misguided attempt to protect him. Dedron knew that he could always rely on his sister to come up with an alibi for him, or back up his fibs when he got into the frequent trouble that he did. Petalia had been more loyal to Dedron than Rojal had been to him, because there were things that Dedron had secretly done that not even Rojal would have supported. She loved her brother dearly, despite all of the trouble he caused, and they had been united in their hatred and anger at their mother and in their pain at their father paying no attention to them. Dedron had never really mistreated her.  
  
"Dedron," Petalia said slowly. "What is going on? Where did Ridikar take Tayla? Did she go with him willingly, or did he abduct her?"  
  
"Petalia, for the last time, I was joking! Ridikar does not have Tayla, now let's go!"  
  
Petalia didn't believe him. "Dedron, I know you; you've never liked Tayla, in fact you've despised her more than even Rojal has. You and Tayla got into a nasty fight yesterday, and I know you, you were probably planning revenge, weren't you? I saw you talking to Ridikar yesterday, and I would bet that you had something to do with Tayla disappearing. I became suspicious of your story when I first heard it because I know that Tayla wouldn't have been overpowered that easily, that quickly-"  
  
"Three against one can overpower her, Petalia," Dedron argued.  
  
"Not Tayla; she defeated the three of them five years ago, Dedron. What really happened? The Saiyans didn't really attack you and Riccan, did they? Did they? Tell the truth!"  
  
"Shut up, Petalia!" Dedron roared. "I told everyone what happened; now leave me the hell alone!"  
  
"Just say that you lied, Dedron! Did you? Did you have anything to do with Ridikar taking Tayla away? I bet that's what you were talking to Ridikar about, wasn't it? You helped him abduct Tayla, didn't you? Where is she, Dedron? Where did Ridikar take her?"  
  
"The hell if I know, like I really care," Dedron hissed, not bothering to deny his part in Tayla's kidnapping any longer. "They belong together, and I was only trying to help. Tayla will become a queen, a queen of Calmag, so calm down, will you? The worse thing that will happen is that Tayla will have to stay on Calmag, no big deal."  
  
"No big deal? Tayla told me what Ridikar tried to do to her-he tried to rape her, for Kami's sake! How can you let a practical rapist take Tayla away? How could you do that to Tayla, Dedron? How could you? There was no justification for what you did, none! Now where did Ridikar take Tayla?"  
  
"I don't know; I just told him to take her to the nearest unoccupied town and marry her. He isn't going to hurt her, Petalia; he just wants to marry her, that's all. Relax, he'll bring her back, and she'll just say goodbye because she'll be married to Ridikar, and the marriage will be legal in both Calmagian law and Astorian law. Don't say a word to anyone, we'll just let them continue to think that the Saiyans took her away."  
  
Petalia mocked angrily, "Oh, really? And what will you do when Tayla returns after she's married to Ridikar? She'll tell them the truth about the Saiyans not being the ones to abduct her! Did you think about that, Dedron? Does Ridikar even know that part of your nasty plan? Did Ridikar know about your claiming that the Saiyans kidnapped Tayla? Did he?"   
  
"Oh, all right, so Ridikar didn't know that I was going to lie about the Saiyans kidnapping Tayla, so what? Who's going to tell? Who's going to care? By the time, Ridikar brings Tayla back, they'll be married, so it won't matter much about the lie that I told about the Saiyans kidnapping her. Sure, our family will be peeved, but what can they do other than yell at me or ground me? And they certainly won't be able to break up Tayla and Ridikar's marriage. Tayla will probably be pregnant by then anyway, and you know how Great-Nama is about breaking up families. Tayla will have to stay on Calmag with Ridikar and his family; it's not like we're leaving her to fend for herself. Saying that, Petalia, there's nothing more that can be done, and we do have to get going to fight the rest of Frieza's fighters; let's go."   
  
Dedron had said those words brashly and easily enough, but deep down he was shaking. He realized to his utmost horror that Tayla and Ridikar would mention that there were no Saiyans involved in Tayla's abduction, and when his lie was eventually revealed, he would be in trouble so deep that it would drown him. He had not thought about that when he had lied about the Saiyans abducting Tayla and attacking him and Riccan. He knew that his Great-Nama had forgiven, but not forgotten, the wicked things that he had done in the past. Great-Nama would definitely never forgive this one, and she was likely to have banned from the Clan of Chloe and Chloe altogether, if not the entire planet of Astoria. Dirkan would likely beat him to a pulp for what he did to the Namek's beloved ward.  
  
What was he going to do? He couldn't let himself be banished from the Clan, and he couldn't allow himself to be exposed. He was also going to have to find a way to get to Ridikar and convince the Calmagian royal heir to back up Dedron's story. Perhaps he could have Ridikar say that he rescued Tayla from the Saiyans on his own, and Tayla decided to marry him in gratitude. It sounded like a good plan, but with one major flaw: Tayla wouldn't go along with it. She would definitely tell the truth, so Dedron would have to find a way to discredit or blackmail her, but how? Everyone believed anything that Tayla had to say; she was one of the Clan of Chloe's darlings. What was he going to do now?  
  
Well until, he could come up with something, he would have to stall his family and keep them off of Tayla and Ridikar's trail. At least Petalia wouldn't tell on him; she had been his most loyal ally. He was confident that his sister would keep silent; Petalia may have befriended Tayla, but Dedron was her brother.  
  
"Not a word, Petals, about this," Dedron told her confidently. "Tayla will be okay, I promise you. Let's go catch up to Pappa."  
  
Petalia's face was whiter than marshmallows, and she couldn't look Dedron in his eyes. "Good idea," she said shakily. "Just let me go ask Great-Nama something really quick; she's right over there with Dirkan. You go on without me, and I will catch up, just tell Pappa I will be there shortly." She turned away from her brother to leave, but Dedron, seeing her anxiety and discomfort, quickly seized her ivory arm and pulled her against him. Petalia tried to wrest her arm from her brother's strong grip, but Dedron held firm.  
  
"Let me go!" she cried. "I just wanted to ask Nama where she wanted the non-fighting Astorians to stay at until the war was over-" She stopped when Dedron forced her to turn towards him and seized her chin. He moved her face up to his, tilting her chin with his plump hand. He forced her to look at him.  
  
"Tell me, Petals," he said in a silken tone, a smooth tone full of threat. "Was there something else that you wanted to mention to Great-Nama? Did you perhaps want to drop a hint or two as to what happened to Tayla?"  
  
"No, no, of course not. You are my br-brother, Ded-Dedron. Why would I betray you?"  
  
"Tell the truth, Petalia," Dedron said calmly, too calmly.  
  
"No, no…"  
  
"Don't lie to me, Petals. Were you going to tell on Ridikar and me? Hmmm? Just tell the truth, and the truth will set you free, as Great-Nama would say from one of her silly Earth expressions."  
  
Petalia snapped, "You should try practicing what you preach! You have plenty of room to talk, lying about what happened to Tayla! Now let me go! You are a hypocrite, Dedron, as well as a liar and a traitor! I should go tell everyone what you're really like-" her words were cut off when Dedron slapped her hard across her perfect face. Petalia fell to the ground, and Dedron leapt upon her and forced her to lie on her back. He sat down on top of her and straddled her waist. Dedron was desperate, afraid that Petalia would tell about what he had done. Petalia began to tremble, as Dedron seized her arm, turned her over onto her stomach, and twisted her arm behind her back, twisting it so hard it would have made Petalia cry out.  
  
She would have cried out, if Dedron hadn't covered her mouth. She began to cry then, for she had never thought that her brother would try to hurt her, ever. She emitted a few sobs while Dedron leaned over to her tiny ear and whispered, "Now, tell me, Petalia, were you going to tell on me? Were you going to squeal on me? Hmmm? Did you plan to tell Great-Nama everything?"  
  
Petalia was not a good liar or deceiver, but she dared not to say a word, for now she truly feared that Dedron would hurt her. Dedron squeezed her arm and twisted it harder, making her cry harder.  
  
"Were you, my sister? Just tell the truth, and I won't hurt you further. If you were going to squeal on me, just lick my hand, like Tayla the lapdog licks Nama's. I know that you were going to tell on me, and if you tell me the truth, I won't hurt you any more today. C'mon, lick my hand; I know that you were going to tell, right? Right?" Dedron demanded to know angrily, as he twisted Petalia's arm further.  
  
Petalia began to sob harder.  
  
"Petalia? Tell the truth."  
  
He dug his nails into her arms, making her want to scream.  
  
"Were you going to tell on me?"  
  
Petalia sobbed and sniffled, but finally Dedron felt her tongue lightly lap against the palm of his hand. He didn't release her right away however.  
  
"But you changed your mind, didn't you, Petals? Because I am your favorite and only brother, right? Because you would never betray me, your only sibling for a lapdog like Tayla, would you? Loyalty is important between siblings, two close siblings, a brother and sister who love each other and would never squeal on each other. You won't tell on me, will you, Petals, because I am your dear brother, and you know what I am capable of. You won't tell, will you? If you'll agree to keep quiet, like the loving, loyal sister that you are, lick my hand again."  
  
Petalia's tongue did not touch Dedron's palm.  
  
"Petalia, don't squeal on me. Lick my hand and agree. I am more important to you than Tayla, aren't I? Lick my hand twice to agree to both things."  
  
Petalia at first refused, but then Dedron twisted her arm once more, and then as a bonus, he slammed his fist hard into her kidney area.  
  
"Well?"  
  
A crying Petalia licked Dedron's palm twice. He still didn't release her right away.  
  
"That's my girl, my favorite sister, my only sister. You know that if you tell anyone, one of two things could happen to you: I could hurt you myself so badly and fix your face to where no one will ever want to kiss it. I know that you pride yourself on your looks, which are so like Farla's; you're the spitting image of her, everyone says so. Or, I could turn you over to Frieza's minions, such as your friend, Balair, whom you've told me felt and kissed you a bit. How would you like to be a Sistrai warrior's mate, dear sister, hmm? I wouldn't want that to happen to my sister, my best friend, and my closest ally. I wouldn't want to have to turn you over to such a monster as Balair or his friends, or even the Saiyans. I've heard that Saiyans like Astorian women, and you are so pretty, so lovely that those monkeys would snatch you right up as their new concubine. Now that you know what I could do, but probably would never do unless I was pushed, you won't tell, will you? Or there is a third thing that I could do, should your mouth betray you, I could kill you or have you killed, but I wouldn't do that to you because I know that I wouldn't need to, would I? Lick my hand to answer me."  
  
A terrified Petalia lapped her tongue against Dedron's palm again.  
  
"I have your silence on this matter, don't I? We never had this conversation, and I never mentioned Ridikar taking Tayla away, didn't I? Lick my hand if that is true."  
  
Petalia didn't hesitate; she licked her brother's hand once more. Finally, Dedron dragged her to her feet, and he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.  
  
"Don't try to leave me yet, Petals; I'm not done with you yet."  
Dedron cuddled her close, pressing his sister to him, as he forced her to put her golden head on his shoulder. He hugged her tighter, as he began to stroke her hair, murmuring "loving" words into her ear.  
  
"I love you, my sweet sister, my sweet Petals, don't you know that?" He massaged slow circles on her back. "You are so pretty and sweet, and I love you so very much. I am proud to have you as my sister, the prettiest female in the Clan of Chloe. You have no idea how much you mean to me, how special you are to me, don't you? I'd give my life for you, Petals; you're the only female that I can trust completely with my heart, body and soul. You are the only female that I can trust, I can love. I'm sorry that I hurt you and threatened you earlier, but I had to; it was for your own good. And I would never turn you over to Frieza's minions, as long as you did what you are told. You are too valuable for me to give up, and I enjoy your company more than anyone else's." Petalia tried to ease herself away from her brother, but Dedron held her tightly. Usually, Petalia had been thankful in the past that her brother had never treated her as badly as he did other people, but now she was truly afraid of him. No matter how nice he was being to her now, she wanted to get away from him.  
  
"Let me go, please," she whispered.   
  
"Not yet; I just want to make up for how I treated you earlier," Dedron purred, holding her closer.  
  
"Let me go!" Petalia raised her voice in fear.  
  
"Petals, I'm your brother; why would I hurt you?" Dedron asked her calmly.  
  
"Let me go; I don't want you holding me! Let me go!" Petalia cried. Her fear of her brother overcame her, and she no longer trusted him. The Dedron, or the Dedron that she had wanted to believe had existed, was gone. Petalia had always loved her brother, and she had been his closest ally and friend, next to Rojal, but now Dedron had hurt her as well as others. She never thought that Dedron could or would harm her; who was this angry stranger that had taken the form of her brother? In tears and anger, she once again cursed their mother's name--if Farla hadn't abandoned them, this would have never happened.  
  
"Petals, can't I make things up to you?" Dedron asked her in both anger and frustration, as his sister, his former ally, struggled to get away. Finally Petalia broke free, but Dedron seized her white arm again before she could flee.  
  
"Let me go now, Dedron, or-"  
  
"Or what?" Dedron demanded to know.  
  
"I'll tell about Tayla; in fact, I'm going to anyway; I can't let you do that to her! LET ME GO!"  
  
"Hell, no! You're not going to squeal on me, Petals; don't make me hurt you!" Dedron threatened. "You're my sister, my only sister, my only sibling, and you're not going to betray me! You tell on me, and I'll make you regret it! You know that I don't make idle threats, Petals, remember what I told you earlier."  
  
"Let me go, Dedron! I was wrong to even agree to cover for you! I'm not doing it anymore! Someone help me! HELP ME!" Dedron's stinging slap across her face cut off Petalia's screams. Before Petalia could respond, Dedron slapped her hard again for good measure.  
  
"You don't tell about Tayla, ever! You know nothing! And if you even drop a hint about her and Ridikar, I will fix your sweet face to where no boy would ever want to kiss it or even look at it!" Dedron roared at her. "You've protected and covered for me before, and you'll do it again! I'd do the same for you, and you'll need me again, Petals, long before I will need you! Just keep that in mind, should you betray me! Like I said before, you know that I don't make idle threats, remember that."  
  
Petalia screamed in both anger and fear, even though doing so would probably earn her another assault from her brother. "I know that you don't make idle threats, but I don't care anymore, I don't care! I did protect you and cover for you for the things that you did wrong, but what was I thinking? I did love you at one time, even with all of the bad things you've done, and now you want to hurt me! I don't understand, Dedron, I don't! I loved you b-because you were my brother, and I was there for you, but now I'm starting to think that it was a mistake!"  
  
"I covered for you that time that you set those toads loose in the maids' sleeping quarters and the time that you deliberately spilled juice on one of Kekron's blueprints because Kekron wouldn't lie about your whereabouts when you went into the couples' bathhouse with one of the maids to kiss and do whatever, an older married maid at that! Oh, the things that I could tell about you, Dedron! All the times that I protected you, covered for you! Oh, do I ever regret keeping silent about the time that you stole those leather boots and belts for yourself from that leather goods store in Chloe Hyacinth! You stole quite a few things from the shops on Chloe, didn't you? Dedron Chloe, don't you ever touch me again, ever, or I will tell everyone the bad things that you did before we came to Calmag! You will go straight to Great-Nama and tell her the truth yourself about what happened to Tayla, or I will!"  
  
"I'm not telling, and neither are you!" Dedron snarled, as he pulled Petalia against him and twisted her arm behind her back. "No one is saying a word, not you, not me, not anyone! Keep your pretty mouth shut, Petalia, or I will do it for you-"  
  
"Let her go, Dedron!"  
  
Petalia turned away from her brother to see Dirkan in front of them, and she was amazed. She and Dedron had been too distracted to notice that the Namek warrior had shown up in front of them. Petalia burst into terrified tears; how much had Dirkan, with his hearing almost as good as a Meatian's, heard?  
  
"Now, Dedron," Dirkan said in a deadly calm voice.  
  
Dedron slowly released his sister, and a frightened Petalia scurried away from him. Dirkan's look was fatal, and Dedron stepped back away in fear of his great-grandmother's imposing husband. Dirkan continued to glower at him, as he said, "Dedron, you will sit on that rock where you were at earlier, and if you move from it before I tell you to, I will give you a beating twice as bad as the one Vegeta gave you, is that clear?"  
  
Dedron didn't have the nerve to defy Dirkan now. He knew when the Superior Granden of Astoria and Great Nama's personal bodyguard meant business. "Yes, sir," he mumbled, and he did Dirkan's bidding meekly.  
  
Dirkan kept his fierce expression, as he took Petalia's hand. Petalia was afraid of Dirkan now too; there was no telling what Dirkan would do or say to her. "Petalia," he said quietly. "You will come with me over to that tree-"-he pointed to a tall coniferous tree with green and red needles twenty feet away-"and you will answer some questions for me."  
  
Petalia said, trembling, "Yes, sir." Dirkan sternly led her away from her brother, and Petalia felt as if she were going to her beheading, as they went over to the tree that Dirkan had showed her. When they reached the tree, Dirkan took her chin into his green hand and tilted it up towards him. Petalia continued to tremble; Dirkan's harsh expression did not change at first. Dirkan watched her carefully for a minute or two, keeping his stern look, but then to Petalia's relief, his expression softened, and he brushed away a tear that slipped from her lovely rain-blue eye with his large thumb.  
  
"How long have you known about Tayla being with Ridikar?" he asked softly.  
  
"Just ten minutes ago; Dedron accidentally let it slip to me," Petalia whispered. She couldn't look Dirkan in his ebony eyes now, for she was deeply ashamed of herself.  
  
"Did he threaten you just now into keeping silent?"   
  
Petalia nodded. "I know that I shouldn't have agreed, but I was too afraid, and I didn't want to hurt him."  
  
"You've covered for him in the past for some of his misdeeds before, haven't you?" Dirkan pressed gently. He had suspected for a long time that Dedron had done a great deal of bad things that he had never been punished for, and the Namek had also speculated that Dedron had Petalia cover for him on many occasions. He understood Petalia's past loyalty to her brother, but he had to make the girl see that shielding Dedron from the consequences of his foul deeds was hurting him, not helping him.   
  
Petalia flushed. "Yes, sir."  
  
"What compelled you to protect him in the past?"  
  
"He is my brother, and I loved him, but I'm not so sure that I do now."  
  
"Do you think that you are helping him by not allowing him to be punished like he deserves?"  
  
"I thought that I was; I didn't want to get him into trouble. Siblings are supposed to be loyal to each other."  
  
"To a certain extent, they are, but some things cannot be hidden, Petalia. I know that you thought that you were helping Dedron by not telling on him when you should have, but you are enabling him instead of helping him. Enabling allows bad behavior to continue, and you don't want Dedron to continue to do awful things, now do you?" Dirkan looked deep into Petalia's scared eyes. "Petalia, you don't have to be afraid; I'm not going to harm you. I just want the truth; I know that you and Tayla have become friends, and I know that you want to help her. Have you assisted Dedron in any of the things that he has done other than covering for him?"  
  
"No, sir," Petalia replied truthfully. She was thankful that Dedron had never forced her to be involved in his past misdeeds; she just had to keep quiet about the things that he had done, but she had never participated in them.  
  
"Don't worry about Dedron's threats; he is not going to scare you or intimidate you anymore. Has he threatened you in the past?"  
  
Petalia didn't answer at first, but her deepening flush on her cheeks told Dirkan the truth. "He usually is good to me most of the time," Petalia spoke up quickly. "He was just so angry with Farla, like I have been, and he needed someone, a friend, someone to lean on. There were things that he told me, feelings that he shared with me, that he couldn't even share with Rojal. Most of the things that he had me cover for him are things that not even Rojal would cover for him. Rojal is his closest friend besides me, but there are many things that he doesn't know about my brother. I-I felt sorry for Dedron because Farla had abandoned us, and Pappa had not paid attention to either one of us before this awful war began. He just does the things he does, I think, because he's angry at Farla and Jaypros."  
  
Dirkan said quietly, "Come here, Petalia." Petalia reluctantly stepped closer to him, a tiny part of her still expecting a blow, but to her surprise, Dirkan drew her close to him and embraced her with one muscled arm. Petalia rested her face on his chest. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "What's going to happen to us now?"  
  
Dirkan just asked if he could touch her hair, and Petalia nodded against his chest. Dirkan smoothed her disheveled hair with his gigantic emerald hand, and the Astorian princess rested her pale head on his chest. The Namek warrior patted her back gently.   
  
"Dedron will hate me now," she whispered against Dirkan's fighting gi.  
  
"He'll get over it," Dirkan assured her. "He needs to be disciplined and made to see the error of his ways before it's too late. You're doing the right thing now, Petalia."  
  
"What will my punishment be?" Petalia wanted to know.  
  
Dirkan stroked her ivory-gold hair and said softly, "I think that everyone would agree that you've been punished enough, other than having to tell your great-grandmother the truth about what happened to Tayla. There may be some other things that we will have to ask you about later, Petalia; it's not going to be over yet. But I will see that you are let off much easier than Dedron, if you agree to answer any questions that your great-grandmother and I ask you truthfully, is that fair?"  
  
Petalia nodded.  
  
"Good girl," Dirkan told her, and this time when Petalia looked up, she noticed a small smile on the tall green warrior's face. Dirkan kept his arm around her, as he led her away.  
  
  
The Namek warrior swore that he would give the boy a piece of his mind, even if it included fists.  
  
And as soon as he took her back to her father, Dirkan went back over to Dedron, and Shalila, seeing her husband approach Dedron, flew over to them, wanting to ask her husband something.  
  
When she had arrived, Dirkan forced Dedron to tell him and his great-grandmother about what he had done to Tayla. Dedron in fierce anger and embarrassment grudgingly blurted out the truth.  
  
And things went downhill from there…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Later that evening…  
  
Dedron was sporting a nasty bruise on his swollen eye when Cletos saw his boy again. Dedron was now sitting under a tree, sulking. Dirkan was sitting on a log, and Shalila was sitting near him, rubbing her swollen ankle, too lost in horror, as she was trying to figure out where Ridikar could have taken Tayla. She looked over at Dedron with fierce rage in her heart, wondering if she could ever forgive him. She clenched her fists, and then the proud Superior Gran broke down into tears, horrified at Dedron's actions-and her own as well.  
  
For it had been Shalila herself, and not Dirkan, who had given Dedron a black eye. Shalila was now deeply ashamed of herself, for in all her years of ruling Astoria and the Clan of Chloe, she had never once struck out against her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren except in training those of them who were to become warriors or healiors. Outside of in training her descendants to become fighters, she had never, to her or anyone's knowledge, lashed out physically at them. She had had better control of her fierce temper in the past than Dirkan or her previous husband, the first Bajal Chloe, had of theirs, and she had realized too late what she had done to her own grandson. Dedron had been deeply shocked at his great-grandmother's actions; he had expected a cuffing or a blow from Dirkan, but not Great-Nama.  
  
It had been Dedron's final words after confessing angrily about setting up Tayla's abduction that had set Shalila off. He had said without remorse, "It'd be a good lesson that I taught her, and I hope that Ridikar doesn't bring her back. Someone needs to keep her in rein, since it's apparent that you and Dirkan aren't doing your job with her. You're just mad, Great-Nama, because she's Ridikar's lapdog now and not yours! Ridikar just took away your favorite pet and made her his own. If he forces her to marry him now or forces himself on her, it will be less than what that lapdog deserves-" Dedron didn't say another word afterwards, for it was then that Shalila punched him hard in his eye.  
  
After that, instead of apologizing, the Superior Gran, appalled at what she had done to her own great-grandson, had done something that she rarely ever did-she ran away. She literally ran away from Dedron and Dirkan, not even flying, just running so fast, too fast to think straight, too fast to avoid the large stick hidden in the tall red grass of Calmag, too fast to prevent herself from falling and spraining her ankle.  
  
Shalila's ankle was now comfortably bandaged, thanks to Gracina, who was stunned that her beloved grandmother could hit a family member outside of training or sparring with them and angry at Dedron for lying to her and Lektron about what happened to Tayla. Dirkan had his arm around her arm, holding her close. Shalila continued to cry, deeply ashamed of her behavior towards Dedron and of her own "weakness" in crying continuously.  
  
Dirkan patted his wife's back, as her sobs wracked her petite, but still powerful body. He smoothed her reddish-gold hair, as Shalila wept on his shoulder in his embrace.  
  
"He'll truly hate me now, Dirkan," Shalila sobbed. "And this time, I don't blame him."  
  
"He should have been hit a long time ago," Dirkan told her, "but it did take me by surprise when you hit him like that. Look, love, it's not the end of the world; Dedron didn't die. He'll recover; you've hit him far less harder than you've hit your enemies."  
  
"For just that one second, Dirkan, I thought that he was my enemy! I feel so horrible for what I have done to him, even if he is responsible for Tayla being kidnapped. I don't know if I can ever forgive Dedron for that-or myself from striking at him and losing my temper."  
  
Dirkan held her close. "Shalila, you would have never hit him, had you been thinking straight. You were angry and hurt and worried about Tayla, and so let it go. Worry about Tayla now; she is the one who needs us to fret about her. I still cannot sense that poor girl's ki, and it's worrying me. It's hard to believe that Ridikar had managed to turn her ki down so low using those awful cuffs."  
  
"Do-do you think, Dirkan, that Ridikar could-could have-killed her-in revenge?" Shalila asked anxiously.  
  
Dirkan shook his head at her. "Ridikar may be a sexist pig and brat, love, but he isn't a murderer type. Her ki is just so restrained that we ourselves cannot sense it. Why don't we go on ahead of the others and go; Gracina and Raakon are now splitting up the groups into search parties, and they can handle things until we come back with Tayla. And we won't come back without her."  
  
"No, we won't," Shalila told him, her fear and pain hardening into resolve. She took Dirkan's hand into hers, and both of them flew off into the nighttime sky. 


	77. Ridikar Speaks

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Ridikar Speaks  
  
The next morning in Benedon…  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"C'mon, Tayla, you have to eat sometime; today's our wedding day!"  
  
"I'm not marrying you, Ridikar, so you might as well just take me back to my family, so we can go rescue the others," Tayla replied stubbornly, as she struggled against the restraints that Ridikar had left on her. She tried to maintain as much distance between her and Ridikar as possible on the king-sized bed that she had been forced to share with him the night before.   
  
The suite, fit for a future king and queen, was large and luxurious, with five rooms, two bedrooms, a sitting room, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette. The master bedroom had a silver carpet with deep plush, walls covered with lavender velour with pink roses, two large picture windows, one that had a view of a lake and formal garden. The king-sized bed was oval-shaped, with a half-circle headboard made out of a pale pink wood streaked with beige, a wood called "peige", a popular wood among the Calmagian royalty, a rare wood found in only one Calmagian private forest with the peige trees having been imported from planet Cara-Camay. The bedcovers were silken with a deep purple velvet quilt covering the silky pale green sheets decorated with electric-blue roses and dark green vines. Tayla would have loved the room, if she had not been Ridikar's captive.  
  
Last night, Ridikar had managed to get Tayla into Benedon with no real problems, and wrapping a huge brown cloak that he had bought around her body and most of her lower face area, he had managed to hide her restraints and her cuffs when he had checked them into Benedon's best hotel. When Ridikar had removed Tayla's gag again, Tayla tried to scream for help, but Ridikar gagged her once more. Now once again, Tayla's gag had been removed, and once it had been removed, she had tried to bring up the death of Amitar, but Ridikar had cut her off, still thinking that she was about to bad-mouth his father. He rarely let her speak for long.  
  
"Tayla, don't be ridiculous," Ridikar told her. "Of course you are going to marry me; you sound as stubborn as Caline was on the day that she married Alberm. We'll get married, and then we'll go back to your people and help them to fight. Tayla, why can't you be happy about this?"  
  
"Would you be happy, if you were forced to marry someone that you didn't love?" Tayla demanded to know.  
  
"You'll learn to love me again, Tayla," Ridikar told her confidently. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know. I just want you to be my bride and my wife."  
  
"Ridikar, your family is being held captive, the same as some of my family is. Doesn't that worry you at all? Don't you realize that Caline is one of the captives there? Don't you realize that Zarbon and his bunch could kill your family and mine at any time? This isn't time to get married; we need to go back!"  
  
Ridikar sighed, "Tayla, we are going back, as soon as I make you my wife. If one or both of us die, I would rather us be married beforehand. I would rather take you as my woman; you don't want to die a virgin, do you? I sure don't want to die before I make you my wife in spirit, as well as in name. Don't you realize that you are going to be my queen someday, if we win?"  
  
Tayla had to tell Ridikar about his father's death. "If I do have to marry you, that might happen sooner than you think."  
  
"Why do you say that?" Ridikar wanted to know.  
  
Tayla decided to just blurt it out; she hadn't wanted to break the news to him like this, but she had no choice. Ridikar had the right to know the truth, no matter what he had done to her.   
  
"Ridikar, your father is dead," she said too quickly.  
  
Ridikar looked at his future bride in disbelief. "Don't be silly! I just got a message from him two days ago, and he was fine, fighting a bunch of little green monsters. My father is a fine warrior, a fine soldier, no one can touch him-"  
  
"A green monster did," Tayla told him quietly. "Dirkan told me and the others; he was going to tell you yesterday before you took me away about your father's death. Ridikar, he died when a green monster self-destructed while holding him."  
  
Ridikar seized her by her thin shoulders and yelled, "You're lying!"  
  
"I wish I was," Tayla told him sadly. "And it would be cruel of me to lie about something like that. I am sorry, Ridikar, but your father is gone forever."  
  
"No, he's not, Dirkan has to be mistaken, he has to be! Not my father! No! It has to be a mistake!" Ridikar cried out in horror. "Please tell me that this is a bad joke, to get revenge on me for taking you away!"  
  
"I can't, I'm sorry, but it's true," Tayla whispered, touched by the stricken look of pain on Ridikar's face. As much as she had come to despise him lately, she now wanted to comfort him; she truly pitied him.  
  
He shoved himself away from her, and he went over to the velour-covered wall and punched a hole through it. "Those bastards!" he screamed. "That horrible monster! Why him? Why? He was a good father, a good father, he didn't deserve to die!" The Calmagian prince punched another hole in the wall, and his fist met a steel beam; the beam hurt his fist.  
  
"Curses! Why, Father? Why did you have to die?" Ridikar screamed, his grief and anguish overwhelming him, as he continued to punch holes into the wall, one after the other, until there was a wide vertical track of fist-sized holes leading from the top of a window down to the floor base. "First Mother dies, and now him! Why does everyone I know and love want to leave me? Why?"  
  
Tayla's brown eyes filled with tears for him; as badly as he had treated her, she felt sorry for him. She rolled her slender body over to Ridikar's side of the bed until she was lying near the edge of the bed.  
  
"Ridikar, if you will untie me, I will hold you; maybe it will help to comfort you," Tayla volunteered softly.  
  
"Untie you? Right, you'll run away from me the first chance that you get! I already lost Father, Tayla; I shouldn't have to lose you too! And I'm not going to lose you like I did him!"  
  
"What if I told you that I wasn't going to run away? Would you untie me then?"  
  
"No, because I know you, Tayla! You'll knock me out or electrocute me and abandon me! It's not happening!"  
  
"Ridikar, I just want to comfort you; please untie me. I won't run away, I promise."  
  
"Swear on it by your Seven Moons Oath!"  
  
Tayla hated to do that, but she had no choice. She wouldn't have left Ridikar at this time anyhow. "I swear on Seven Moons then, that I won't run away."  
  
An anguished Ridikar finally approached Tayla on the bed, and he began to untie her wrists, and he was even considerate enough to untie her ankles as well. Tayla kept her word and embraced him. Clinging hard to her, Ridikar's whole body shook with grief, as she hugged him to her. Finally, Ridikar couldn't take it anymore, and he began to sob, with a few tears wetting Tayla's shoulder. Tayla patted his back and rubbed it, forgetting for now that Ridikar had kidnapped her.  
  
"I wish that little green bastard was still alive, so I could kill him myself!" Ridikar cried into her shoulder. "Why my father, Tayla, why? I don't understand! Why did Frieza have to pick our planet to attack? What did we ever do to him other than produce that bastard traitor, Alberm! And to think I approved of him marrying my sister! A traitor married into our family, and he brought this down on us! I hate him more than Frieza, I think, because he was one of us, and he betrayed us all to that evil monster! Alberm is to blame for my father's death! I'm glad that Alberm is dead! Alberm deserved what he received! I should have listened to Caline when she told me how bad he was, but Father and I wouldn't listen! And I helped Father force her to marry him."  
  
Tayla held him closer to her body, as Ridikar hugged her tighter. After an hour had passed, Ridikar was still grief-stricken, but he had calmed down considerably. He whispered, "Tayla, do you hate me? Do you really hate me? I-I wouldn't blame you, if you did." His voice continued to shake, as he continued, "I-I hurt you, didn't I? I tried to force myself on you, even though you said no. I just thought that you were so pretty, so funny, so cute, so-so brave. I tried to make you submit to me, to become the conventional Calmagian wife, and you're not like Calmagian girls. I've never met anyone like you, and I guess that's what attracted me to you because you were different, and I tried to make you over into what Father and I thought you should be. I was always taught that girls were supposed to be submissive and obedient, never defying their fathers or husbands, or questioning things. The ways of Astorian women and girls was a shock to all of the men in my family because they are so assertive, self-confident and bold and brave, like you."  
  
"Father was really angry because Caline was spending so much time with your family, and on that day when she told us that she wouldn't marry Filcor Sedemeyer, she made us so angry! But you know what, Tayla? I'm starting to think that maybe Father and I were wrong in forcing her to marry Alberm; I ignored her when she cried for help, and I tried to convince myself that she was Alberm's property and that he could do whatever he wanted with her. I put her down and told her that she had to obey Alberm and please him. I-I never told anyone this, but I wanted to comfort her that day when we all found out that Alberm was a traitor and a would-be murderer, and I didn't."  
  
Tayla asked softly, "What did you have against Caline? She's such a sweet and kind girl, and I never understood why you didn't seem to care about her. She just wants to be loved, Ridikar, and she wanted you to love her. She told me that before. She told me that you two used to be really close to each other, and that you used to love and protect her and play with her. Caline has always wondered why you had suddenly turned on her after she was old enough to marry; she was really hurt when she had told you that Alberm had raped her, and you did nothing. Why did you ignore her?"  
  
Ridikar sighed, his head hung down in shame, "I know that you and Caline will never believe this, but the first night, the night that Alberm first lay with Caline and took her virginity, I heard her crying. Later one of the butlers told me that Alberm had taken Caline to his room and mated with her. I wanted to hurt him then, and I actually went to Father about it. Father and I argued, but in the end, he won me over to his side. He told me that Caline was to be Alberm's wife, and Alberm was within his rights. I told Father that I heard Caline crying, but he chided me and said that all girls cry the first time they mate with a man. I let him convince me that what Alberm did to Caline was right and proper-"  
  
"But it wasn't! Alberm hurt her!"  
  
"I know that now, Tayla, and I should have known it then. Father had me convinced that Caline was acting like a baby, and that Alberm would make a good husband. Caline had come to me after Alberm had assaulted her for the first time and told me what happened. I know you are going to hate me more than you already do for this, Tayla, but I turned her away and ridiculed her. I told her not to be ridiculous and not to fight Alberm the next time he lay with her. I said that if she didn't resist Alberm, she wouldn't be hurt. I told her that she was Alberm's property, and that Alberm was a good match and a good addition to our family. I let her down; I know that now. I killed her that day, Tayla, I killed her; you wouldn't want to have seen the look on her face when I took Alberm's side against hers. She looked as if she were at her own funeral."  
  
Tayla both pitied and condemned him at the same time, but she allowed Ridikar to continue.  
  
"Caline was telling you the truth about everything; she has never told a lie that I know of. She was telling you the truth about us being close at one time. She wasn't always so scared and timid like she had been before you Astorians essentially adopted her. She was like you, although much shyer and gentler even then, but very lively and spirited when Father wasn't around. I loved her, Kami Ankor, but did I love her! I literally helped to raise the small mite after Mother had died. Mother had made me promise on her deathbed that I would look after Caline and protect her because she knew that Father wouldn't; Father wasn't happy to have another girl around. Father was never fond of my sisters anyway; he just saw them as pawns to form alliances with. But I kept my word to Mother until about a year ago, I did, even Caline will tell you that I was good to her up until that time. I used to take her everywhere with me and hold her in my lap and talk to her and play with her for hours, kissing her, cuddling her; she was like a little doll. It used to make my day when Caline would come greet me after I came home from training or hunting or spending the day with my father. She was everything to me then, Tayla, believe it or not, absolutely everything."  
  
"What happened between you two?"  
  
"Father mainly. I still love him, and it hurts me that he's gone, but I know that he didn't treat Caline well at all. He considered her nothing more than a nuisance, and he told me so several times that he wished that Mother had stopped having children after Naykiar, my youngest brother, had been birthed. He had wanted Mother to stop having children after Naykiar, but Mother insisted on carrying Caline to term; Father wanted her to have an abortion, especially when the sonogram revealed the baby to be a girl. Mother refused, and the only reason Father didn't beat her was because Grandfather told him it was wrong to hit a pregnant woman. Caline was unplanned; Mother was supposed to stop bearing children after Naykiar, and Father thought that three sons and two daughters was enough. He never really wanted Caline, and he didn't pay attention to her unless it was to beat or yell at her until it was time for her to have a husband."  
  
Ridikar abruptly skipped ahead to the year before last. "This is going off the subject, but it must be said. I've mated with a few girls before I met you, and two of those girls I forced. So technically, Tayla, I am a rapist, according to your people's standards. I lost my virginity to a prostitute when I was fifteen in this really high-class bordello that Father occasionally visited himself. He took me there to learn how to handle women, and the things that the whore taught me that night changed my life forever. I so wanted to please Father, and I listened to Father's speeches about the superiority of men so many times that it finally started to sink in."   
  
"I began to believe that females were inferior to males, and I began to believe that Caline was nothing more as a pawn to create an alliance with. Father used to scold me for spending too much time with her, and finally I started to believe him. I too began to see Caline as a pest, something that mattered little more than Father's gold watch. I started to talk down to her and belittle her in the same way that Father used to. And yet Caline never once reproached me about it, never once told me off. She faded into the woodwork the same way that she did when Father scolded her and withdrew. After that day when I refused to help her with the Alberm situation, she never came to me for anything again. Shortly after Alberm forced himself on her, Caline ran away and managed to hide out for a few weeks until my father's men learned where she was hiding. She was brought back home, and my father whipped her with the belt so many times that I thought that he was going to kill her."   
  
"She married Alberm two days later, and oh, Tayla, she did look terrible; Father had belted her everywhere, even her face. She walked down the aisle with bruises and cuts covering her face, her back, her legs, and her arms. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and her skin was so pale that a snowflake could easily have stood out against her flesh. She cried at the altar and looked towards Grandfather and begged him in front of everyone not to make her go through with this. Grandfather told her to stop fretting; that if she were a good girl and a good wife, things would be fine. And he also told her to stop holding up the ceremony. Father yelled at Caline and told her to stop acting like a brat and shut up and marry Alberm. Alberm was really mad at her, and he called her an ungrateful wench who should be thankful that he was still marrying her. Caline could barely say, "I do," for she was crying so hard. My heart broke for her that day, but I said nothing, I did nothing to prevent her from any more pain. I stood by and allowed her to be hurt, to be abused. I hardened my heart against her, not allowing myself to care about her again until now."  
  
Ridikar took a deep breath, and his voice became shaky again. "You were right, Tayla, there is nothing worthy in me, nothing at all! No wonder you don't want to marry me; you must really hate me for treating you the way that I did, for kidnapping you, and for not protecting Caline." He finally wrenched himself away from her. "If you want to go back to your family, then go ahead." He pulled out the control box from his pocket and pressed a button to release Tayla's cuffs. Tayla gasped in shock when the horrible cuffs fell from her wrists, and a shock ran through her body when her ki came back to her in full force.  
  
She looked at Ridikar and whispered, "Th-thank you."  
  
Ridikar nodded. "Just go, please; I don't deserve you. I should have never allowed Dedron to talk me into taking you away; should have known it wasn't going to work. I just wanted you so much, Tayla, loved you so much. I know that you're only twelve-years-old, but I wanted you for my bride, my wife. I know that there's no way that you would ever want anything to do with me, is there?"  
  
Tayla was quiet for a few moments, and she did not leave. Instead she said, "Ridikar, I don't hate you."  
  
Ridikar looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. "Really?"  
  
"Really," Tayla said softly. "Don't get me wrong, Ridikar; I still don't intend to marry you, and I don't think that we could ever be a couple. That part of our life is over forever, and I'm only twelve, too young to even have a suitor. Most girls on my planet don't have suitors until they are about a year or two older than I am. But I don't hate you; there was a time when I didn't like you at all after you tried to rape me, and I never liked how you were towards Caline, but I never hated you. Ridikar, we will never be a couple, I am sorry, but maybe we could at least be friendly towards each other." Tayla had wanted to say, "we could be friends", but she didn't feel ready to say it yet. She didn't feel as if she wanted to turn Ridikar out completely, even though she no longer was in love with him. She was no longer angry with Ridikar or afraid of him; she pitied him now more than anything.  
  
Ridikar stammered, "Can I hug you again? Just as a brother perhaps? I won't try anything on you, I promise."  
  
Tayla didn't see the harm in that, and she allowed Ridikar to embrace her. The Calmagian prince held onto her tightly, as Tayla hugged him back; she did feel sorry for him now-and for Caline. She thought a silent prayer for both of them.  
  
"Tayla," Ridikar whispered. "Do you think that I could ever gain Caline's forgiveness? Do you think that I could ever get her to love me again? Do you think that I could at least gain your forgiveness, if not your love?"  
  
"You already have," Tayla told him, "just by admitting that you were wrong, and freeing me. I can't speak for Caline, but knowing her, I think that she would, if you gave her time and was kind to her. I hope that she's okay; I am worried about her."  
  
"So am I," Ridikar choked out. "I hope that it's not too late for me to say that I'm sorry to her. I hope that she will forgive me."  
  
Tayla hoped so too, but then she suddenly remembered Ridikar mentioning Dedron's involvement in her kidnapping. "Ridikar, did Dedron really have you take me away?"  
  
"He suggested it and gave me the cuffing gun and control box to do so with," Ridikar told her. "He even lured you and Riccan to the bushes; I didn't expect you to bring company along. I am the one that hit you, but you probably know that, and I am sorry for it. But yes, Dedron masterminded everything, not that it makes me any more innocent."  
  
"Did Dedron say why he had me kidnapped?"   
  
"He really hates you, Tayla, I can definitely tell you that. He didn't say that he did, but I could tell. He really did want to get rid of you. I didn't like how he was towards you, and I should have spoken for you against him, but again, I kept silent, like I did when Alberm hurt Caline. But if he ever hurts you again, or talks bad about you, I'll beat him to a bloody pulp!"  
  
Tayla permitted herself a smile. "Thanks, I appreciate that."  
  
Strangely enough, Ridikar found himself laughing. "I'll admit, Tayla, that I was scared of you that day when you punched Dedron in the face, but he did have it coming to him, I see that now."  
  
"I was so mad at him for talking about Nama and I that way! Ugh! I've tried to get along with him, but now I'd sooner deal with Vegeta!"  
  
Ridikar found himself laughing again, but then he stopped and grew sober. "I shouldn't be laughing on the day that I find out my father is dead."  
  
"Knowing your father, I'm sure that he wouldn't want you to spend too much time mourning him," Tayla told him truthfully about his hardhearted father.   
  
"Perhaps you're right, Tayla. Father was a true warrior, one who knew how to cut his losses and move on with life. He'd want me to do the same. On that aspect, I do want to be like him-"-he couldn't help, but grin when Tayla scrunched up her face in disbelief-"but there are things about him that I would rather leave with him in his grave, including his attitude towards Caline and other women."   
  
At that moment, the picture window facing the lake and garden had its glass shattered, and a fierce-looking Dirkan burst in through the window. Shalila climbed in after him, sighing.  
  
"Dirkan, couldn't you have at least used the door instead of breaking the window?"  
  
"Hell no! What else was I supposed to do? This window is hermetically sealed, it seems, or it was."  
  
Tayla and Ridikar pulled apart from each other, and Dirkan told Ridikar icily, "You better be lucky that she wasn't harmed because I wanted to break your neck the moment that Dedron told me you were involved in Tayla's disappearance! Tayla, did he harm you before we showed up?"  
  
"No, not really," Tayla told him truthfully, "other than that time he hit me to put me out. Dirkan, would you please not hurt him? He released me about ten minutes ago, and he now knows that his father died. He seems to want to change, Dirkan, really; he is sorry for what he has done."  
  
Dirkan looked at Tayla in dismay. "Have you made up with him?"  
  
"I still don't wish to marry him, or be his lady, if that's what you're asking."  
  
"Thank the East Kai for that!"  
  
Shalila hurried over to Tayla and gathered her into her arms, holding her tight to her.   
  
"Tayla, are you okay?"  
  
"Yes, Nama," Tayla told her happily, hugging her back. She had thought for a while that she would never see her beloved Nama or Dirkan again before Ridikar had told her he was returning her to her family to say goodbye.  
  
Shalila looked at Ridikar sternly. Ridikar was trembling again, knowing how dangerous the Superior Gran and the Superior Granden were as warriors. "I never meant to harm Tayla, truly! I just wanted to be with her," Ridikar stammered.  
  
"You should thank your deity for your sake that she wasn't harmed," Shalila told him in a steely tone. "However, since Tayla has not been hurt, and she did beg Dirkan not to attack you, I will not give you the beating that I probably should give you. You should be thankful that Dirkan and I were listening outside the window for the last twenty minutes. If he hadn't been listening to the conversation between you two, he would have burst in the moment we had arrived in this town, and you probably would not be alive right now."  
  
"You were listening before you came in, Nama, Dirkan?" Tayla asked in astonishment.  
  
"Yes, dandelion, we were. Believe me, I felt like Dirkan did when he just wanted to hit Ridikar and ask questions later, but then we heard you two talking, and we figured, well I figured, that Ridikar was probably not going to hurt you anymore."  
  
"It did take her a few minutes for your grandmother to convince of that," Dirkan told Tayla. "I just wanted to give the boy what I thought he deserved, but he seems to want to make up for his crimes now, so unless he did anything to you that we don't know about, he'll be allowed to live." He turned to Ridikar and said quietly, "Ridikar, I do want to give you my condolences for your father's death; I am sorry that you and Caline and your other siblings are without parents now."  
  
Ridikar said in a low voice, thankful that Dirkan wasn't going to send him to the next dimension. "Thank you, sir."  
  
Shalila led Tayla off of the bed, still holding her, and Dirkan told everyone, "Now that Tayla's safe, we need to get back. We have people to kick and butts to rescue." Everyone looked at Dirkan strangely for a few moments, and Dirkan realized what he had said. "I-I meant that we have…err…butts to kick and people to rescue, yes that's it exactly."  
  
Tayla laughed softly, as she left her Nama briefly to give her Namek guardian a warm, firm hug. Dirkan held her close to him, as Tayla rested her face in his chest.   
  
Ridikar looked despondent because his father was gone, and because he knew that Tayla would never love him like he wanted her to, not now. But at least he had her forgiveness, and maybe sometime her friendship. He followed Shalila, Dirkan, and Tayla out of the hotel room window, and they headed back to the outskirts of Magan. 


	78. Holding On To What We Can

Chapter Seventy-Eight: "Holding Onto What We Can…"  
  
Back at the royal castle, with the Ginyu Force, who had FINALLY arrived a day ago…  
  
"GUIDO!"  
  
"JEICE!"  
  
"BAATA!"  
  
"RECCOOM!  
  
"CAPTAIN GINYU!"  
  
"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE!" they cried out happily, after doing their elaborate poses. Their (fearless?) and (wise?) leader twirled around on one toe happily and clapped like a little boy. "This is great!" Captain Ginyu gushed, as he watched the hostages staring at him and his men. "We literally have a captive audience! Super! Now we can have some of them try out the ten new poses that I whipped up! Okay, men, let's do the Dance of Victory!"  
  
"But Cap'n," Baata protested, "the war isn't over yet."  
  
"And the Astorians still live," Guido added.  
  
"Ah, we've got them beat!" Ginyu boasted.  
  
"Um, Cap'n," Jeice began. "The Saiyans themselves couldn't even beat them; didn't Zarbon say earlier that little Astorie princess that we're supposed to capture beat up Vegeta?"  
  
Baata couldn't help, but laugh. "Hey, Vegeta had it coming to him! If we weren't supposed to take her captive, I'd go find her and shake her hand for whipping his monkey tail! I get so tired of that little monkey prince thinking that he's so much better than all of us! It served him and the other monkeys right!"  
  
Jeice moaned, "Aw, I hope that sister of Vegeta's is still alive; she is cute, even if she does look too much like her brother!"  
  
Reccoom gagged. "You want to date a monkey girl; what's up with you, Jeicey? Even you can't be that desperate."  
  
"Hey, I like women with spunk!" Jeice protested.  
  
"Yeah, but was it worth risking your pretty neck when you and Raditz fought over her just before we left for Calmag?" Baata wanted to know.  
  
"I still kicked his butt," Jeice told him, "once I grabbed his tail anyway!"  
  
"Yeah, but we all heard you boohooing later when Journa punched you in the face for beating up her mate, and then you lost her anyway, not that you had her to begin with," Ginyu pointed out.  
  
"Yeah," Reccoom told him. "You ticked off Raditz when you made a pass at his woman, and even though you won, she still chose him over you anyway."  
  
"Women sure are funny creatures," Guido said. "Though it still puzzles me as to why Jeice would want to waste his time on a monkey girl. Go figure."  
  
"Hey, Jeicey, you have a thing for humanoid women now?" Ginyu asked him.  
  
Jeice looked down and smiled shyly. "Something like that, Cap'n."  
  
Ginyu laughed. "Don't come crying to us though, if some Calmagie or Astorie girl electrocutes or paralyzes you!"  
  
"Um, Cap'n," Baata pointed out. "We're all immune to the Calmagian paralysis attack, remember?"  
  
"Ah, yeah, that's right. Has our pretty boy Head Commander left yet?"  
  
"Yeah, about an hour ago."  
  
"Good, that green-haired fop was getting on my nerves."  
  
"Are you still mad at him about that little spat that you two had earlier?"  
  
Ginyu said sarcastically, "Gee, how did you ever guess, Baata?"  
  
Before Zarbon had left, he had scolded them thoroughly when they had finally showed up, wondering where in Kami's name they had been. Frieza's Head Commander had not been happy to hear that the Ginyu Force, supposedly among the strongest of Frieza's Elite fighters, had been alternating between hiding in the labyrinths from the Oozarus and practicing more pre-battle poses in the wilderness away from the fighting between the Astorians and the Saiyans. Zarbon and Ginyu had jumped into a nasty verbal argument that had almost become physical when Zarbon told Ginyu that if he spent half of his posing time training, he might actually be a true warrior instead of a true clown. Ginyu had sharply retorted to his superior officer that he was a true warrior, a true warrior with style, and if Zarbon had spent more time training than grooming his hair or showering (which ranged from three to five times a day), he might actually surpass Ginyu. Of course, since almost none of the Top Elite Officers liked to acknowledge that someone was stronger than them besides Frieza, Zarbon had not been thrilled, and he had almost thrown Ginyu through a window.  
  
Now Ginyu, happy that Zarbon left, was joyously leading his men into poses to "entertain" the hostages, among whom some of them were silently praying that they would either be rescued or be killed before Ginyu and his men did another dance or pose. The children thought that the poses were funny, but many of the adults wondered if Frieza had been drunk when he had hired the Ginyu members to work for him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Jeice left the group, and he had now taken a break from posing, flitting about the room like a red and white butterfly, flirting with all the females, Astorian and Calmagian, that he thought attractive. He finally approached three Astorian handmaids who were sitting on a divan. The oldest one was ancient with some wrinkles, faded ash-blond hair and pale green eyes with a pointed nose; she had to be over a hundred years old. Jeice dismissed her immediately; she was older than his grandmother.   
  
He looked at the other two younger maids, one a plain-looking deeply tanned girl with dark-brown hair that was almost black with black eyes and reddish-brown freckles dotting her face and large aquiline nose, and the second one an older, lovely young woman with platinum-blond hair and gigantic emerald-green eyes that sparkled like real gems. The silvery blonde was delicate in appearance with a tiny snub nose and pouty rosebud lips resting on clear, flawless ivory skin that stood out against a simple, pale mauve smock with a saffron scarf. Jeice couldn't help but gawk at the third maid; he didn't pay much attention to the plain brown-haired girl in a burgundy smock or the old maid in severe navy-blue smock and silver scarf. He decided to make his move on the prettiest of the trio.  
  
He smoothed his white hair back with his muscled hand and flashed the loveliest maid his best charming grin. "So, gorgeous," he crooned, looking right at her, "who should I thank for kidnapping you from heaven? 'Cause some as sweet-looking as you doesn't belong in this dimension. Enma Daiou sure was generous in giving us the gift of you for a while. I am Jeice, a member of the Ginyu Force. What's your name?"  
  
"Ebrona," the platinum blonde told him politely in a voice as silvery as her hair.  
  
Jeice squeezed himself next to her on the divan, and it was now a tight fit for the Casanova and the three Astorian maids. Ebrona winced, but she did not want to do anything to endanger her life or the lives of the other two maids. Jeice said cheerfully, "It's not often that I get to meet a Princess of Chloe!"  
  
"I am not a princess," Ebrona told him evenly. "I serve a Princess of Chloe, but I am not one myself."  
  
"You're too beautiful to be anyone's servant," Jeice told her easily. "So whose this Princess of Chloe that you serve anyway?"  
  
"Princess Gracina Chloe. I have been her maid since I was fourteen years old; she is a very good mistress."  
  
"How old are you now?"  
  
"Twenty-four."  
  
"Just the right age," Jeice said smoothly. "So, do you believe in interspecies relationships?"  
  
"I am not interested," Ebrona told him sweetly. "I have a fiancé, and we're supposed to be married when we return to Astoria. I am marrying a little later than most Astorian women would have; many women on my planet are married before they turn twenty-one, but I didn't find the right mate until last year. It works out very well for us; he is the manservant of Princess Gracina's husband, and so we will not be apart too often."  
  
"Lucky man," Jeice replied. "Are you sure that you're not…umm… interested in sampling other men before your marriage? I'd be more than happy to help you practice for your wedding night."  
  
Ebrona's sweet, cool tone hardened instantly. She abruptly pushed herself away from him and stood up, indignant. "You are vile! I am not betraying my betrothed, especially with someone who works for a monster like Frieza!"  
  
Jeice held out his hands and moved towards her. "Hey, hey, take it easy! I just wanted to get to know you better! So what if I work for Frieza?" He stood up and moved towards her, inching towards her like a cat headed towards a mouse. "Okay, so we're on opposite sides, but that doesn't mean that we can't have a little fun. It's not like you can go anywhere anyway."   
  
Jeice placed his hand on her slender waist and pulled her towards him for a kiss. His lips were coming closer to hers by the minute.  
  
The oldest maid stood up to prevent Jeice from harassing Ebrona, but before she could reach them, Ebrona sharply slapped Jeice across his handsome face, and the slap could be heard halfway across the room. The slap sounded like a belt slapping against a bare bottom, and it was just as hard.  
  
Jeice reeled back away from Princess Gracina's maid, holding his cheek tenderly. He stared at the woman in shock. So did the other two maids.  
  
"Ebrona!" the oldest maid cried out. "I understand that he was bothering you, but do you realize how dangerous he and the other men holding us hostage are?"  
  
"I don't care, Dalantra!" Ebrona cried indignantly. "I am not allowing one of Frieza's little cretins to lay a hand or a lip upon me!"  
  
The plain-looking maid asked softly, "Ebrona, are you all right?"  
  
"Yes, Mykia, I am now," Ebrona said in a calmer tone.   
  
"All right, Ebrona, come sit with us," Dalantra told her. "I think that you gave 'Jeice' what he deserved, so come sit with us and calm yourself before any more trouble occurs."  
  
"Yes, miss," Ebrona said, deferring to the oldest servant among the servants attending the royal Astorian family that had come to Calmag.  
  
But the trouble was not over yet; Ebrona's fiancé, Varrcan, Lektron's personal manservant who was ten years older than his intended, stormed over to where Ebrona and the others were. The tall, stocky black haired, black-bearded, blue-eyed Varrcan was a good man, but his temper could be as dangerous as his master's, and he was a tad bit overprotective and possessive of his future bride. He stomped over to Jeice to give him a piece of his mind. Jeice blinked for a moment when Ebrona's large future mate confronted him.  
  
"How dare you touch my woman?" Varrcan demanded to know angrily.  
  
Jeice looked Varrcan over carefully; he didn't think that Varrcan was that great looking. Jeice, who had no small opinion about his own good looks, wondered what did the lovely Ebrona see in this huge man.  
  
Jeice said smartly, "Maybe your lady here would prefer a real man, a warrior instead of a mere servant boy!"  
  
"Servant boy, eh? Now see here-" Varrcan thundered.  
  
"Varrcan, please," Ebrona begged, taking his huge, muscled arm.  
  
"Varrcan, that's enough," Dalantra scolded him sharply. "Do you wish to get yourself killed?"  
  
"The only one who's going to get killed here is lover boy, if he ever lays a hand on my fiancée again!" Varrcan roared, indicating Jeice.  
  
Dalantra sighed, "I understand now why you and your master, Prince Lektron, are good friends, Varrcan; you both are equally hardheaded, rash, and impulsive. But you are no warrior, Varrcan, so go sit down before you do anything that you'll regret. This man works for Frieza, and he did not make Frieza's Elite for nothing; now go sit on the divan and calm down!"  
  
"I'd rather go sit on lover boy's head-" Varrcan began, but it was Ebrona's pleading look and not Dalantra's orders that finally made Varrcan go sit down on the divan, taking his fiancée with him. Dalantra and Mykia stood near each other and watched Jeice warily, hoping that he would leave.  
  
But it wouldn't be Jeice that they would have to worry about, for now the deadly Sistrai warrior known as Balair had shown up, accompanied by Bhodie and Hazel, who was still Bhodie's captive.  
  
Balair was smirking. "Well, well, Jeicey, so you once again failed to get an Astorie woman! Ha, some of your pals told me how an Astorie lady warrior jilted you earlier!"  
  
"She didn't jilt me," Jeice said defensively. "She just stalled me."  
  
"Right!" Bhodie sneered, holding Hazel's arm tightly.  
  
Balair was now looking at Ebrona with interest; he had spotted her while watching Jeice make a fool out of himself. The Sistrai warrior figured that he save Natala for later and try some new prey, so he decided to meet Jeice's "conquest" for himself.  
  
"I don't blame you though, Jeice, even though you made an idiot out of yourself. She is a sweet-looking little thing. They don't make Princesses of Chloe like that too often," Balair purred. Ebrona paled and huddled near to her future husband. Varrcan shot Balair a deadly look; both of them despised the Sistrai warrior already, but even Varrcan was hesitant to challenge Balair before he touched Ebrona.  
  
"I wouldn't mind getting to know her better myself," Bhodie added.  
  
"Don't you already have your little Human girl there to play with?" Jeice asked.   
"Although I'll be happy to take her off your hands as well."  
  
"Forget it, Jeice," Bhodie told him. "This one's for me personally."  
  
"You got over your Princess of Chloe fast, didn't you, Jeicey?" Balair asked. "Long as you don't hit on Natala, I don't care though."  
  
"He's interested in Princess Natala?" Mykia whispered to Dalantra.  
  
"Poor woman," Dalantra said sympathetically.  
  
"I wish the others would come back," Mykia said worriedly. "And I hope that my mistress is okay."   
  
"I wish that my mistress would return soon; she'd be able to get rid of these three," Dalantra hissed. The old maid sighed under her breath, "Oh, if only Her Highness would return; oh, Your Highness, where are you? Where are you right now, my Superior Gran, my mistress? I know that when you and the others left that you told us to hold onto to what we can, until we believe, until we can survive, but I don't know how much longer we can do that."  
  
Dalantra did not speak low enough for Balair not to hear her. Balair regarded the oldest maid with new interest. He looked deep into Dalantra's green eyes and said deliberately, "Did you say that you are Shalila Chloe's servant?"  
  
Dalantra paled. She didn't dare to respond. Balair ordered her sharply, "Repeat what you said! Answer my question!"  
  
"We are all servants of Superior Gran Shalila Chloe and her family," Mykia spoke up quickly. "We all serve the Superior Gran."  
  
Bhodie ignored her. "I heard that old witch say it myself, Bali. She's the Superior Gran's servant alright." Balair smiled evilly at Dalantra.   
  
He said slowly, "Hmm…Shalila Chloe's servant woman, eh? Am I correct, old woman?"  
  
"Fine, you are correct," Dalantra snapped. "Yes, I am her maidservant, her personal maidservant and former nurse. But other than that, I am no one."  
  
"You could be used as a bargaining chip," Balair said thoughtfully. "A faithful servant is very valuable; I am sure that Shalila Chloe would be willing to do anything to get you back safe and sound. Perhaps give Princess Tayla for you, perhaps?"  
  
"Don't be foolish!" Dalantra shouted. "I am a mere servant woman; Princess Tayla is one of my mistress's most favored grandchildren. Who is going to trade her beloved granddaughter for a mere servant that can be easily replaced?"  
  
Balair shrugged. "I'll have to mention that idea to Zarbon, but enough of that for now. I need some relaxation, so maybe one of the younger ladies here would like to help me obtain it." He looked over at lovely Ebrona, who was now in the safety of Varrcan's arms and plain Mykia, who watched him worriedly. With an evil grin, he sauntered over to Ebrona confidently, as Princess Gracina's maid paled and huddled closer to Varrcan, who was bracing himself to protect his intended. Varrcan was not a warrior, but he knew a few fighting techniques that he had picked up from his master, Prince Lektron.   
  
Balair reached out his hand towards Ebrona, intending to snatch her out of Varrcan's arms. Ebrona fell back away from her hunter, fearing him. Ebrona, a fairly intelligent young woman and Gracina's most trusted servant, had easily surmised that Jeice wouldn't retaliate against her for refusing him, but Balair was a different story. The delicate beauty had seen Balair vaporize himself earlier and kill a few Calmagian guards, and she sensed that he was one of the most dangerous out of Frieza's Elite fighters here. Ebrona had also seen Balair take away Princess Natala, her mistress's sister-in-law, earlier upstairs, and the Astorian maidservant did not even want to imagine the horrors that Princess Natala must have endured with that red beast. Ebrona began to tremble, not wanting Balair to touch her.  
  
But Ebrona would be saved, not by Varrcan or her friends, but her own natural body functions. She felt herself, much to her embarrassment, grow wet between her legs, and she knew what it was immediately, for it was her normal time for that to happen.  
  
Balair smelled it; his sense of smell was equal or better to the olfactory abilities of the Saiyans, who also had a superb sense of smell. He wrinkled his nose and backed away from Ebrona and Varrcan, instantly turned off from his potential conquest. Balair's desire for Ebrona faded away quickly.  
  
"You picked a fine time to start bleeding, woman," he grumbled. "Why you humanoid women have to bleed once or twice a month just when a man is ready for you?"  
  
Ebrona wholeheartedly agreed with his first sentence, and she and Varrcan were visibly relieved. Ebrona closed her legs as tightly as she could, wishing that there were a way that she could run to the castle lavatories.  
  
"Aw, Bali, just 'cause she's on the rag doesn't mean that you can't fun with her," Bhodie told him. "It's still possible."  
  
"Bhodie, you are sick," Balair growled. "Even I wouldn't want to mate with a woman who's doing that business. You Human men must be some desperate creatures; aren't there enough Human women on Earth to satisfy you men when some of your women have their crimson tides?' He sighed, and then he looked at Mykia thoughtfully. She wasn't his type, but he planned to save Natala as a special treat for tonight and Caline was not in his thoughts at the moment, and that pretty maidservant just had to go and have her period, so maybe this plain girl could give him some satisfaction until later. Balair briefly wondered if a plain woman could be as good in bed as a beautiful woman, and he held a standing bet with Ginyu (who like Balair had only bedded beauties in the past) that a homely female could provide as much sexual satisfaction as a lovely one. He decided now that it was time to find out. The brown-haired girl was no Natala or Caline, but she wasn't that unattractive. In fact, he found a certain charm in her plainness and freckles, her hair appeared to be soft, and she did have a nice figure with small, supple breasts.  
  
Ah, he'd give her a try.  
  
He pointed at Mykia, and Mykia shrank back. "You, sweetness, will come with me. I bet that no other man has ever had you, has he?"  
  
Mykia felt her black eyes widen in fear. "Leave me alone!" she suddenly cried.  
  
"Leave her be," Ebrona ordered, regaining some of her courage after realizing that Balair was no longer interested in her.  
  
Balair ignored both of them, as he grabbed Mykia's dark arm and pulled the frightened girl to her feet. Mykia tried to pull away, but Balair yanked her closer to him. Ebrona wanted to cry at this scene, for she realized her salvation had become Mykia's doom.  
  
"Let her go!" Dalantra ordered sharply. "You can take me instead!"  
  
Balair was so shocked and amused by this declaration that he released Mykia without realizing it. Mykia abruptly ran away before anyone could stop her. Ebrona eased herself out of Varrcan's arms, and she ran after Mykia, who was her closest friend where they worked at in the Palace of Chloe. The two young ladies were like sisters, and they frequently spent their spare time together when Ebrona was not with Varrcan or attending Gracina and when Mykia was not attending Tayla.  
  
Balair laughed loud and hard. "Me take you? You have got to be kidding, you old bag of wrinkles! Maybe if you two hundred years younger perhaps! Me take an old woman to bed with me! Did you hear that, Bhode and Jeice? Can you imagine me screwing this old hag? She'd fall asleep before I could get it up! What a joke! She's probably forgotten what a man's tongue feels inside of her mouth! I haven't had a woman in a while, but I'm not that desperate! Ha, ha, ha, very funny!" He fell down to the ground and started laughing harder than ever. Jeice chuckled softly, and Bhodie joined Balair in his mocking.  
  
"I wouldn't want to have sex with an old woman either! It'd be like going to bed with my grandmother! Ugh! What do you think, Hazelnut?"  
  
"I think that both you and your perverted friend are sick and disgusting and cruel," Hazel told Bhodie sharply. "Now, let me go, Bhodie! I don't want you!"  
  
"Ah, of course, you do, Hazelnut, and I'm not releasing you, baby, at least not until you give me some," Bhodie responded.  
  
Suddenly, Aurora, Hazel's daughter, ran up to her mother and clung to her. Aurora didn't look at Bhodie, for she didn't like the "mean man" who had taken her mother captive. Aurora looked sick, and her healthy coffee-colored skin color was paler and ashy. "Mommy, I just threw up, and I made the big pink, spiky monster mad. I don't feel good."  
  
Hazel felt her daughter's forehead with her free hand. Aurora's forehead was scorching to the touch, and her hot skin nearly burned Hazel's slim, long fingers.   
  
"BLECK!"  
  
Before Hazel could say a word, Aurora vomited again-right onto Bhodie's legs.  
  
"Yuck, nasty!" Bhodie yelled. "Hazelnut's kid barfed on me! Yuck!"  
  
Bhodie abruptly freed Hazel to dig for a handkerchief to wipe himself off with. Hazel grinned before she could prevent herself from doing so; she thought that Bhodie had received what he deserved. She pulled Aurora to her, picked her up, and cuddled her, and then she hurried away with her daughter before Bhodie could grab her again.  
  
Jeice was now the one who was laughing on the floor. He and Bhodie had never been the best of friends because they somehow usually wound up pursuing the same women. He was happy to see Bhodie embarrassed and covered in vomit.  
  
"Hey, Bhode, how did you like meeting your future stepdaughter? She was even nice enough to share her dinner with you!" Jeice joked.  
  
"I smell like barf!" Bhodie whined like a baby. "Gross! I need a shower!"  
  
"Make it a cold one!" Jeice quipped with a grin. "'Cause you won't have a woman anytime soon, now that your lady has fled!"  
  
"Bhode, you just had one this morning," Balair told him. "Don't start following in Zarbon's footsteps, please!"  
  
"Well, I'm at least changing my pants," Bhodie replied.  
  
Dalantra and Varrcan used this time to quietly slip away, and neither one of the three Elite officers cared; the old woman was not a potential conquest for them, and the big manservant was of no importance. Bhodie continued to whine, as he tried his best to wipe off the partially digested contents of little Princess Aurora Chloe's last meal. The Human Elite officer started to wonder, if hooking back up with Hazel was such a good idea after all; it would mean putting up with two little brats who cried easily and threw up on anyone they saw. Well, he could always make her leave the rugrats behind, if he forced her to come back with him to Frieza.  
  
"That just went great," Balair grumbled. "We all tried to get some, and now look where we're at; Jeice gets jilted, I get hit on by an old lady, and Bhode here gets what's left of some half-Human, half-Astorie brat's dinner. And on top of that the woman that I did want to screw had to go and have her period, and the other one ran off. That's all right; I'll find her later; she still would be nice for a quick lay."  
  
"She's nothing to boast about, that little ugly girl," Jeice told Balair. "I'm surprised that you tried to hit on her; she's hardly your type. Don't tell me that you still have that bet with Ginyu going about plain looking women being as good in bed or better than the pretty ones."  
  
"I do," Balair told Jeice. "And I will win it. I always win my bets."  
  
Jeice laughed. "Right! Like you won that bet with Cap'n on who would get Chestra into bed first and be her first man! And neither one of you got to deflower her 'cause our fearless leader, Zarbon, beat you both to it! I'll never forget that time! You both had to carry out your ends of the bet, and I'll never forget that day!"  
  
Bhodie grinned, forgetting for now that he was wearing Aurora's dinner on his pants.   
"What did Bali and Ginyu have to do? I never knew that they both had wanted Chestra."  
  
Jeice chuckled. "Bali and Ginyu both had to dress in drag and dance and sing in front of King Cold and Lord Frieza-"  
  
"Jeice, don't you tell that story!" Balair commanded furiously.  
  
"Oh, I want to hear this story, Bali! I never knew that you dressed in drag!" Bhodie chortled. "Go on, Jeice!"  
  
Jeice continued, ignoring Balair's fatal glare, "Heh, heh, the deal with that one was that whoever didn't get to bed Chestra had to dress in drag and dance and sing in front of King Cold and Lord Frieza at one of our biannual fairs. And both of them lost! You should have seen Bali's dress, Bhode, he wound up wearing a silver and pink glittery dress with bright neon blue hose that he swiped from one of King Cold's concubines! He should have stuck with Eclipse's gold fishnet stockings; that pair of blue hose looked awful on him! And then when he had to entertain King Cold during one of King Cold's marathon speeches about universal dominance…"  
  
Balair clenched his fists, vowing silently to pull out Jeice's snowy hair one strand at a time when he had an extra hour or two to spare.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Thirty minutes later…  
  
Marya and Arlina were holding up a tablecloth in a corner to give Ebrona some privacy so that Gracina's maid could clean herself and use some rags to absorb her woman's flow that Natala had some procured for her. Mykia, who was still somewhat upset by what Balair had tried on her, was assisting her friend in cleaning herself up. Kekron was snoring loudly while sleeping with his back against the wall, with Tila, Tayka, and Rina gathered around him, snuggling close and sleeping. Nikon was sleeping besides Kekron, drooling on the rose damask-covered wall where his chubby face was pressed. Nikon's drool left a large wet spot on the wall, as it dribbled down to the floor.  
  
Caline and Natala was helping Hazel with Aurora, trying to keep the child cool and calm; the resourceful Astorian princess had managed to sneak out of the ballroom briefly into an adjoining kitchenette, where there was a refrigerator full of cold drinks and a tin full of first aid supplies. Natala had smuggled both back into the ballroom, where she put a cool cloth on Aurora's head and a bowl in front of her face, so that she could vomit when necessary. Caline sang softly to Aurora a couple of Calmagian lullabies to distract the child and soothe her (Caline had a lovely voice for singing, even though she had never had music lessons; she had wanted them, but Amitar had not considered it a necessity for her.) Aurora smiled when Caline sang, and the sickly little girl insisted on her singing the same lullaby three times in a row.  
  
Natala checked Aurora's temperature now and then, and she suspected that Hazel's daughter had either a case of influenza (extremely rare on Astoria, but common on Calmag) or that the child had eaten something that disagreed with her. Natala, a proficient healer, didn't think that there was anything much to worry about yet; Aurora's body temperature was at one hundred and thirty-three degrees (a temperature that Natala had assured a panicked Hazel was only slightly feverish for an Astorian child, mixed blood or not). A normal body temperature for an Astorian ranged between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit.  
Hazel was still not convinced, despite her confidence in Natala's medical abilities. "I'm still worried though; Aurora is only half-Astorian. For a pureblooded Human, anything above one hundred and four degrees is serious!"  
  
"It's a slight fever still," Natala told her aunt-by-marriage calmly. "If it was close to one hundred and forty degrees, I would start to worry, but for now she just needs to stay cool and rest."  
  
Hazel held Aurora close to her body. "Natala, she feels hotter than before."  
  
"Mommy…" Aurora groaned. The little girl saw black spots dancing before her eyes, as her mother continued to dab her forehead with a damp cloth.  
  
"It's all right, precious, Mommy's here; you're going to be okay."  
  
"Where's Pappa?" Aurora asked.  
  
Hazel sighed. "I wish I knew, sweetie."  
  
"I miss Pappa; can't you go find him?"  
  
"We're not allowed to leave right now, angel."  
  
"Natala left and came back."  
  
"Shhh!" Hazel admonished her. "No one's supposed to know except for us. It's a secret. Lips sealed."  
  
"Aurora, open your mouth, sweetheart, so I can take your temperature again," Natala instructed the child.  
  
"I don't like that thing in my mouth; it makes me gag."  
  
"I know, but it will only take a few minutes."  
  
"No…" Aurora moaned in protest, and then she threw up into the stoneware bowl that Natala had provided.  
  
After about fifteen minutes, Natala had Aurora wash her mouth out and spit into the bowl, and then she took the little princess's temperature. Natala cried out when she saw the reading on the digital thermometer that had been in the "borrowed" first aid kit.  
  
"No, not now," she whispered worriedly.  
  
"What's wrong?" Hazel cried.  
  
Natala said shakily, "Her fever's gone up to one hundred and forty-two degrees."  
  
"Mommy…" Aurora cried. "I feel hot! Make me cold, please!" And before the child could break out into terrified tears, she fainted dead away.  
  
"Aurora!" Hazel cried.  
  
"Aurora?" Natala prompted.  
  
"Aurora?" Hazel asked anxiously.  
  
"Aurora?" Caline inquired.  
  
"AURORA!" Hazel screamed.  
  
"What's wrong? What's wrong with the child?"  
  
"Steak," Natala moaned weakly. "Aurora's passed out, and we can't rouse her."  
  
Steak put an arm around Natala's waist before he thought about it. He had originally come over to see if Natala was okay; he was angry at himself for not being able to help her when Balair had taken her upstairs.  
  
Steak took the damp cloth from a shaken Hazel, and he brought Aurora close to him, pulling the child into his lap. He shook her gently, as he reached into the little girl's dress and dabbed her with the cold cloth, rubbing it around her heart area.   
  
"Hold her, please," Natala told him. "We have to get her into the kitchenette; there is a small vat of icy water there; it is normally used for wines, I believe, but it may help her cool down."  
  
"How will we get her out of here?" Hazel asked fearfully.  
  
"You stay here," Steak ordered her. "I will accept the consequences and the full responsibility, if Natala and I are caught."  
  
"I'm coming with you," Hazel insisted. "She is my child."  
  
"We have to be careful," Natala said. "If Balair or Bhodie discover that you and I are missing…"  
  
"I know, I know!" Hazel exclaimed. "Let's go."  
  
Caline asked, "May I come with you, please? I'm scared that Balair is going to come over here any second." She quickly scurried to her feet.  
  
Natala nodded, and she pushed Caline ahead of her gently. "Stay with me," she instructed the Calmagian princess.  
  
Hazel and Steak, who was carrying Aurora, followed Natala and Caline surreptitiously out of the ballroom. They crept past the dais where musical groups would entertain during balls and past Guido (who was sleeping heavily with his head facedown in a potted plant). Hazel kept casting anxious looks behind her to see if Balair or Bhodie, the officers that she was most worried about, had spotted them. Caline couldn't help but repeatedly look back herself; she was more terrified of Balair than she had been of Alberm.  
  
Finally, to their everlasting relief, the five of them made it safely into the adjoining kitchenette, trembling with thankfulness. The kitchenette with wood-paneled walls and a plain gray floor was small and cramped; a person could almost turn around and be out the doo8r again. Caline quietly closed the door behind them, as Natala and Hazel hurriedly removed the burgundy crystal bottles of fine Calmagian rose wine that had been floating in the metal vat of icy water. Caline helped Steak remove Aurora's nightgown, and Steak slowly laid Aurora into the vat of icy water and held her, so that she wouldn't drown. The chilly water went up to Aurora's neck; the vat was that deep.  
  
"We can't leave her in there for too long," Natala told them. "Otherwise, she could go into shock."  
  
After a tense twenty minutes, Aurora started to waken, and she shivered. "It's cold!" she wailed.  
  
"I know it is, honey, but it was for your own good," Hazel told her softly. She kissed Aurora on her forehead, as Natala took her temperature again. Natala breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"One hundred and twenty-seven," she said with great relief. "Thank Kami!"  
  
"Thank you all, thank you, and thank you," Hazel said, as she held a naked, shivering Aurora close to her.   
  
Caline rooted through the peige cabinets in the kitchenette, searching for a tablecloth or something to wrap Aurora up in. Finally, she found a shelf in a cabinet where there was a stack of red and white dotted sateen-like tablecloths. She brought one of the larger ones over to the others, and Steak lifted the child out of the vat and into the tablecloth, where he and Caline dried Aurora off and wrapped her up into the material. Caline then went back and brought another tablecloth to dry off Aurora's hair. Aurora huddled into herself, as the Calmagian child princess and the Meatian warrior attended to her. Caline sat down on the floor, resting her slender back against the cabinet, and Steak settled Aurora into Caline's lap. Caline pulled Aurora against her, and Aurora rested her small head on Caline's shoulder and closed her eyes.  
  
"Feel better?" Caline asked her softly.  
  
Aurora nodded. She said softly, "Tell me that story, Caline. I want to know the rest of it."  
  
"What story?" Caline asked her.  
  
"That one that you told before those mean monsters and that mean man who grabbed Mommy showed up, that one you told before you fell asleep and had that bad dream about a monster named Alberm."  
  
Caline slowly remembered what story Aurora was referring to. She pulled Aurora closer to her and said softly, "I'll start at the beginning again, it will make it easier to remember."  
  
"Okay; I just want to know how it ends."  
  
"There's no ending yet," Caline told her. "I don't even know how it will end."  
  
"Tell it anyway."  
  
Hazel and Natala settled themselves on the floor around the two little girls, not wanting to go back into the ballroom just yet. Steak leaned against the wall and tuned up his excellent hearing to listen out for Balair and Bhodie. Caline began in her soft, modulated voice:  
  
"This is a story about pain and suffering, but it's a also a story of hope, of holding onto to what you can until you can believe, until you can survive. Now once, not too long ago, lived a little girl princess named Shydine on a planet named Magan. Shydine was a shy, quiet little girl who feared her cruel father, but loved her oldest brother, Kar, very much. Shydine and Kar's father, Itar, was good to Kar, but for some reason that Shydine couldn't understand to this day, he was cruel to Shydine, but Kar managed to protect her from some of their father's cruelty. Kar was good to Shydine; he played with her every day and hugged her and kissed her, telling her how pretty she was, and if she wasn't his sister, he would marry her himself. They were happy together, and Kar took good care of his little sister and looked after her, thanks to a deathbed promise he made to their mother."  
  
"Shydine and Kar's mother had been good to them, but Itar was only good to Kar and Kar's two brothers, Kiar and Ulien. Itar treated Shydine and her two other sisters badly because they were born girls, and on planet Magan, girls were considered to be almost worthless. Shydine's sisters' Line and Osyn, didn't pay much attention to Shydine either, and Shydine's other brothers weren't nice to Shydine either. Itar was never happy with anything that his daughter did; she loved him and did everything that she could to make him happy, but it was never good enough. The harder she tried to please her cruel father, the harder he was to her. Itar would either yell at Shydine, or when Shydine really made him angry, he would whip her with his belt."  
  
"Shydine endured it patiently most of the time because Kar loved her and did what he could to protect her and make her happy. As long as she had her brother's love, Shydine felt safe, even when her father would go into one of his rages. Kar and Shydine were as close as brothers and sisters could be until one day when Itar took Kar on a birthday trip when he turned fifteen. After that birthday trip, Kar had changed; he had now become like Itar."  
  
"How come?" Aurora asked. "Did Itar put Kar under an evil spell?"  
  
"No, it was no spell, although Shydine wished that it had been. Itar wanted Kar to become exactly like him, and Kar did so to please his father. Kar was at first kind and decent, but then Kar started to think like his father, started to think that girls were worthless and inferior. Kar started to treat Shydine as badly as their father did, and Shydine couldn't understand why Kar had suddenly become so cold and nasty towards her. Kar talked down to Shydine now the same way that Itar did, and he no longer wanted to play with Shydine or spend any time with her."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Itar said that it made Kar less of a man to be spending so much time with a mere sister, and a useless one at that."  
  
"Itar's a meanie! Poor Shydine. Why did Kar have to become so mean like Itar?"  
  
"Shydine doesn't know to this day; all she knows is that Kar had turned against her. And things would get worse when Itar arranged a marriage for Shydine when Shydine was only ten years old-"  
  
"What in Kami Orchida's name-"  
  
Caline's story was interrupted when Steak fell against a wooden panel, and the panel turned around, taking Steak into the other side of the wall. Natala and Hazel gasped aloud when they saw that Steak had fallen through a trap door.  
  
Finally, after a minute or two, Steak managed to turn the panel around and bring himself back into the kitchenette behind the vat. "It's another entrance to the labyrinths!" he exclaimed.  
  
"A way out," Hazel breathed.  
  
"I wonder if Balair and the others know about it," Caline wondered.  
  
"Couldn't we try to smuggle the children out of here?" Hazel wanted to know. "Those monsters aren't going to miss the kids."  
  
"They may be guarding all ways in and out of the labyrinths," Natala told her.  
  
"Not this one," Steak said, using his above-average hearing to listen into the labyrinths. "No one is near this section of the labyrinths. We could smuggle the children and older people out of here; even Balair and his bunch can't watch everyone at once."  
  
"We have to be careful," Natala advised. "Remember their warning: ten deaths for every one person who escapes. However, Steak, I doubt that they would notice that you had gone; you probably could explore the labyrinths."  
  
"I could," Steak agreed. "But what about my sons? And Crystalis? I don't want to leave them alone for too long."  
  
"We can get a message to them," Natala told him. "Steak, I think that you should go ahead of us, and see if there's any chance of getting the others out. We need to see where it leads before we try to send others into it; we don't want anyone getting lost."  
  
"I will go then," Steak told her. "I wish that you could come with me."  
  
"I can't," Natala told him gently. "Balair may try to look for me, and I can't be gone for too long, or he'll get suspicious."  
  
"Wait!" Caline cried. "I can lead him around in the labyrinths; I know almost all of the corridors and ways in it. When Ridikar and I were younger, Ridikar would take me to explore the labyrinths, and sometimes I would go hide in them when Father was angry. Father is claustrophobic, and he doesn't like dark, hidden, or closed-in places; he would never go into the labyrinths himself, so it was a good place for me to hide. I remember this entrance, and I can help Steak. Please let me come."  
  
"It sounds like a good idea," Steak agreed.  
  
"Caline, you go with him then," Natala told her.  
  
"Won't Balair wonder where Caline is?" Hazel asked Natala.  
  
"I won't allow him to wonder; I will keep him occupied with me. He is not going to touch Caline, ever," Natala said strongly to reassure herself as well as the others.  
  
"I hate the thought of that monster touching you," Steak told her. "I wish I was strong enough to kill him myself."  
  
"Natala, are you going to be okay?" Caline asked her worriedly.  
  
"I can take care of myself," Natala told her bravely. "Now go with Steak and show him around, show him and us a way out."  
  
Caline nodded, and she gave Aurora to Hazel, who picked her up. Caline went over to Steak and the trap door, and she slowly pushed it open, taking her and Steak with her into the labyrinth entrance on the other side of the wall. Within seconds, Caline and Steak had disappeared, and Natala and Hazel were left alone with Aurora.  
  
"What do we do now?" Hazel asked Natala, as Hazel held Aurora to her.  
  
"We have to go back soon," Natala told her quietly. "I know that neither one of us want to, but Balair and Bhodie will definitely notice us missing. I just hope and pray that Caline's absence won't matter much to Balair."  
  
"She can't be that important to them, even if Balair is a perverted bastard who wants to force his sick self on a helpless little girl," Hazel replied.  
  
Natala sighed, and then she began to tremble, as she felt the nearness of Balair's ki. "Hazel, we have to go back now before Balair and Bhodie start to look for us."  
  
Hazel and Natala were both scared, but they knew they had no real choice unless they wanted Balair and Bhodie to start torturing the others to force them to tell where the two princesses had disappeared. Natala prayed to Kami Orchida and the East Kai that Caline and Steak wouldn't be caught, and that Balair wouldn't miss Caline.  
  
Hazel held her daughter in her arms. "Think there's still hope for us?"  
  
"There must be, and we must make it," Natala told her bravely again. "We're holding onto to what we can, until we believe, until we survive. Those were Nama-lan's (grandmother-in-law) last words before she left."  
  
"We're holding onto a thread, but it's better than nothing," Hazel said, trying to be as brave as Natala.  
  
And then they reluctantly left the kitchenette together. 


	79. What Happened When Tayla Returned

Chapter Seventy-Nine: What Happened When Tayla Returned  
  
Tayla, Shalila, Dirkan, and Ridikar were now flying over the wilderness back to their camp. Shalila and Dirkan were deeply disturbed when Ridikar informed everyone that more of Frieza's forces were coming. Tayla was quiet and pale now after hearing that news, but she was distracted for a few minutes when Dirkan let it slip that Shalila had punched Dedron in his eye.  
  
"Nama punched Dedron?" Tayla asked, amazed, as she flew back with Ridikar, Shalila, and Dirkan. "I've never known Nama to hit anyone of us! Were you really that mad at him, Nama?"  
  
"I lost my temper, Tayla, something that I should not have done," Shalila told her granddaughter quickly. "It was not well done for me, I'm afraid. I allowed Dedron's cruel words to set me off and lose my temper instead of controlling myself."  
  
"Dedron deserved it," Tayla said firmly. "He should have been punched earlier. If I were you, Nama, I would have done more than that, something like kick him in his balls."  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila scolded. Dirkan chuckled loudly until Shalila shot him her most withering glare. The Namek Superior Granden tried to wipe the grin off of his face, but he wasn't able to do so. Shalila continued in a rebuking tone, "And just where or whom did you learn that last phrase from, young lady?"  
  
Tayla flushed guiltily. "I heard Lektron say it, when he said that he wished that he had kicked Amitar in his-you know…" Then she saw Ridikar looking at her, and she flushed harder. "Sorry, Ridikar, but Lektron was still mad at your father for the way he treated Caline."  
  
"It's okay," Ridikar told her, "I understand, although I wished my father and your cousin hadn't fought like they did."  
  
"I would have liked to kick him in the balls myself," Dirkan agreed.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila scolded, and Tayla quickly concealed her laughter. Shalila whispered to him, "Ridikar is present; Amitar was his father. And I don't want Tayla using that phrase." She said to Tayla out loud, "Tayla, I don't want you saying that phrase anymore, do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes, Nama," Tayla said humbly.  
  
"Tayla's right, Superior Gran, about Dedron receiving what he deserved," Ridikar defended   
her. "You should have heard some of the things that he said about her; I should have shut him up myself, but I didn't. Dedron deserved what you and Tayla gave him earlier. I am sorry again for what I did to her; I know that doesn't take back what I did, but I will do what I can to make up for how I acted."  
  
"Ridikar, don't worry about it anymore," Tayla told him. "We need to worry about rescuing the others. When are we going to go after Zarbon and his bunch, Nama?"  
  
"Soon, child, I promise, Dirkan and I have been working on a plan on the way to find you, but it's not in it's final stages yet," Shalila told her.  
  
"Do you think that they will harm my family, or Caline?" Ridikar wanted to know. "I'll kill those bastards if they do anything to my family, especially my sister! I know that I haven't been good to Caline lately, like I should have been, but I want to make amends with her, to make things right. I hope that it's not too late."  
  
"We hope not either for both of your sakes," Shalila told him. "We will all continue to pray."  
  
"Where's Uncle Gohan?" Tayla wanted to know. "He's the Chief of Intergalacticpol; why can't he just have his officers come to the planet?"  
  
"We can't get a hold of him, child," Shalila told him. "And I can't sense his ki, which worries me."  
  
"He could be concealing it," Dirkan told her hopefully, as he and the others neared the rest of the Chloe and Sahara fighters down below.  
  
Riccan soared into the air before anyone could prevent him. "Tayla!" he cried out happily, as he raced up to her and hugged her tightly. "You're alive! Did that mean ol' Ridikar hurt you? I wanted to go beat him and Dedron up, but Mamma wouldn't let me! But if you want me to, Tayla, I'll throw a few punches at Ridikar; Mamma won't have to find out."  
  
"No, Riccan," Tayla told him firmly. "I don't want you to hurt him."  
  
"Why not?" he demanded.  
  
"Because he released me, and he's sorry," Tayla told her aggressive nephew. "I've forgiven him."  
  
"He better not have hurt you," Riccan told her sternly. "Have you forgiven Dedron?"  
  
"Not at this time, no," Tayla admitted.  
  
"Good!" Riccan said gleefully. "Then I can still give him what he deserves later!"  
  
"No, you cannot, young man," Gracina, who had come up from behind him, said sternly. She swept Tayla up into her arms and embraced her. "Tayla, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Tayla was now wedged in between Gracina and Riccan.  
  
"No, Gracina," Tayla told her, hugging her back. Gracina glared darkly at Ridikar over her slender shoulder.  
  
"Young man, if you ever bother her again, you will regret it," Gracina told him severely. Ridikar hung his head down, still deeply ashamed.  
  
"It's okay, Gracina, really," Tayla told her softly. "He's trying to make up for what he's done now, and I've forgiven him."  
  
"So there's my little cousin's abductor!" Lektron roared, as he joined Gracina and Tayla in the air. He shot Ridikar a deadly look. "Young man, if you did anything to my little cousin, if you so much as touched a strand of her hair, I'll send you on a one-way trip to hell!" Ridikar shrank back slightly at Lektron's anger.  
  
"Enough, Lektron," Dirkan told him sternly. "The boy released her of his own accord, and he has not harmed her. Leave him be."  
  
"Pappa wanted to go beat up Dedron too, but Mamma wouldn't let him do so either," Riccan informed everyone. "And he and Uncle Cletos almost got into a fight themselves, but Mamma broke them up." He was clearly disappointed about those things; Riccan loved seeing a good fight, as well as being in one.   
  
"Over what?" Shalila asked.  
  
Gracina sighed, "Once Lektron found out that Dedron was responsible for setting up Tayla's abduction, he confronted Dedron and threatened his life-"  
  
"The boy deserved it; who in the hell does he think he is? Look at the way he talked to Nama! And to Tayla!" Lektron interrupted his wife. "I was going to give Dedron the pounding he deserved, but Cletos just had to get in between us and tell me not to hit the brat! I told Gracie's brother that if he had given Dedron a proper beating or spanking years ago when Dedron fouled up the first time, Dedron wouldn't be the demon he was now, and Cletos went off just because I called his bratty son that-"  
  
"Lektron," Gracina told him sternly, "you did not call Dedron a demon, you called him a bastard, and that was what set Cletos off. And then you had to go and tell him that you were about to give Dedron the pounding that Cletos should have done to him years ago! Cletos told you earlier that he would handle Dedron."  
  
"Right," Lektron sneered. "Cletos barely paid attention to that boy, letting him run wild. I told Cletos years ago that if he didn't do something to restrain Dedron, the boy would cause worse trouble like now. Dedron's rotten to the core, as Nama would say, and that's all there is to it. Cletos is my friend and cousin, but if he had paid more attention to his family, maybe my sister would have stayed with him instead of leaving him for Jaypros-"  
  
"How dare you blame my brother for your sister abandoning him?" Gracina shouted angrily.   
"Farla was always a flirt who could barely keep her caftan pulled down around other men! I told Cletos a long time ago to postpone his wedding to her until Farla could figure out whom in Kami Orchida's name she really wanted as her husband, but no, he listened to her when she said she was completely over Jaypros. Farla should have worked on her marriage instead of working on how to sneak behind my brother's back with Jaypros. She played both of my brothers, and she came between them!"  
  
"Your brother, Jaypros, was a flirt himself, always chasing the maids and other female servants, and that's why my sister left him! Oh, Jaypros finally realized what he had lost when Farla announced her engagement to Cletos, and then he had to go and get my sister confused as to whom she wanted as her lifelong mate! And once she married Cletos, Cletos essentially started taking her for granted, never having any time for her except to impregnate her with Dedron, and then Petalia. If Cletos had paid more attention to his wife, maybe Farla would returned to him after frisking about with Jaypros, that little male flirt who broke up my sister's marriage-"  
  
"Jaypros is only half to blame; Farla is far from innocent," Gracina retorted. "Neither one of my brothers are perfect, but Farla committed adultery! She betrayed my brother and their children! If Farla had been able to use her mind properly, other than trying to attract men that she shouldn't have been bothering with, she would have done the right thing and went back to Cletos!"  
  
"If Jaypros had been able to keep his pants pulled up, Farla would have done just that, but no, he just had to go seduce my sister and break up her marriage, the little homewrecker-"  
  
"Homewrecker? Farla is a homewrecker as well! She broke up her family and ran away!"  
  
"Your brother is more to blame than she is! He seduced a married woman!"  
  
"And your sister cheated on my brother! My brothers both had questionable taste when it came to women, especially her! She caused nothing but havoc between them!"  
  
"If your brothers had left her alone long enough to make up her own mind, maybe she would have seen that she was better off without either one of them!"  
  
"Now see here-"  
  
"ENOUGH!" Shalila shouted. "Lektron, Gracina, don't let this damage your marriage as well! Jaypros and Farla are both equally to blame for that tawdry affair; neither one of them is guiltier than the other. Cletos may not have been the ideal father or husband, but he's trying to make amends now."  
  
"But look at what Farla's actions did to my brother, Nama!" Gracina protested. "Farla hurt Cletos so much, and no matter how much Cletos took her for granted, she had no right to do what she did!"  
  
"Cletos pushed my sister away, and right into Jaypros' arms," Lektron countered. "Not that Jaypros was any better for her. She didn't need either one of them."  
  
"And they didn't need her to cause so much grief between them," Gracina cried aloud.  
  
"Gracina, Lektron, please," Shalila told them forcefully. "Now is not the time to fight about this. I understand your separate loyalties to your separate siblings, but you cannot allow them to cause problems between you two. Your first priorities should be to each other."  
  
"Farla was an awful flirt," Riccan spoke up. "I heard Petalia say so countless times, and Dedron called her a dirty slutzini, and that part certainly is true-" Gracina's face reddened with embarrassment and rage at her son's last sentence.  
  
"Riccan!" she snapped. "That is an awful word, and I don't ever want you to say it again!"  
  
"But Mamma," Riccan protested. "Dedron got to say it-"  
  
Lektron took his wife's side. "You heard your mother, Riccan! I don't ever want to hear that foul name from your mouth again. It is a nasty thing to call a woman, and not even I have ever used that word! I don't want you copying or learning anything from Dedron and repeating it, is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, Pappa," Riccan told him ashamedly, with his head hung down.  
  
They all then slowly landed onto the soft grass that went up to their knees, and Veal and Petalia hurried over to Tayla, hugging her and asking if she was okay. Bendros followed close behind them, and he looked Tayla over to see if Ridikar had harmed her.  
  
"Are you okay, little Tayla? Did Ridikar do anything to you?" Bendros demanded to know. The normally even-tempered Sastorian warrior and future Granden of Sahara had been as enraged as Lektron and the others when he found out about Dedron helping Ridikar to kidnap Tayla. He avoided looking at Ridikar, afraid that he would attack the Calmagian prince and kill him.  
  
Tayla left Veal and Petalia and approached Bendros. "He didn't hurt me, Bendros," she assured him calmly. "He released me of his own accord, and he even apologized."  
  
"He better have," Bendros replied tightly, still not looking at Ridikar. Ridikar cautiously watched Bendros' tail, which was quickly growing back thanks to Bendros' Astorian genes. The short, budding tail swished slowly in the wind, like a snake ready to strike.  
  
Gorna came up from behind Bendros, followed by Cletos and Raakon, and Raakon quickly looked over Tayla to see if Ridikar had harmed her. "Are you sure that Ridikar didn't do anything to you, sis?" Raakon asked her, touching her cheek.  
  
"I am okay, Raakon, really," Tayla told him. "He's sorry now, he really is."  
  
"He better be," Gorna said stiffly. "Who does that little Calmagian cretin think he is, abducting my sister?" She sent Ridikar a look that could slice him in half quicker than a sword, and Ridikar flinched. "Young man, you better be thankful to your deity that Tayla wasn't harmed, because if she had, I would have given you the beating that your father should have! Who do you think you are, kidnapping my youngest sibling, thinking that you are good enough for a Princess of Chloe? You're not even worthy to look her in the eye, even if you are to rule this planet one day, assuming that there is a planet left to rule! Why I ought to-"  
  
"Gorna, please," Raakon begged her. "Now's not the time. We are all upset over Tayla's abduction, but Tayla is back now, safe and sound. And it seems that Ridikar has been punished enough, with losing his father and many of his people."  
  
"I agree," Tayla affirmed.  
  
"Still," Cletos spoke up angrily, "he abducted our sister, and if he had done so back on Astoria, he would have been sent straight to prison. He still ought to be penalized, in my opinion. Kidnapping Tayla, causing all this worry-"  
  
"Your son is as equally guilty," Gorna reminded him sternly. "What do you intend to do about it, Cletos? He is the one who set up Tayla's abduction, after all, and he must still properly punished."  
  
"I-I don't know yet, to tell you the truth," Cletos stammered, wanting to protect Tayla, but at the same time not wanting to create additional problems between him and his wayward son.   
"What do you think would be a proper punishment for him?"  
  
"How about not letting him fight?" Lektron declared.  
  
"Lektron, we need all of the fighters we have," Cletos told him tightly, still not completely over the fight that he had with his close friend and cousin.  
  
"You could let me beat him up-" Riccan suggested brightly, but his mother's glare   
silenced him.  
  
"He has to be disciplined," Gorna asserted. "This is one of the many times that he has gone too far, and it is not like we can ground him to his room at this time."  
  
Alora had joined the others by then, and she had heard the last parts of the conversation. "I agree with Gorna on this one; Dedron ought to be punished. Perhaps, he should be stripped of his title as a Prince of Chloe."  
  
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Cletos asked.  
  
"I don't think so," Lektron stated.  
  
Bajal joined his wife. "Something does need to be done about him though, but what? Everything's been tried on him, from grounding him to his room to forcing him to eat his meals alone to restricting his fighting and training privileges."  
  
Riccan whispered to Tayla, "It'd be a lot easier, if they just let me beat him up. Grown-ups sometimes have to make things so hard." Tayla had to agree with him about the latter sentence.   
  
"Let me try to talk to him again," Cletos pleaded.  
  
"Cletos, this time Dedron has gone too far," Gorna interjected. "What if the next time, he tries to have her killed or worst? We all saw how he has been towards her lately, how he's put her down and mocked her; if I had been Tayla, I would have done worst to him the other day than punch him in his face. He had no business mistreating her the way that he did. The boy is a discipline problem and a thorn in our sides, as Nama would say."  
  
Cletos snapped, "This is interesting, coming from someone who herself didn't treat Tayla any better not too long ago. It's interesting, Gorna, two weeks you were always complaining about our little sister taking up too much of Nama's time and not being the model Princess of Chloe, and now suddenly you're one of her champions? I'm not saying that what Dedron did to Tayla was right, but let's face facts, sister, you and Rojal used to be that bad towards her yourselves, and you both helped to encourage him. He listens to Rojal; why can't your son talk him out of some of the things he does?"  
  
"Raising Dedron is not my son's responsibility!" Gorna snarled, reeling from Cletos's nasty reminders of how she and Rojal used to treat Tayla. "If you had been a proper father to your son, he wouldn't be the way that he is now. Rojal doesn't get away with two-thirds of the things that Dedron does! If Dedron was my son, I would give him the cuffing that he's long overdue for, in fact maybe I should do so anyway, since you don't seem to want to discipline him properly!"  
  
"Lay one hand on my son, and you'll be sorry!" Cletos growled. "Your Rojal is not exactly perfect either!"  
  
"Rojal has made his mistakes; he is growing up and maturing, and he has more than proven himself as a future heir to Astoria's throne! And don't you dare threaten me, Cletos!" Gorna hissed. "Why don't you put a spine in your back in place of that shoestring that's been holding you up and raise your children properly?"  
  
"Why don't you mind your own business?"  
  
"The conduct of everyone in the Clan of Chloe is my business! I am to rule over this Clan someday, and I must ensure that myself and my fellow family members behave themselves worthy of being Clan of Chloe!"  
  
"That's your problem, Gorna; you think that you can control everyone just because you are to rule over us and all of Astoria one day! You act as if you already rule, but I have news for you, Nama is not dead yet, and you are no different until then than the rest of us! I said that I will deal with Dedron, and I will! I don't need you or anyone else telling me how to raise my children! All my life, since we were children, you have tried to control everything that I do, including try to run my family and raise my children! Don't you worry about me and my children; it's none of your concern anyway!"  
  
"Oh, really? Well, let me tell you something, Cletos, your son is not going to make any more trouble in this family! His having Tayla kidnapped was the last straw, as Nama would say! You either discipline him properly, Cletos, or I will! He is not going to continue to shame the Clan of Chloe name!"  
  
"Shame the Clan of Chloe name! You have plenty of room to talk, acting as if you are Kami Orchida or the East Kai! You have always been such a hard, stiff person!"  
  
"I'd rather be a hard, stiff person than someone with a bootstrap for a backbone! Perhaps if you had a spine in your back instead of that string, you might have been able to make your wife stay with you instead of running off with Jaypros! Perhaps you could have paid better attention to your children, instead of ignoring Petalia and allowing Dedron to run wild like a Saiyan! Jaypros at least had a spine made of bone instead of cotton; perhaps Farla decided for a change to be with a man who has the nerve to be one!"  
  
Cletos's face hardened, and advancing angrily towards Gorna, he raised his large hand towards his sister, as if to strike her. Gorna braced herself for a blow, as Cletos swung his hand out to strike her.  
  
"Cletos, don't!" Shalila commanded, rushing towards the two quarreling siblings to prevent Cletos from what he was about to do.  
  
Raakon raced towards them, in order to stop Cletos from doing something that he knew that Cletos would regret later, but before he could reach them, someone grabbed Cletos' wrist and held it firmly in place.  
  
"Don't, Cletos, please," Tayla begged tearfully, holding Cletos's strong wrist tightly in mid-air. The adolescent princess was now standing between him and Gorna. Both older siblings looked at their youngest sister in amazement, stopping Cletos' blow against Gorna.  
  
"T-Tayla," Cletos stammered, but then his voice hardened. "Let go of me, this does not concern you."  
  
"You're not going to hit her," Tayla told him, her voice now just as hard. "And you two will stop fighting. Our family and friends are in danger right now, and all you two can do is squabble. What if they're dead now? What if we don't make it in time? We don't have time for these little fights; can't you all decide what to do about Dedron later? We need to save our strength to fight Frieza's Top Elite soldiers, not fight amongst ourselves."  
  
Gorna sighed, seeing the wisdom of her youngest sibling's words. "She's right, Cletos; the matter of handling Dedron can wait until this war is over. We need to fight Frieza and his bunch, not each other."  
  
"Tayla, will you let go of me now, please?" Cletos asked Tayla.  
  
"Are you still going to hit Gorna?"  
  
"No, and I shouldn't have tried to do so in the first place. I'm not going to strike her." And hearing this from Cletos, Tayla released his wrist, and Cletos let his hand drop. He looked shamefacedly at Gorna and said sorrowfully, "Gorna, I am sorry that I tried to hit you just now; I lost my temper. It hurt when you accused me of not being man enough to hold onto Farla."  
  
"I shouldn't have said those last words to you, Cletos; I did go too far just now, and I know that I don't say these words too often, but I am sorry myself," Gorna said resignedly.   
"It was not your fault that Farla left you for Jaypros; they and they alone are the only ones to blame. I know that it hurt you deeply when Farla left; you have made your mistakes, but you did try your best."  
  
"I did neglect my children," Cletos admitted, ashamed. "Petalia and Dedron were justified in being angry and hurt, and I am thankful that Petalia has given me a second chance. I wish there was a way to reach Dedron, but it seems that the boy hates me, and I don't want to make things worse between us. I just wish I knew what to do about him."  
  
"We'll figure it out once this is over," Gorna told him firmly. "But Tayla is right as in rescuing our family and friends as being more important than squabbling about Dedron."  
  
"I am thankful that she intervened when she did," Cletos told Gorna, but he was looking at Tayla, who was still standing between him and Gorna. "Gorna, I am again sorry that I tried to hit you outside of training and sparring; it was wrong of me."  
  
"I provoked you," Gorna acknowledged. "It is hard for me not to know when to intervene and when not to. I just don't want this family torn apart."  
  
"Neither do I," Cletos told her.  
  
"Are you two okay now?" Tayla asked anxiously, uncertain as to step out from in between her two siblings or not.  
  
Gorna laid a plump hand on Tayla's slender shoulder. "We are all right now, Tayla, thank you." She patted the girl's shoulder with the same hand. She was not normally affectionate with anyone in her family, not even her husband, Etros, who had been out fighting with their Uncle Gohan on the other side of Magan, but just now she leaned over and quietly kissed Tayla on her temple in a silent thank-you. Tayla nodded, and then she left Gorna and Cletos by themselves. Shalila and Raakon breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the fight between Gorna and Cletos ended as quickly as it did.  
  
Raakon laughed nervously, "She might be taking my place someday as a family peacemaker."  
  
Shalila said with a soft smile, "Who knows? She could join my diplomats someday."  
  
Bajal added, laughing loudly, "As long as she can keep her temper under wraps!"  
  
Alora narrowed her eyes at him. "Look who's talking! Your temper can be just as bad as hers, if not worse!"  
  
Bajal continued to laugh. He said with a wide grin, "Ha! You have the worst temper in both Clan of Chloe and Clan of Sahara! When you get mad, both Clans want to run for the hills!" Alora responded to that by lightly punching him in his ribs, but that didn't stop Bajal from laughing.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ridikar quickly joined Tayla, after she had left Cletos and Gorna. He chuckled softly, as he said, "That was something; you handled that quarrel better than most of my grandfather's diplomats handle disputes. On this planet, had you been male, you would have been snatched up as one of Grandfather's advisers or diplomats. At this rate, you probably could bring peace between Frieza's forces and our planets."  
  
Tayla sighed, "I wish it was that easy. Do your siblings fight like mine do sometimes?"  
Ridikar smiled. "All siblings fight; I never did introduce you to my siblings, did I? Naykiar and Julien fight with each other all the time, and my sisters, Rosyn and Meyline squabble over the silliest things. And I fight quite a bit with my brothers, even if I am to rule over them someday. Caline's the only really peaceful member of our family; she doesn't squabble or fight with anyone. By the way, I've heard that there used to be twenty children in your family instead of ten, is that right?"  
  
Tayla grew quiet then. "Yes, there was twenty of us, but ten of my brothers and sisters died when I was a baby when the Saiyans attacked our family ship. At one time, I had thirteen brothers and six sisters, now I have three sisters and five brothers, well six, if you still count Jaypros, assuming Jaypros is still alive. You probably know by now that he ran off with Cletos' wife, my cousin, Farla."  
  
"Sorry to hear about that," Ridikar said sympathetically. "Your remaining siblings ought to be thankful that they have you; you are something else, do you know that? I wish that I hadn't caused so much trouble between us; I had a good thing when I had you, and I lost it. I'll never find another girl like you, Tayla, ever, nor will I care so much about someone else the way that I still do you. It's going to take me a long time to get over you. I wish there was a way for me to convince you to give me a second chance, but I won't push the issue or force you. Girls like you come only once in a millennium." He looked at the petite young girl, whose tangled coal-black hair flowed gently in the wind, and whose red and gold Chloe fighting gi was torn and tattered. She was missing most of the right pants leg of the bottom half of her gi, and her gray boots were soiled and nearly coming off at the soles (Ridikar smiled when he remembered Shalila telling Tayla that she was disposing of those beloved boots the minute that the war was over, and that there would be no argument about it).   
  
Tayla could have showered or bathed when she and Ridikar had been in Benedon, and Ridikar had bought her a couple of nice dresses when he had dragged her into a clothing shop, covered in that brown cloak. But she had still been angry at him at the time and frightened of her situation, and she had refused to clean herself or change her clothes for him. (She was not at that time about to make herself more attractive to him; she had vainly hoped that Ridikar would be repulsed enough not to go through with his plans to force her to marry him.)   
  
There were bruises and gashes covering her slim body, and her delicate face was dirty and smudged, but that same grimy face glowed radiantly with a determination to do what was right and a strong devotion to her family and friends. She looked both strong and vulnerable at the same time, and Ridikar had never known a girl who could maintain that air. The Calmagian royal heir thought that this disheveled Princess of Chloe had never looked more beautiful than she did at this moment. He had to clasp his waist with his hands to prevent himself from reaching out and drawing her into his arms.  
  
Tayla watched Ridikar slowly out of the corner of her cocoa-colored eye. Ridikar had changed earlier in a dark blue fighting gi with a hunter-green sash, and he had showered. She now wished that she had taken the time to clean herself and dress in new clothes when she had the chance to do so earlier. She remembered when they had first met, and she thought of how she had been mesmerized by his smoothness and good looks. He still did look handsome, with his dark brown hair swirled with highlights of gold and his brown eyes that were almost black, darker than hers that was combined with golden brown, muscled skin. Before she could prevent it, she blushed slightly; Ridikar didn't seem to be so bad, after all. He seemed to be changing, to be growing up.  
  
Like she was.  
  
Tayla shook her head; what in Kami Orchida's name was she thinking? Ridikar had tried to force himself on her some time ago, and she was here now, being friendly with him, admiring his looks. He seemed to look at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to say something.  
She wasn't sure what to say to Ridikar's words, but before she could decide how to reply, Dedron showed up. Dedron's sulky scowl deepened when he noticed that Tayla and Ridikar had returned, but he wiped it off quickly and said brightly, "So, are you two happily married now? Is this Princess of Chloe now the future queen of Calmag?"  
  
Tayla's Astorian blue blood began to boil; there were so many angry words that she wanted to say to Dedron, but now they would not come. Instead of ripping Dedron apart verbally, she turned on her proud heel away from him, handing him a greater insult involving no words.  
  
"I take that as a yes?" Dedron asked calmly, ignoring his young aunt's obvious snub.  
  
"We didn't get married, Dedron," Ridikar finally answered tightly. "I was wrong to take her away in the first place."  
  
"Ha, so you finally decided that you couldn't marry a lapdog! Well, not that I really blame you, Ridikar, ol' friend, for I wouldn't want such a doggy girl as my future queen either! I'm disappointed though, for now it looks like I'm stuck with Great-Nama's favorite pet once more! I was really counting on you to take this mongrel off of my hands; now my family will have another dog to feed…"  
  
Tayla clenched her tiny fists in fury, and her face reddened with anger. She scrunched up her eyes and avoided looking at her cruel nephew, for fear that she would murder him on the spot.  
  
I will not lose my temper, I will not lose my temper; I will not let his words get to me, she thought silently to herself.  
  
"…As if we didn't have enough dogs around the Palace of Chloe, but oh, well! I can always chain her in the backyard, although she'll probably keep everyone up all night with her howling and drown the gardens with her drooling-"  
  
Dedron said no more, for at that moment, Ridikar's quick fist collided with his nose, sending Dedron reeling backwards. Ridikar landed another punch into Dedron's jaw before the Astorian prince could recover. Dedron and Ridikar were evenly matched, but Ridikar had taken Dedron by surprise, and Dedron was too much in shock to fight back. Tayla swiftly turned around and watched the fight, fairly one-sided, take place between Ridikar and Dedron. Dedron finally recovered enough to land his fist into Ridikar's jaw, and he and Ridikar began to fight fiercely, but Ridikar still had the upper hand because he was faster. He kicked Dedron in the stomach after Dedron punched Ridikar in his ear. Before Dedron could retaliate, Ridikar seized Dedron by his collar and touched him ever so lightly on his shoulder. He then easily threw Dedron to the ground, and Dedron was stiff and still, as a statue. Dedron was frozen in a fetal position, with his arms sticking straight out towards the sky. Sparkling turquoise blood dribbled from his fat nose into his wide mouth.  
  
"You-you bastard, you paralyzed me! How dare you? That's not fair!" Dedron screamed, his mouth being the only thing able to move.  
  
"Like you wouldn't have electrocuted me, if you had been given the chance," Ridikar countered, as Tayla watched on, amazed with her brown eyes wide open.  
  
"Take this paralysis off now!" Dedron ordered furiously.  
  
Ridikar grinned, as he stepped up to Dedron and rested his black boot under Dedron's chubby, dimpled chin. "Sure I will," he said casually. He then leaned down and whispered into his opponent's ear, "When you apologize to Tayla."  
  
"I'm not apologizing to a lapdog!" Dedron roared loud enough for Tayla to hear.  
  
Ridikar smiled and sighed, "Well, then, I'll have to leave you in that position until the paralysis wears off, or until you apologize to Tayla, whichever happens first. Your call, Dedron."  
  
"Curse you! I'm not reducing myself to say 'I'm sorry' to Great-Nama's puppy dog! I'll lie here all day before I apologize to her! She's nothing but a mongrel!"  
  
Ridikar laughed and shook his head. "I see that you made your choice, Dedron. Well, don't worry, for the paralysis is only temporary. See you later, Prince Dedron of Chloe."  
  
Dedron looked desperately at Tayla, but Tayla only smiled and winked at him. "See you later, Dedron; why don't you take a nap? Maybe when you wake up, you won't be so grumpy! I think that position suits you anyway." She laughed softly and turned away from her nemesis.  
  
"TAYLA, YOU MAKE RIDIKAR RELEASE ME, YOU UNDERSTAND ME, GIRL? YOU'LL BE SORRY WHEN THIS PARALYSIS WEARS OFF! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY, IF YOU DON'T HELP ME!" Dedron ranted, but Tayla and Ridikar just laughed and left him in his agony. They both walked away, side by side, as Dedron cursed both of them.  
  
"Thanks, Ridikar," she whispered shyly.  
  
Ridikar smiled, unable to hide a stain of blush on his chiseled cheeks. "My pleasure, Princess."  
  
"May I ask you something, even if it's a bit off the subject?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"When we left the hotel in Benedon, you flew with us. I thought that Calmagians didn't fly; how were you able to?"  
  
Ridikar chuckled. "It wasn't that hard to do, Tayla. I practiced while you had been sleeping in the hotel room, and I was able to levitate myself by controlling my ki. I was doing it to impress you," he admitted, embarrassed.  
  
"I appreciate you taking up for me just now, thank you. That impressed me-and stunned me too."  
  
"He shouldn't be allowed to call you a dog; you have more goodness and decency in your pinky finger than he does in his entire body. I know that you were trying to control your temper, but next time he talks about you like that, you punch him out! He's the dog!"  
  
"If I had attacked him, I would have probably killed him, and he isn't worth the guilt."  
  
"You've got that right. Dedron is the one who should be chained, not you. If he ever insults you again, I'll kill him myself!"  
  
Tayla smiled shyly at him. "You know, Ridikar, I think that I like this new you a whole lot better than the one before. I hope he's here to stay."  
  
Ridikar laughed nervously. "I hope that he will be, Tayla, and I hope that maybe-well, never mind."  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"Never mind, Tayla, seriously. I better get you back to your family before they think that I am trying to take you away again. I think that Dirkan and your brothers are still plotting my demise!"  
  
Tayla giggled. "Don't worry; I won't let them hurt you, just as long as you behave yourself."  
  
Ridikar held out a large hand towards her, as he towered over her by a foot and a half.   
"Friends?" he asked softly.  
  
"Friends," Tayla told him, as she took his hand into her slender paw and shook it. They looked at each other for a long time, with Ridikar's right hand in Tayla's right hand. Then, in slow motion, they switched hands, and before they realized it, they were walking away, side by side, lightly holding hands still.  
  
They reached the others in no time, and Dirkan's emerald jaw dropped when he saw Ridikar casually hold Tayla's hand-and Tayla allowing it. "What in Kami's name is going on here?" he demanded of his wife, who was equally stunned to see her darling granddaughter hold hands with the boy who had tried to hurt her in the past.  
  
"They seem to be making up," Shalila observed quietly, carefully keeping calm.  
  
"I want to speak to the boy alone; I will give him a piece of my mind-" Dirkan began edgily, as he tried to leave his mate to confront Ridikar. To his surprise, Shalila held out a restraining arm in front of his massive green chest. Dirkan looked at his wife with his mouth agape.  
  
"No, you won't, Dirkan, you will leave both of them be."  
  
But Ridikar tried to do-well, doesn't Tayla remember that he-"  
  
"I'm sure that Tayla does, but there is a thing called forgiveness, and she is practicing it. She will be thirteen in five months from now, and she must be allowed to make some of her own decisions now. She's smart enough and old enough to be allowed to do so, and we must leave some of her life up to her, even if we don't always agree with her choices. It's part of allowing her to grow up. It's time for us to treat her as a young lady; she won't be a child for much longer."  
  
A resigned Dirkan sighed, "I wish I could keep her as a little girl forever. Things were so much easier not too long ago when she just did what we wanted her to do without question. This new part of Tayla is going to take some getting used to."  
  
"I am adjusting myself," Shalila said softly. "I've had to adjust every time my children began to assert their independence and maturity, and it's been the same with Arlon and Lukan when they finally became young men instead of remaining little boys. All in all, Dirkan, I've almost raised nine children instead of seven; I had Gracina for a while as my ward, but she was almost grown-up when her parents died. I've always thought of Tayla as my baby, and now this baby's becoming a woman." Her voice shook, as she continued, "Like you, Dirkan, I wish I could keep her as a little girl always, but I can't. We now have a budding young woman instead of a child; ah, we will miss the little girl, but we will love the woman that Tayla is becoming as well."  
  
Dirkan said wryly, "Well, until we adjust to Tayla The Young Woman, what do we do about her choice in young men? I still want to go over there and wrench the boy away from her."  
  
Shalila shook her head and sighed wearily, "If you continue to have that urge, count to one, no two hundred, Dirkan, and remember that Tayla is still only twelve. Ridikar won't be her last."  
  
They then changed the subject of Tayla to their plans for stopping Frieza's forces from causing any more harm, for a few hours, they would be finally be leaving to save their loved ones. 


	80. Caline and Kekron Become Liberators

Chapter Eighty: Caline And Kekron-Liberators  
  
Six hours later…  
  
Dodoria was snoring loudly, drool cascading from his wide mouth and dangling from his lips like a wet guitar string. The string of saliva swung back and forth gently in rhythm with the giant pink monster's snores. He was snoozing on the steps of the dais, with his spiked head resting on his fat, rough knee. Balair himself was curled up behind his best friend on the platform of the dais, and drool flowed from his red, toothy mouth in a slippery, sticky waterfall that streamed down the steps of the dais. A yawning Bhodie, who was now keeping watch, stood a good distance from his watering companions, and the opportunistic Human minion noticed something strange going on among the hostages. He had just woken up, and he was supposed to relieve Ginyu of watching the hostages.  
  
The hostages seemed to be disappearing slowly, two or three at a time.  
  
At first the hostages that were vanishing were children and elderly people, but then some of the young women began to vanish as well. Bhodie decided that it was time to do another head count (the first one had been done the day before), and he grew alarmed after he finished the count.  
  
Two days ago, there were five-hundred-and-sixty hostages crowded into the ballroom, but today, after this head count, there were only three-hundred-and-twelve.  
  
Three-hundred-and-twelve? Where did two-hundred-and-forty-eight people vanish?  
  
Reccoom joined Bhodie then, and the giant warrior said, "Gee, Bhode, a lot of people sure had to go potty today."  
  
Bhodie looked at Reccoom strangely. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
Reccoom said, "Don't you remember when Hazel, that brown-skinned Human that you want to bed later said that there was a bathroom, and that some people needed to use it? Well, a lot of children and old folks went to the potty; I didn't know so many people could fit in a restroom at once. Cap'n thought it was weird too, since many people went to the potty and never came back. But do you know what I think it is?"  
  
Bhodie grumbled; he was glad that he let Balair talk him out of the joining the Ginyu Force. The entire team had the combined I.Q. level of the piece of gum sticking to the sole of one of Bhodie's rough, worn boots. Reccoom alone had the I.Q. level of the gum wrapper that the gum had been in before a Calmagian servant boy had thrown it on the floor, where Bhodie's foot just happened to step. "Reccoom, were you and your pals even paying much attention to the hostages lately?"  
  
Reccoom flushed slightly. His Frankenstein-like face looked embarrassed. "Um…not really. Cap'n was having us work on our Dance of Victory; it was fun, Bhode, we even got a couple of pretty maids to dance with us. One of them actually liked it, and she even let Jeice feel her up-that is until her hubby came along and punched Jeicey in his face."  
  
Bhodie had to laugh then. "Poor Jeicey! He just can't get any today, can he? I should congratulate the hubby; where is he?"  
  
"In the next dimension," Reccoom chuckled. "The hubby called us a bunch of dancing pansies, which ticked the Cap'n off, so Cap'n blasted him through the heart! The little prick got what he deserved, but anyway, want to see the latest pose in Cap'n's Dance of Victory?"  
  
"No thanks," Bhodie said edgily. "I want to know, Rec, what's going on with the hostages?"  
  
"Ah, who cares, prob'ly just some folks emptying their bladders. Anyway, I've got to get back to Cap'n; he's about to show us a new pose-the Dance of Mating. It goes like this-"  
  
But Reccoom wouldn't get to finish his demonstration (much to Bhodie's relief), for at that moment, Baata was dragging a middle-aged pudgy man with white hair and beard up to the dais. Baata was holding the man in the air by his throat, and the man's chubby face was turning into the same shade of blue as Baata's skin color.  
  
"Speak now!" Baata commanded. "What the hell is going on? Why are some of the people here disappearing? Why are so many people going to the john and not coming back?"  
  
The fat man cried and sobbed, "I don't know! Please let me go!"  
  
Baata punched him hard in his soft, spongy stomach. "Liar! Tell us now or die! And I know that they are all not going potty!" Baata was one of the slightly smarter minions in the Ginyu Force. The corpulent man screamed in pain, his cries grating on his attacker's nerves.  
  
The man cried harder. "They are l-leaving, not coming back!"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Hostages are escaping?" Bhodie cried angrily. "Where are they going?"  
  
The man would not answer until Baata squeezed his throat harder. Finally the man began to speak again. Baata loosened his grip somewhat, and the man choked out, "The labyrinths, the labyrinths, they are escaping that way, and a young girl has been l-leading the w-way. She and some strange creature with a long head with pointed ears and red hair and eyes were helping people escape. The girl led them through the catacombs, and the animal-man, I think he was what some call a Meatian, was keeping watch and choosing people to leave. Then the little girlie was coming back and forth, back and forth."  
  
"Who was the girl? Do you know her name?" Bhodie shouted angrily.  
  
The man shuddered and trembled, with rivulets of sweat pouring down his hot, blue face and into his slimy, thin lips. Tearfully, he cried aloud, "I don't know, honestly!"  
  
"Liar!" Baata shouted. "He knows, Bhodie, he knows! It's that cute little blond girl, that albino humanoid brat that Balair wanted to screw. Sick pervert, Balair is, even I wouldn't bed a child, but anyway, that brat was the one leading them out. Reason I know is 'cause this fool told me the girl's name by accident."  
  
"Princess Caline?" Bhodie gasped. "Caline's been helping people to escape?"  
  
"Y-yes, sir," the man sobbed, too frightened now to think of protecting a Princess of Calmag, even a supposedly insignificant one.  
  
Bhodie then smirked. "Thanks, old man, that was all we needed to know." And with that, Bhodie lifted his laser gun and shot a thin blue laser into the man's heart, leaving a perfect, round black, smoking hole where a heart and chest had once been. Bhodie and Baata cringed in disgust as amber blood sprayed all over them, and Baata threw the dead man onto the ground hard.  
  
Baata told Reccoom, "Let's go; we have to make sure that no one else leaves this room! We've got to tell Cap'n!"  
  
"But what if they have to go potty?" Reccoom asked.  
  
"They can go in their pants, or dresses or whatever. Let's go!" And with that, Baata and Reccoom hurried downstairs to warn the rest of the Ginyu Force.  
  
Bhodie shouted at Dodoria and Balair, "Wake up! Now!" The two Top Elite officers were in too deep a sleep to hear their subordinate officer shouting at them.  
  
Balair was murmuring in his sleep, "Ah, Natala, Caline, and Ebrona, (so glad that your bleeding stopped just for me)…lucky man, I am, having three ladies in bed with me, at once…which one of you girls wants me first? Will it be you, Natala, to pleasure me first? Now just touch me right here…"  
  
Dodoria was gnawing on his fist in his sleep. "Oooh…yummy! Steak, cooked just the way I liked it! A T-bone too!" (Note: He is talking about steak the food, not Steak the Meatian warrior.) "And with mashed potatoes, gravy, yummy gravy, just like Mummy used to make. I want a fifth helping, man that's great stuff…could eat the entire beast, if I wanted to…"  
  
"WAKE UP!" Bhodie screamed aloud. "BALAIR, DODORIA! WAKE UP NOW! THE HOSTAGES ARE ESCAPING!"  
  
"The hostages are yummy?" Dodoria asked sleepily, slowly waking up. "Do they taste good with gravy?"  
  
Balair was also on the border between sleep and awakening. "Hostages? In my bed? That's fine; I can handle more women…"  
  
Bhodie was disgusted by then. "Bali, your little baby slut, Caline, is helping hostages to escape! Over two hundred hostages have fled-right under our noses and under the premise of going to the restroom! I thought something was going on."  
  
Balair and Dodoria were now fully awake. "Hostages escaping? They'll all die for this!" Balair screamed. "And to think that little girl that I wanted to screw is involved! Dodi, Bhodie, stay here and see that no one else escapes; we can't rely on Ginyu and his fools to handle it 'cause they'll make things worse. Blasted idiots! How could they let over two hundred hostages slip away? I'll deal with this myself; we've got to some of those hostages back before Zarbon has all of our tails! I am in no mood to hear one of Zarbon's cursed lectures about doing our job properly!" And with this, Balair vaporized himself into his red cloud of dust, gas, and smoke (traveling in his gas form was quicker than traveling in his solid form). The red cloud zoomed out of the room with the speed of a comet.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hurry," Caline told an elderly Calmagian female cook that she was guiding by the hand. "I understand that you are old, ma'am, but we must get you out of here as quickly as possible."  
  
The elderly woman, who had a hunchback, and was in her eighties, tried to push herself along, as Caline lead her to the wooden stairs that would lead to the outside of the labyrinths, to the Magan woods far away. Caline pried open the door for her.  
  
"I am so sorry to be holding things up, Princess," the old woman whispered weakly.  
  
"It is alright, I understand," Caline told her gently. "You are almost safe now; just two steps more. You will be alright, ma'am." The old woman, with Caline's help, climbed out of the hole, and two Calmagian guards helped the woman out of the labyrinth entrance into the blinding sunlight.   
  
After the oldster had ascended herself out of the labyrinth, Caline steered three little girls out of the labyrinth and into the outside world. Kekron kept handing her more small children to led into the sunlight; Kekron and Steak had been a great help in getting both Astorian and Calmagian people out. Steak, with Natala and Hazel's help, had handpicked hostages to take into the labyrinths; hostages that their captors wouldn't notice would be gone. Once Steak had been able to handle things on his own, Natala and Hazel had been keeping Balair and Bhodie occupied, talking to them, being nicer to them, and even entertaining them with skits that Natala and Hazel had written in the past as part of a musical for the children of Chloe. One skit, involving a small battle between an Astorian and a Saiyan was one that Balair and Bhodie had found funny, and Natala and Hazel performed it twice for them.  
  
Hazel had come up with the deception of the kitchenette being a small restroom, which had placated the captors, so it had been much easier for Kekron and Steak to sneak hostages out. Steak was currently in the ballroom at this moment, and Kekron (who had one of the best photographic memories out of all his peers, and so he had memorized many of the labyrinth corridors quickly) was helping Caline guide the hostages to the outside.   
  
Kekron gently pushed on the backs of two elderly men, so that Caline could lead them out of the labyrinth entrance. Caline climbed down the stairs, so that Kekron could carry a pregnant girl up to the entrance, where some strong Calmagian men brought her to the surface. There were several pregnant females waiting to be helped out, and Caline and Kekron steered them up the stairs and out of the labyrinths as quickly and as gently as possible.  
  
Caline took the hand of another elderly woman, who was the grandmother of one of the pregnant women, and she kept saying over and over, "Such good children, you are, oh, yes you both are, such good young people, risking your lives to save us…good children. Oh, Princess Caline, do you not know that I knew your mother, the Princess Shydine? You're just like her, so kind, so sweet, so willing to put others before yourself…'tis a pity she died when you were so young; she'd have been so proud of you. Prince Amitar didn't appreciate what he had in her or you, he didn't, he didn't. I know I shouldn't malign the name of the future king of Calmag, but he wasn't good to you or her at all. He shouldn't have made you marry Alberm Dunlop, dearie, he really shouldn't have. You're the best he has, and he doesn't realize it. I hope that you do get your wish, dear, that you get to leave here and go home with the good Astorians; you'll be happy with them, I know that you will." Before a stunned Caline could respond, Kekron swiftly lifted the elderly woman out of the labyrinths; Kekron wasn't a warrior but he was strong enough physically to help lift people because his father had insisted that Kekron balance his studies and inventing with physical exercise. Kekron was now glad that his father had made him practice all of those training exercises, even if Kekron was not going to be a warrior.  
  
Another hour past, and all of the hostages that Caline and Kekron had brought into the labyrinths with them had been helped to the surface and into the outside. The two exhausted young people leaned against the dirty, brownstone walls of the labyrinths, and they both took a deep breath, resting for a few moments.  
  
"I never thought my knowledge of the labyrinths would come in handy," Caline sighed.  
  
"We're lucky that you knew," Kekron told her. "We're lucky to have you," he panted, wiping a film of blackened sweat off of his shiny forehead.  
  
Caline said breathlessly, "Thank you, thank you." She then wiped her delicate, white face with the back of her tiny, plump hand. She smoothed her nightgown, the same nightgown that she had worn the cold, snowy day that Balair and the others had entered the bedroom where she had been sleeping. The nightgown had once been long and soft, made out of telope wool that had been dyed a pale pink and decorated with mauve ribbon roses. The nightgown was now dirty and torn and soiled beyond cleaning. Caline had managed to slip into her most comfortable pair of shoes, an old pair of crystal flats before she had to leave the room where she had been sleeping.  
  
"I do hope that you'll get to come home with us to Astoria," Kekron told her, as he and Caline pushed themselves away from the walls.  
  
"I hope so too," Caline said mournfully. "But Father will never let me, I know; if he's still alive, he'll make me marry that awful Filcor Sedemeyer, and I don't wish to marry him or anyone right now." She then took a step and nearly fell forward; Kekron caught her with both hands at her waist and pulled her up.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kekron asked her.  
  
"Y-Yes, thank you," Caline stammered softly. Kekron respectfully released her, and then he asked her, "Caline, is this Filcor really as bad as Alberm?"  
  
"Just about," Caline replied uncomfortably. "He's every bit as mean and dominating as Alberm was, and last year, he tried to molest me when he tried to pull me into his lap. If I hadn't stepped on his foot, I might not have escaped him. He isn't a murderer type, but he scares me as much as Alberm did. If Father had to force me to marry anyone, why couldn't he at least let me have a say in his choice of husbands, or at least marry me to someone who will be nice to me?"  
  
"He shouldn't force you to marry anyone that you don't like at all," Kekron declared indignantly. "My people don't believe that arranged marriages are right unless both bride and groom agree to it. Your father has poor taste in men, and he treats you like dirt. He is a bast-um…sorry, I know that I shouldn't be criticizing your father in front of you like that." The young Technician's voice was instantly apologetic.  
  
"It's okay," Caline told him. "You speak the truth; I want to love Father, but he is everything that you said. Why does he hate me so much? What did I ever do to him? I'm just a little girl!" Her voice shook, as she and Kekron hurried along the corridors of the labyrinths.  
  
"It's not your fault that Amitar is a bad father; he shouldn't treat you that way, no matter what," Kekron told her firmly. "I hate to malign the men of your planet, Caline, but many of them have such an unsavory attitude towards women, especially those men in your family. My father would have never treated my mother the way that many of the Calmagian men in your family treat their wives. I feel for you and the other females of this planet. You deserve much better than this Filcor Sedemeyer or Alberm; neither one of them are worthy of you. You need to be allowed to grow up a little and live free and you know, well, see things and get to know people, in other words, just be a kid, you know…" Kekron's voice trailed off, as he looked closer at Caline, as they scurried through the corridors like mice searching for food. Underneath her bruises and dirt and smudge, he thought that she was still very pretty and sweet.  
  
Too bad she's not a few years older…then maybe I could get to know her as a girl, and not like a child. If she were only fourteen or so; then I wouldn't be feeling like a lecher for wanting to get to know her better. Kekron sighed in disappointment; Caline's father would surely have her married off to that awful Filcor Sedemeyer, whom Kekron disliked already without meeting the man. If Caline had been Astorian, Kekron could have become like an older brother and friend to her, with the intent of possibly courting her later, but since she was a Calmagian and a citizen of this wretched planet, he wouldn't get to know her as well as he would have liked to. Unless…  
  
There has to be a way to get Caline's family to let her come home with us, there just has to be!  
  
Kekron suddenly sucked in his breath when he felt a disturbing ki signature-a ki signature that he did not want to sense at all. He grew almost as pale as Caline, and the brown-haired, blue-eyed Technician suddenly seized his partner and roughly pulled her against him. Before Caline could protest, Kekron had dragged her into a small pocket of a corridor.  
  
"Kekron! What's going on? Why are you treating me this way?" Caline fearfully demanded to know.  
  
"Shhh!" Kekron had no choice but to clamp his hand over Caline's astonished mouth. "Balair is in the labyrinths. Do you know yet how to hide your ki?" Kekron quickly hid his.  
  
The little Calmagian princess and sensed the threatening ki signature too, but she had not been able to recognize it as Balair's. Caline trembled in Kekron's arms, which were wound around just under her small bosom. The tiny, firm little hills heaved up and down, beating against Kekron's surprisingly muscular arms, muscular only because of the training exercises that Raakon had insisted that Kekron practice to keep in shape. She shook her head in fear wildly.  
  
"Here's a quick lesson," Kekron told her as steadily as possible. "Pretend that you are shrinking into yourself, imagine yourself getting smaller and smaller. If you can sense ki, you can learn quickly to repress it." He whispered several more instructions to the frightened girl, and to the amazement of both of them, Caline was able to repress her ki after a few minutes.  
  
"You're a fast learner," Kekron told her softly.  
  
"Thank you," Caline whispered, and she continued to practice for a few minutes, and after that short period of time, with Kekron's guidance, she was now able to repress her ki down to almost nothing. She still did not know how to mask it completely, but she could repress it enough now to possibly fool Balair's scouter. Both adolescents stood trembling in the dark hole of the corridor wall, holding their breath, and praying.  
  
Caline had to bite her lip to keep from crying out when she saw the red cloud of Balair float right by them. The red cloud continued to sail gracefully past the pocket where Kekron and Caline were hiding in, and both children were relieved when the burgundy mist sailed away out of their sight. Well, Caline was relieved anyway, but Kekron could still feel Balair's presence so close to them-but why?  
  
In less than a minute, he had his answer.  
  
The scarlet cloud of smoke seeped through the porous stone walls of the labyrinth pocket, and to Caline's horror, the cloud formed a misty ring around her right in between her and Kekron. Within seconds, the cloud solidified itself into Balair, who was now holding Caline in his arms. Caline screamed, and Kekron clenched his fists and hissed, "Let her go!"  
  
"Sorry, rabbit," Balair snarled, "but this little brat needs to be taught a lesson, and I intend to teach it! Guess what, baby girl? When I take you out of here, I'm going to make you pay for your crimes. You're going to serve your sentence by pleasing me in bed once we get out of this sinkhole!"  
  
"No!" Caline screamed in agony, as Balair roughly turned her around to face him. The angry Sistrai warrior pulled one arm away from his captive and brutally slapped the girl across her milk-white face. Caline screamed louder as Balair's giant, reptilian hand slammed into her fragile nose, causing it to bleed.  
  
"That's what you get for helping those hostages escape, slut!" he roared. "I should kill everyone in that ballroom right now, but your body beneath me will do as payment for now! Let's go! The little weakling boy here can leave; I have no use for him except for target practice, and I have plenty of people for that purpose. You either do as I tell you, wench, or I'll kill everyone in there, got it?"  
  
Kekron's face twisted in anger; he was no warrior or soldier, but he had to do something to help her. He had to save her somehow and prove himself to her, but how?  
  
Kekron screamed, "I said let her go!" And with that, he flew at Balair, and with a bolt of adrenaline and strength that surprised himself, he slammed his foot down onto Balair's foot hard enough to break a toe. It was just a little toe, but it meant a broken bone, and a broken bone meant that once again, Balair could no longer vaporize or liquefy himself. Balair growled in fury and pain, and in his anger and agony, he released Caline without realizing it.  
  
"You're a WEAKLING! How can a WEAKLING like YOU break MY bones?" Balair demanded to know furiously, as Caline fled to Kekron and clung to him. Kekron held her with one arm, as he held a deadly gaze at Balair. The young boy knew that Balair would probably kill him in the end, but Kekron was like his parents, and he wasn't about to give in or give up without a fight. Raakon and Natala would have been proud of him at this moment; they had taught him to stand up for what he believed in.  
  
"I am no warrior, but I am no weakling," Kekron snapped at the infuriated Sistrai warrior. "I shouldn't be, for after all Raakon Chloe is my father. Remember him? He's the one who kicked your red Sistrai tail in the Battle of Chloe, and he'll do it again! I am the son of one of the strongest men in the Clan of Chloe and the son of one of the bravest women in both Clan of Chloe and Clan of Cornsilk! If my mother, who's not a warrior either, was courageous enough to keep you from raping her, then I can surely keep you from harming one little girl!"  
  
Balair then laughed evilly, temporarily forgetting about his pain, as he stood in the cramped pocket with Prince Raakon Chloe's son and the little Calmagian princess that the boy was trying to protect. He continued to chuckle, as he said, "I'll admit, boy, you have nerve, just like your daddy! Hell, he gave me plenty of grief too! Pity you're no real warrior like him; now he was a fighter, even though he's nothing more than a block of jewel now! Heh, heh, too bad your pappy isn't going to be around to save your butt when I send you into the next dimension." He looked towards a trembling Caline who was whiter-than-white, as she stood there trembling in Kekron's arm, her frightened blue eyes never leaving Balair for a second. "Hell, I wanted to screw the brat before I finished her off, but I'll have your mommy to keep me satisfied, so I'll just send her to the next dimension with you. You two look like you belong together anyway, how touching! Say farewell!"   
  
The cruel Sistrai warrior raised his hand and cried out, "Fire Flare!"  
  
Kekron knew deep down inside that he and Caline would not escape Balair's brutal attack, but there was one thing that he could do.  
  
The stream of orange ki flowed swiftly from Balair's hand, and it surrounded both Kekron   
and Caline like a spiral of golden wire, growing hotter and hotter, but to Balair's shock, the attack did not harm them-and then he knew why.  
  
Kekron was holding his hand out in the air in a "stop" position, and a small dome of pure energy was encasing him and Caline. The Fire Flare attack continued to spiral around them, but it dissipated in a few seconds when it hit the Shield Field that Kekron had made. The Prince of Chloe was now thankful that his father had made him learn that self-defense technique.  
  
Caline gasped, "What was that you just did? What are we in now?"  
  
Kekron whispered, laughing softly with relief, "I created a Shield Field, just like Father taught me to do. I never thought that I would need to use it, but I was proven wrong today." He lowered his hand, and the Shield Field remained in place, even when Balair fired various ki attacks at it. The foolish Sistrai warrior tried to kick and punch the dome of pure energy, but he was unsuccessful, and his anger increased.  
  
"Come out from under that thing, boy, and fight like a man!" Balair ordered.  
  
"I am fighting like a man," Kekron told him smartly. "Fighting like a smart man. What are you fighting like-a housefly trying to go out a closed window, beating against it until your wings fall off?"  
  
"Why, you little-" Balair fired another Fire Flare attack at the two adolescents, but again it didn't work. Kekron couldn't help, but grin a little when Balair began to rave and rant and fight against the Shield Field wall. The Shield Field would last for as long as Kekron could maintain it, which he hoped would be a while. The Prince of Chloe silently prayed that Balair would just give up and leave for now.  
  
"Don't think that I'm giving up yet!" Balair snarled, as he took a deep breath and powered up for another strong ki blast.  
  
Unfortunately for the Sistrai warrior, he wouldn't succeed in finishing, for at that moment, a strange bolt of lavender light shot through the ceiling and crashed into Balair, shoving him three feet into the ground. The one large bolt of violet ki formed into a birdcage-like structure, trapping Balair inside and sending out high voltages of electricity at his body, zapping him everywhere that they could hit. Balair was resistant to Electric Touch, but even he could not withstand high levels of voltage, and an attack like this one or Electric Quake could kill him. The Sistrai minion screamed in pure terror, as the bolts and streaks of electricity repeatedly zipped around and throughout his body, sending a nasty wave of electricity every time they hit his body. Thin, latticed strings of electric currents wrapped around Balair and wove themselves throughout his body, penetrating him in many places on him, as he stood helplessly inside the birdcage of ki.  
  
In a few minutes, the ki cage faded away, and a terrified Balair used what life he had left in him to flee the pocket. He knew for now that he was defeated, and that he had to go warn the others before it was too late. Hobbling, he barely managed to scurry out of the corridors in humiliating defeat; he was in no condition right now to retaliate against the one person that had attacked him, the one person that had managed to strike fear into his heart during the Battle of Chloe.  
  
Curse that Prince Raakon! Balair would get his revenge on him before this was over!  
  
"Prince Raakon and his stupid Shock Cage attack; that's how that Astorie bastard defeated me last time! Curse him a thousand times a thousand!" Balair howled, as he continued to scurry and stumble out of the labyrinths.  
  
"Son, are you and Caline okay?"  
  
"Pappa!" Kekron cried out loud, shrieking happily, as he swiftly dropped the Shield Field that had protected him and Caline. Tears of joy sprang to his eyes; he watched his beloved, brave father who had just saved them both, climb down from the hole that he had made in the ground above. His father was alive! His father, Prince Raakon Chloe, his father, his wonderful father, was alive!  
  
Raakon himself had tears in his eyes when he saw that his son was okay, and that he had protected both himself and Caline with a Shield Field. Kekron couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and he ran to his father and threw his arms around him like a little boy; Raakon embraced his son and held him tight to his chest. Caline slowly followed, and before she knew it, she was swept up in Gracina's loving arms and cuddled to the Astorian princess's soft, abundant bosom. All of the Astorians and their friends were now watching from above the hole in the ground that concealed the labyrinths.  
  
"Caline, Caline, are you okay?" Gracina whispered, kissing her firmly on her soft, light pink cheek. Caline wrapped her tiny arms around this woman that she wanted to be her mother.  
  
"Yes, yes, thanks to Kekron, he saved me," Caline whispered. "He saved me from Balair just before Raakon came and saved us both! He did something to stop Balair from turning himself into a cloud just by stepping on his toe."  
  
"You broke Balair's bones?" Raakon asked his son, who meekly nodded. "Kekron, that's amazing; I am very proud of you! It is not everyone that can break a Sistrai warrior's bones. Well done."  
  
"I don't know how I really did it, father," Kekron stammered. "I just stepped on his toe because I was so angry at him and worried about Caline. I didn't want him to hurt her anymore, so I just threw myself at him, not really knowing what I was doing. But what does my breaking his toe have to do with stopping himself from vaporizing himself?"  
  
"A Sistrai cannot vaporize when his bones are broken," Raakon explained. "I am very proud of you, my son, you were very brave."  
  
"Oh, Pappa, it was nothing really! You were the real hero when you fired that ki attack down the labyrinth at Balair! Caline and I must have forgotten to repress our ki, that must be how you found us down here," Kekron told his father.  
  
"Actually, we couldn't feel the ki of either one of you at all," Raakon admitted. "It was Veal's hearing that helped. She heard your voices, and we followed her here and found all of these people standing outside. I sensed Balair's ki very quickly, and I was thankful that my aim was accurate, I was afraid that I might hit Caline with my attack; I knew that you couldn't be harmed by it, but Caline is not Astorian and not invulnerable to electricity, so I had to be careful. Kami Orchida or the East Kai must be watching over us from afar."  
  
"Are you and Caline okay, Kekron?" Dirkan asked gruffly.  
  
Kekron panted happily, "Oh, we are now!"  
  
Tayla ran over to Caline and Gracina. She held her arms out, and Gracina pulled her into their embrace. Caline was being hugged tightly by both Tayla and Gracina, whom she was hugging them both back.  
  
"Are you okay, Caline?" Tayla asked.  
  
Caline said tearfully, "Thanks to Kekron and his father, I am; they saved me." She fell on Tayla's shoulder and wept with tears of relief and joy.  
  
Ridikar had followed Tayla over to Caline and Gracina, and he was looking at Caline with a pleading expression on his face. "Cali," he began ashamedly, "I want you to know, that I'm glad that you're alive, that I'm glad that you're okay. C-can you-you ever forgive me for how I-I've been towards you? Can we be siblings again, siblings who love each other?" He looked down and away from his beloved baby sister, the baby sister that he had treated cruelly for so long. "I-I know that I hurt you, and I hope someday to earn your forgiveness and love again. Is it too late for me, Cali? I'll understand, if you think that it is."  
  
Caline's blue eyes brimmed over with tears some more, and they cascaded down her face in an unceasing waterfall. "You-you don't hate me anymore, Ridikar?"  
  
"I never hated you, Cali, I never did, I just was so awful for so long to you, but it's my fault, not yours. I'm-I'm sorry that I didn't fight for you when Alberm hurt you, I'm sorry that I didn't protect you against Father, and I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise to Mother to protect and look after you. Can you ever love me again? Can we start over?" Ridikar said shakily; he could not look his youngest sibling in her face.  
  
Caline said quietly, as the tears continued to flow down her soft cheeks. "Gracina, Tayla, would you two please excuse me?"  
  
Gracina and Tayla did, and Caline slowly walked over to her brother and held out her tiny arms, looking pleadingly at him, hoping that he was speaking the truth, hoping that he would really be good to her again.  
  
She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat, and she couldn't talk, her eyes were full of tears, her throat was full of choked air, and her heart was full, still full of love and hope. She tried to talk, but her voice failed her, and all she could do was slide her arms around her brother. Ridikar seized her, and he scooped her up into his embrace, holding her for a long time, as both of them wept silently now, frozen in time. No words were exchanged, but it was not necessary at this moment; this embrace and the tears that they shed spoke the words of hope and forgiveness between them.  
  
Time stood still, as the wind blew all around the brother and sister, who had been torn apart by misguidance and a cruel father, but brought together by hope and a love that had once been nothing more than a dying ember, but now was once again a growing flame in a warm hearth on a winter night. Together, their hearts melded and began to heal. 


	81. Tying Up Loose Ends

A/N: About my poll so far, I want to thank those of you are taking the time to answer the questions. From what I'm gathering so far is that everyone hates Cletos, half want a Vegeta/Tayla pairing, the other half doesn't, and Dirkan, Vegeta, Tayla seem to be among the most popular characters. I hope to hear from more of you soon, and I will probably keep this poll up unti Monday, so you'll have time til then to answer.  
  
In case, I didn't mention this before, this is an A/U which means this story may or may not entirely follow the original DBZ timeline, so don't be surprised, if I twist things around a bit, and I probably will.  
  
I've noticed something about the character bios I wrote in "Birth of Tayla...", and some of the character bios may now be outdated, as some of the characters (such as Gorna and Rojal) have drastically changed from when I first wrote the bios. So if something doesn't match up there, remember that some of the characters have changed since then.  
  
Well enough rambling...on with the story!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Eighty-One: Tying Up Loose Ends  
  
The Magan Castle ballroom...  
  
"If anyone else here leaves, everyone dies! Are we making ourselves clear?" Dodoria demanded angrily to the remaining hostages, which consisted mainly of adults now. Between Steak, Caline, and Kekron, they had succeeded in getting almost all of the children, both Astorian and Calmagian, to safety.  
  
Only Pork and Crystalis now remained out of the young people, and they knew that they couldn't have escaped right away because Balair would notice them gone in a heartbeat. Ham and Steak would not leave them, and Steak was barely alive now; Dodoria had beaten the Meatian warrior to a bloody pulp, and he would have killed him, had Ham not intervened. Dodoria beat on Ham as well with his giant, pink fists, giving him a black eye, breaking his jaw and spraining his arm. Pork cried and tried to stop Dodoria from hurting his father and brother, but that earned him a cuff across his face.  
  
"You and that ugly brown thing that you call Crystalis are traitors-traitors that Frieza will obliterate once we win this war!" Dodoria declared furiously, watching a sitting Crystalis hold a bloodied Steak's head in her lap. Steak's dark pine-green blood did not go well with his scarlet hair and eyes, and the dark blood was coating him from head to toe. He had two black eyes, a bloody nose, a broken cheekbone, three broken ribs, and a broken arm. Crystalis was wiping him down with a damp rag and tending to him the best that she could. Ham was standing up near them, his fists clenched, but he did not dare to challenge the hated fat, pink Top Elite officer again.  
  
"When the Astorians come, you'll be sorry!" he dared to cry out furiously.  
  
"Shut up!" Dodoria growled.  
  
At that moment, a young woman came stumbling into the ballroom, and the Elite officers gasped when they saw her. She would have been beautiful had not her blue-and-silver-hair had been snarled, and bruises covered her slender, tall body. Her onyx eyes glowed in fury and humiliation, as she brushed debris and dust from her aqua and silvery hair with a scratched up, slim hand that was encrusted with crystal blue jewel nails. Several of her front clear blue teeth were missing, and she was barely able to walk.  
  
"D-Diamonique?" Dodoria asked.  
  
"Hey Dime!" Bhodie cried out cheerfully, and his greeting earned him a black scowl from the deadly Gemstarian warrior.  
  
"That slut-whore, Tayla Chloe, will pay for what she did to me! She'll pay for marring my beauty!" Diamonique hissed.  
  
"Diamonique, we thought that you had died," Dodoria told her, astonished. "Jaden and Chestra reported you as possibly being dead. What the hell happened to you?"  
  
"Tayla Chloe happened to me, that's what! I hate her, I hate her, and I hate her! She fired off a giant ki blast at me that trapped me in an avalanche! I almost died because of that little slutzini-"  
  
"What the hell is a slutzini?" Bhodie wanted to know.  
  
"It's Astorian for 'slut who opens her legs for any man'," Dodoria explained to him. "I know that because Diamonique complained that Vegeta had once called her that.  
  
Bhodie laughed good-naturedly. "A slutzini, eh? Hey, Dime, looks like you and the little Princess of Chloe that we're trying to capture have something in common! Hell, I didn't think a twelve-year-old girl would be screwing around already, but I lost my virginity when I was a year or so older than she is now, so-"  
  
"Shut up!" Diamonique screamed. "I am no slutzini! I am Lady Diamonique of the Diamondian Tribe, the Elite Tribe of Gemstar! And stop calling me Dime, you little Human earthworm!"  
  
"Hey, hey, take it easy, lady" Bhodie declared with a chuckle.  
  
Diamonique looked contemptuously at the Meatian men and Crystalis. "What the hell happened to them?"  
  
"Those Meatians got what they deserved," Dodoria told her. "I knew that we should have killed off every single one. Just like Astories, they don't know when to die!"  
  
"Crystalis seems awfully chummy with them," she observed.  
  
"Crystalis is a traitor who will be punished severely when we return, if she's not killed. And so is Pork. They actually had the nerve to turn to the side of the Astorians and the other Meatians until Balair intervened. Speaking of Balair, where is he?"  
  
"Oh, who cares?" Diamonique said, annoyed. "Let's just find that Astorie brat, Tayla Chloe, so I can give her what she deserves! I'll claw her and beat her before we hand her over to Lord Frieza!"  
  
"Easy, Diamonique," Dodoria counseled her. "Remember that Lord Frieza said she was to be brought to him unharmed, untouched, and unmolested. He'll send you to the next dimension if you harm her unnecessarily. Just be patient; we'll find the girl soon enough."  
  
"Not soon enough for me," Diamonique snapped.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Well, that's it," a resigned Hazel sighed to Natala when the Ginyu Force had began to herd everyone to the front of the ballroom away from the "restroom" (kitchenette leading to the labyrinths). "It's over now." The Ginyu Force was now standing guard in front of the remaining hostages, as everyone was forced to sit down on the cold, marble floor in huddles. Natala and Hazel were near the front, and Hazel kept giving Bhodie wary looks, worried that he would come for her any second.  
  
Natala took Hazel's hand and allowed herself to smile briefly, for she sensed a familiar ki just miles away. She smiled wider when she recognized it.  
  
"We're going to be okay, Hazel, I can just feel it. Even though we can't get any more people out of here, we're going to be okay!" Natala cried happily. She embraced her aunt-by-marriage warmly. "Raakon is here; I can feel him, he's here," she whispered joyously.  
  
"Can you sense Gohan?" Hazel asked worriedly.  
  
Natala saddened then. "I'm afraid that I can't. I can sense him nowhere, my dear. I am sorry."  
  
"I hope that he's okay."  
  
"Let's pray so, my dear. Raakon's uncle is a very strong warrior and police officer; I am sure that he is safe somewhere."  
  
"I hope he's still alive, and I hope that everyone made it out okay. How many hostages are left here, do you think?"  
  
"Over three-hundred, I'm afraid, still, but at least most of the children and elderly are out. Almost all of our people are out of here, except for you, Marya, the Meatians, and me. Marya insisted on staying for now to console the remaining captives. I hope that Kekron and Caline decided to leave instead of coming back here; I can sense their ki signatures, but they are much farther away now then before. Also-" Natala was interrupted when she felt Balair's ki coming closer and closer, and before she knew it, the menacing Sistrai warrior was standing in front of her, angry, with sweat pouring down his iridescent scarlet scales.  
  
"B-Balair-" she stammered, just before Balair roughly seized her by her right arm and dragged her to her feet. Natala desperately tried to cling to the green bedspread that she had used to cover herself, but it was starting to slip from her slender, cinnamon-skinned body. He seized her throat in his large, meaty burgundy fist, with his thick fingers encircling her slim, tall neck.  
  
"You will pay for your acts of treachery, wench! I would have been doing to this to your little Caline right now, but your hubby just had to come along and intervene! I'll give that brat of yours, that boy credit! The little bastard broke my toe, and he'll pay for it later, but for right now, it's time for you to serve your sentence! I'll wait no longer for you; we're going upstairs now! And this time, I'm getting action from you, no talking, and no question-and-answer sections! Just good, hard screwing! You are mine now, and your hubby may have won the battle, but he won't win the war!"  
  
"Let me go!" Natala hissed in fury, not in a mood to try to appease him now. "You better not even think of touching me again because my husband is close, and he will-" Balair slapped her across her lovely face.  
  
"Shut up! You're coming with me, and if you don't do what you are told or resist me in any way, I'll start killing everyone in here, one by one, got it? I'm serious now, wench, and when we get upstairs, we're going to mate, not chat, so I don't want any of your two million questions about my life or whatever, got it?"  
  
Natala looked deep into Balair's glowing yellow eyes, which seemed to her at this moment windows into a fiery hell. Her bravado began to fade slowly, when she realized that Balair was serious this time. No entertaining, no talking, none of her methods of persuasion would delay him any longer. He was in a foul mood, in a mood to kill her, if he wanted to.  
  
"You don't come with me now, I'll start with your friend's life, and I don't care if Bhode wants her for his whore or not; she dies, if you don't comply, is that clear? Understand?"  
  
Natala nodded slowly.  
  
"Good girl; now if you'll be nice to me, I'll be nice to you. But little talk, no questions, just some sweet screwing to make us both happy. A man gets tired of talk and questions. Let's go!"  
  
"You bastard!" Hazel screamed. "You let her go!"  
  
"Hazel, please," Natala told her pleadingly. She took Balair's arm, trying not to flinch at touching him. "Balair, you don't have to be so rough, you really don't. I'll come with you," she told him as steadily as possible.  
  
"You better; you're my woman now, and I'll finish off your hubby eventually. Until then, you and I are going to have some fun, sweetness," Balair declared triumphantly, as he dragged Natala away from Hazel and out of the ballroom.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On one of Frieza's hospital cruisers…  
  
"I'm glad that we thought of taking a hospital cruiser as our method of transport," Skale commented to Minosh, who was busy entering figures into a computer in the control panel.  
  
"Sure, yeah, sure," Minosh said politely, trying to pay as little attention to Skale as possible, for he tended to look down on the Rezdakian Technical Officer.  
  
The hospital cruiser was a triangular, two-story gold ship with the latest medical technology suited for just about any occasion and any species. Skale and Minosh had taken a team of the best Medical Officers with them to planet Calmag, and they had found the Ginyu Girls first. Dr. Patina (Patina was her first name), a Gemstarian doctor from the Silver Tribe (two levels below the Elite Diamondian tribe and a tribe which normally had the best medical personnel) had led the medical team to Calmag, and she and her staff had been treating the Ginyu Girls for their injuries. They had met up with Jaden and Chestra in the Mountains of Ensley, and with Chestra's help, they had been able to find the severely wounded Saiyans and put them on the ship. The four Saiyans were now in two separate hospital rooms, with the three men in one and Journa in another. The Ginyu Girls occupied three rooms, and Jaden and Chestra shared a room. All of the patients were hooked up to I.V. needles, and they were having their vital signs, blood pressure, breathing rate, and heart rates monitored closely.  
  
Dr. Patina, like most Gemstarian women, was beautiful; she had dark, long, curly eggplant-purple hair with violet streaks in it and large black diamond eyes and high cheekbones with a tiny, pointed nose and pouty pale blue lips. She also was tall, had the peach-blue skin, the crystal blue teeth, and the deadly diamond nails (which she had never used as a weapon on anyone). She was Dr. Katsen's second-in-command, and as excellent a doctor as he was. She was a no-nonsense physician, who had no qualms about rebuking or restraining difficult patients, and she did not fear the Saiyans, no matter how hard a time they gave her.   
  
The Saiyans were her most difficult patients because they had wanted to get back to fighting once they had been released from the healing tanks, but Dr. Patina refused to allow them to leave. She said that they needed to rest, and they were going to do so, no matter what. Even Vegeta's death threats did not faze her, for like Diamonique, she could turn them into diamond statues (something that she had to occasionally do with rowdy patients). After turning Nappa into a diamond statue briefly to prove her point and then reversing the spell, the grumpy Saiyans reluctantly agreed to stay in bed, even though Vegeta continued to plot her demise.  
  
But Commander Jaden could be just as difficult as the Saiyan quartet that had given Dr. Patina such a hard time. Jaden kept insisting angrily that she was well enough to go back and fight, but Dr. Patina also stood her ground with the fierce Rybanese warrior. It was Commander Chestra's convincing Jaden to listen to the good doctor that finally made Jaden calm down and rest. If Chestra had not intervened, the Gemstarian doctor would have been a glass sculpture by now.  
  
Dr. Patina finally released Chestra from her care and said that Chestra could go back and fight now, if she wanted. Chestra would have, but Frieza had ordered her to stay on the medical cruiser until he gave further instructions. Chestra opted until then to stay in Jaden's room, where Jaden was sulking because she wanted to back and fight.  
  
"Consider this a well-deserved break," Chestra told her best friend cheerfully with a smile, as she lounged in a pink, velvet-like chair near Jaden's sterile white hospital bed.  
  
"Yeah, break-as in Lord Frieza's going to break my neck!" Jaden growled. "Curse Dr. Patina! She's making me stay here just to torture me! I know that I'm well enough to go back and fight!"  
  
"Doctors know best," Chestra said calmly. "If she is keeping you here, then it's probably for a good reason. Just rest and relax for now, Jaden; worry about Lord Frieza when we get back."  
  
"I hope that the others succeed where we couldn't," Jaden told her wearily, finally agreeing to go to sleep and close her eyes.  
  
"I hope that Zarbon is okay," Chestra said concernedly, wondering about her love.  
  
"He'll be fine," Jaden murmured sleepily, just before she fell asleep. (Dr. Patina had put some sedative in her I.V. needle to calm the Rybanese warrior [and keep her from wrecking everything in sight].) Chestra was grateful for that; maybe when Jaden woke up, she'd be in a good mood (well as good as a mood that the normally difficult Jaden could ever be in).  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz's hospital room  
  
"I'll send that doctor into the next dimension when I get out of here!" Vegeta declared furiously. "I am well now, and I want to finish my fight with Tayla!"  
  
"I'm afraid that Tayla pretty much finished it for you, Prince," Raditz said recklessly, as he turned over away from Vegeta to make himself more comfortable. "Just relax, Vegeta, and rest for once; there' s nothing more that we can do. And you can't kill Dr. Patina 'cause she's one of Lord Frieza's favorite Medical people, and to kill any of Frieza's favorites is like signing your own death warrant."  
  
"I'll sign that Tayla's death warrant once I get back to her!" Vegeta growled. "One day, I will show her that I am superior to her! I will become stronger than her, and when I do, I will show her once and for all who is the strongest fighter, an Elite Saiyan fighter, a Prince! No Princess of Chloe is going to be stronger than me forever!"  
  
"I'd like to get back at that Namek, Dirkan, for what he did to me!" Nappa roared from the hospital bed next to Vegeta's. "Who ever thought that I could be defeated by some green slug? He'll pay for that next time we meet! What does Shalila Chloe see in him, I can't imagine?"  
  
"That Namek must be good in bed is all I can say!" Raditz chortled.  
  
"Yeah, but I thought that Nameks were supposed to be asexual," Nappa stated. "I thought that they couldn't get it on with anybody."  
  
"You both are fools," Vegeta told them. "Nameks cannot reproduce the same way other species can, that's true, but they can mate, although it is very rare that they do. Anyway, enough about the Namek, now we have to figure out to explain that pink-and-white lizard we call Frieza why once again Tayla and her family defeated us! I'm glad that we are not within his range at this moment, the old bastard!"  
  
"Hey, Prince, do you think that we three are strong enough to take him now?" Nappa asked.  
  
"Not yet, Nappa, not yet. I have to plan this carefully because we will only get one chance to give him what he richly deserves. One day, we will topple him and Zarbon and Dodoria and the rest of most of the Top Elite. Until then, we must continue to grow stronger. But right now, we can't afford to do anything foolish."  
  
"So any ideas so far, Prince?" Raditz asked.  
  
"Well, I am-shut up now, boys, Dr. Patina is coming; we can't allow her to repeat what we say to Frieza. Quiet now!" Vegeta ordered, as Dr. Patina entered the room, carrying a tray of pills in little plastic cups.  
  
"Hello gentlemen," she told them pleasantly. "I trust that you are taking this time to rest-or are you still plotting my death?" The no-nonsense doctor had a wry sense of humor when she chose to use it. She gave each of the men a cup of pills, which Nappa and Raditz reluctantly took.   
  
Vegeta looked at the pills suspiciously, and he glared at the doctor. "What the hell are these?"  
  
"My, my, such language. Well, the pink pill is a sedative, and the red pill is a painkiller. Either way, you three boys are going to sleep. Goodnight!" she said brightly, as she started to leave.  
  
"Wait, woman!" Vegeta called after her. "How is my sister?" He grudgingly took the pills after he had asked her.  
  
"My name is Dr. Patina, not woman," Dr. Patina told him curtly. "And as for your sister, she is well, and just as vocal and feisty as you and your friends. Like you, she wants to get back and fight, but she's not going anywhere either."  
  
"We are Saiyans, WOMAN," Vegeta told her sharply. "And Saiyans are warriors, not sluggards; and we want out of here."  
  
"That will be enough, young man. Go to sleep," Dr. Patina ordered briskly, and Vegeta scowled darkly at her. He hated it when anyone referred to him as "young man".  
  
Eclipse tottered to the entranceway of the room. "Dr. Patina, may I please see Nappa for a few moments?" she asked softly.  
  
Dr. Patina said, "Just for a few minutes, Lady Eclipse, and then you should get back to bed yourself. I didn't release you entirely yet; I just allowed you to walk about for a bit. If you feel tired or whatever, get back to bed. Maybe you can talk some sense into these three." And with that, the Gemstarian doctor left, as Eclipse pulled up a folding chair to Nappa's bed. She leaned over and kissed him gently on his lips.  
  
"Ah…" Nappa sighed contentedly. "Now that is a real cure!"  
  
Eclipse smiled, as she took Nappa's large, muscular hand into her small, slender one. The big Saiyan pulled Eclipse's tiny hand to his lips and kissed it. "So, gorgeous, I was starting to worry I'd never see you again," Nappa told her.  
  
"Dr. Patina told me that you almost died; I was worried myself. But then there isn't much that can kill a Saiyan, is there?" Eclipse said happily, as she noticed Nappa scooting away from her to the other side of the bed. He patted the side next to him invitingly, indicating that he wanted Eclipse to lie down besides him, and Eclipse did so. She lay on the bed next to her hunky Saiyan warrior and snuggled close. Nappa wrapped his huge arms around her waist, leaned over and whispered something in Eclipse's ear. Eclipse blushed slightly, a violet tinge touching her cheeks (Gemstarians always blushed a light violet color, even those of mixed breed).  
  
"You sure you don't mind being exclusive?" Nappa asked her gruffly. "Because I won't be sharing you with any other man after this anymore; I'll blast any male who even thinks of touching you."  
  
"I don't mind having you as my one and only," Eclipse responded softly in a giggle. "I'll be breaking a lot of hearts when we get back, but they'll live!"  
  
Nappa laughed, and then suddenly he leaned over and sank his teeth into the base of Eclipse's peach-blue neck. The Ginyu Girl Squad Leader cried out in pain, but the pain slowly lessened, as Nappa lapped at her wound, sending pleasant shivers down her spine. Eclipse curled into her new mate, as Nappa pulled her closer to him.   
  
Vegeta tried to pay as little attention as possible to this tender scene, but he couldn't help it. He just hoped that Nappa knew what he was doing. Nappa had officially made Eclipse his mate, and now they were bonded for life. The young prince shook his head at this; didn't Raditz and Nappa and Journa know how dangerous it was for them to have a permanent mate right now? Nappa and Raditz apparently didn't realize that a woman, a permanent mate, could be tortured or abused by Frieza should either man displease the cruel warlord. Journa and Raditz didn't realize just how much danger they were putting themselves in, and obviously Nappa and Eclipse didn't either. Frieza could use a permanent mate against the three subordinate Saiyans, should they ever refuse an order or get out of line. Having a regular mate made one vulnerable, and Vegeta was glad at this time that he did not have one. It was too risky to have one, and an everyday bedmate was too much trouble to have right now, as she would interfere with the time for Vegeta's training and fighting.  
  
He just hoped that Raditz, Nappa, and Journa remembered that all of the Saiyans were still under Frieza's no-procreation order. Vegeta was just thankful that Frieza didn't put them under a no-copulation order as well, or he and the other two Saiyan men would have gone crazy.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"He's gone," Gohan told Jaca, Herkon, and Kiran, who had been fighting with him. "There's nothing more that we can do." Prince Gohan Chloe was kneeling on the ground, sadly holding the head of a dead Astorian warrior in his arms. This Astorian had been an unobtrusive, but nevertheless an important personage.  
  
"How's Aunt Gorna going to take this?" Jaca asked worriedly. Jaca Chloe was the daughter of Ralia Chloe, Gorna's sister, who had been killed during the invasion of the Korin. Her father was raising Jaca, but he worked for Intergalacticpol, and he was on one of the search-and-rescue teams that were trying to find Jaca's Uncle Jaypros and Aunt Farla, so Jaca had been staying with Gohan and Hazel.   
Thirteen-year-old Jaca had golden-brown hair and emerald eyes the same shade as Dirkan's skin, and she was as tall as Gracina with a sturdy and muscular figure with very few curves. She was an average warrior, one who was good enough to kill weaker enemies, but not someone who had the potential to become as strong as Tayla, Riccan, Rojal, or Dedron. She stood next to Kiran, touching hands with him. Fourteen-year-old Kiran was Bendros' younger brother, and he was average looking with mousy brown hair and dull black eyes. He was short and stout, and while he was pleasant enough to look it, the plain boy had not been blessed with his eldest brother's good looks. He and Jaca were becoming more than friends; they were falling in love with each other.   
  
Kiran's short tail waved gently in the wind, as he stood in a green and silver fighting gi (green and silver were the Clan of Sahara colors). He shook his head mournfully; he noticed Prince Gohan Chloe, Chief of Intergalacticpol, sadly look over the recently dead body of one of their comrades. This man had just died after fighting the Sistrai warrior named Taguar, whom he had broken his tail. Taguar, the only Upper Low-Level to survive the onslaught so far had avenged himself by using a special technique known to him as Fire Marble Shower. Taguar had released a small disk of ki the size of a mini-Frisbee that had hovered above the Astorian victim's head. Before the Astorian warrior could fight back, Taguar had shouted out the name of the attack, and the ki disk rained small, deadly balls of fire down upon the hapless Astorian fighter, forcing his temperature to go up a hundred degrees hotter than what it should be. The helpless fighter died quickly before anyone could save him, and when the attack had been completed, he was nothing more than a corpse covered with black, third-degree burn marks.  
  
The furious children had avenged their comrade by attacking Taguar at once with their swords, and it had been Jaca, the average warrior, who had chopped off Taguar's head with her sword. Taguar's head was now resting in a mud puddle, and the rest of his body had been burned away by Herkon's ki blast. Taguar had been only as one-fifth as strong as Balair, his cousin, and if he had been strong as Balair, he would have still lived. Jaca had killed him all too easily.  
  
Now all of Taguar's team were dead, but then so was their comrade, the first known Astorian casualty in this war on Calmag.  
  
Gohan looked down sadly at the older man lying in his arms. The indigo blood had long dried up, and it stained what was left of his clothes. The Astorian man, a Prince of Chloe, had not been much to look at, for he had been short and scrawny with an ugly face that contained a fat nose with a dark brown receding hairline. His only redeeming feature had been his green eyes, his handsome green eyes that were even greener than Jaca's, the color of sun-kissed grass. It had been those eyes and his once smooth manner that had made his wife fall in love with him, even though he was no longer attractive to her. He had let his wife rule over him, and he had not pleased her too well; while he had been alive, he knew that their grandfather had not thought much about him.  
  
Now he was gone forever, someone that no one had really paid attention to except when it came to certain royal matters. He had been someone whom his wife would grieve sincerely for, but she would quickly move on, for the passion and love had faded away years ago, and they had not slept together in two years.  
  
He had been a man whom his siblings and cousins had regarded as a cowardly warrior, and indeed he had been for most of his life, but he had fought bravely in the end. He would never get a chance to fully redeem himself.  
  
"Poor Gorna," Gohan said wearily. "How am I supposed to explain to her that her husband, Etros, has died? I know that she is a strong woman, but this will still come as a shock."  
Gohan, using a ki blast, then blasted a hole in the soft, brown ground deep enough for a grave. Within an hour, he and the others had buried Prince Etros Chloe, the once future Superior Granden of Astoria, who would have ruled with his wife when Princess Gorna Chloe had taken the throne in her grandmother's place.  
  
"It's time to go now, children," he said softly. "We must worry now about those who live."  
  
And with that, they slowly and sadly flew into the air and away from Etros Chloe's grave. 


	82. This Ends Today!

A/N: I have removed the poll, with the results of only four people actually responding. I want to thank Lothaw, Badgerwolf, Sarra, and Cirono for taking the time to answer, I really appreciate it, and with the responses that I did get, I got a little bit of insight of what people like in my stories. So again thank you to those who did answer my questions.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Chapter Eighty-Two: "This Ends Today!"  
  
An hour later, twenty miles from the castle on the other side of Magan in Magan's one and only park…  
  
"Caline knows the labyrinths better than I do," Ridikar told everyone, "so I think we ought to bring her back with us."  
  
"I agree," Kekron told him. "If it hadn't been for her knowing her way around the labyrinths below the castle and beyond, we wouldn't have accomplished this much."  
  
Ridikar replied, "Caline and I used to play in the labyrinths around here when we were much younger, but Caline began coming back to them more often after Father had began to train me with his men. It's been a few years since I've really been in the labyrinths, but Caline kept coming back to them to play in and to hide from Father's rages. Father hated the labyrinths, and he was claustrophobic, hating dark, enclosed places, so they were a safe place for Caline to hide and stay in when he was in a bad mood."  
  
Caline paled; she was glad that her brother was showing such confidence in her, especially after all he had put her through before, but she was not sure that she wanted to go back to the royal castle and face Balair and Dodoria and the other evil beings.   
  
Caline was quiet and reflective and somber; Ridikar had told her thirty minutes ago about their father's death, and Caline had accepted the news very calmly. She felt like she should be crying; most little girls would cry if their fathers died, but she could not bring herself to shed a tear. All of her life before her forced marriage to Alberm, she had tried desperately to obtain her father's love and affection, but she had received none. Scoldings, beatings, and cruel snubs had all that he had ever given her, and what love Caline had for him had died the day that Amitar had beaten her for running away from home to get out of marrying Alberm. To her guilt and amazement, she felt only relief that he would not hurt her anymore mixed with anxiety over her future fate now that Ridikar and her grandfather, King Kitchator would be in charge of her.   
  
She was now sitting on a log underneath a shady tree that resembled a willow tree with a snow-white trunk and pale pink leaves. Tayla was sitting next to her, patting her back.  
  
"Are you okay?" Tayla asked her for the third time.  
  
Caline said softly, "I-I believe so. I have tried for the last half an hour to cry, but I can't do it; the tears won't come. I know that I should be mourning Father, but I can't. Is it terrible that I can't cry for him?"  
  
"No, I don't think so," Tayla told her honestly. In her private opinion, Amitar wasn't really worth mourning for, but she wisely kept that thought to herself, at least with Ridikar and Caline. Tayla was not too surprised that Caline would accept the news of Amitar's death far more composedly than Ridikar had. Nevertheless, she stayed with her in case Caline should need her.  
  
"I wish I had one happy memory about Father, but I don't," Caline said hoarsely. "I always knew that he never really wanted me, that I was nothing but a nuisance to him, a burden. I've sometimes wondered if he was right."  
  
"He wasn't right!" Tayla insisted sharply, so sharply, that Caline drew back away from her, startled. Tayla immediately regretted raising her voice, and she softened her clear, dulcet tone. "I didn't mean to shout, Caline, I am sorry, but Amitar was nothing but a bastardi prickien who wasn't even worthy of someone like you-"  
  
"Tayla, I heard that," Gracina said reproachfully from two feet away. "It is not nice to malign the dead, especially if it's in front of a relative." She came over to Tayla and Caline then, and she sat down next to Caline and gathered her close. She patted the other side of the log next to her, beckoning Tayla to sit on the other side, which Tayla did.  
  
"Sorry, Gracina, Caline," Tayla said quickly. "But I don't think much of Amitar, even though I know that it's not nice to say so."  
  
"It's okay, Tayla, he wasn't that great a father, although Ridikar told me he was a fine warrior," Caline said quietly, as she cast her turquoise eyes, the color of Astorian blood, on the ruined city of Magan. The buildings were demolished, with only half of them still standing, and the street that ran in front of the Magan Park was cracked, with the blacktop pieces of the pavement scattered about like a black puzzle with sharp jigsaw pieces. There was very little left of downtown Magan, the tall, majestic skyscrapers, which had resembled giant steel guards had all crumbled into a pile of blackened ash and debris, with fires still burning below the rubble. The few firefighters still living were rushing to and fro, dressed in shiny, plastic blue suits and hard hats, as they tried to put out the fires from their dark blue fire trucks, the three fire trucks that they had still intact. Some of the Calmagian men that Caline and Kekron and Steak had helped to escape had joined the firefighters in putting out the flames, some even using buckets carrying stream water. Some of the adult Astorians, men and women, were also helping to bring water to put out the flames of the dying technology beauty once known as the city of Magan.  
  
Caline and Tayla and Gracina watched the plumes of the smoke coming from the once burning buildings slowly fade away. Both girls looked at Gracina, who was holding them both close with her slender arms blackened with dirt and smoke; Gracina had been helping earlier with putting the fires out, and she was tired.   
  
"How are you doing, Caline?" Gracina asked kindly.  
  
"I am okay, really, thank you for asking," Caline said softly. Her blue eyes suddenly widened when she noticed a rose bush nearby three feet away, still intact, with lovely blue roses, the color of Caline's aqua eyes and the blood of the Astorians. Caline then remembered something, something that her mother had told her many years ago about the blue Calmagian musk roses, a half-remembered secret that she only now had begun to remember. She had not remembered this secret in years, for it had died along with her beloved mother.  
  
When Caline had been about three or four, her mother had used the oily rose petals to drip healing liquid onto a cut that Caline had obtained when she had ran her finger into a sharp nail. Caline now suddenly remembered that the cut had healed instantly after a couple of drops of rose oil had been applied. She knew that her mother, Shydine, a loving woman who cared for her youngest child when no one else would, believed in the healing power of the musk roses, something that very few Calmagians had taken seriously. Calmagians had stopped believing and putting their faith in herbal cures years ago, having complete confidence in the manufactured medicines that the major pharmaceutical companies of Calmag produced for them. The companies had refused to even research or spend the time and money to use the musk roses because they could not patent the natural medicine exclusively for themselves. But Caline and her mother had always believed, even though very few of their family members did. Caline abruptly left Tayla and Gracina, and she rushed over to the roses. The musk roses had no thorns unlike Earth roses, and she was able to pluck three of them off of the bush easily. She brought the mystical flowers back over to Tayla and Gracina and handed them each a rose.  
  
Gracina smiled, "How sweet! Thank you, dear!"  
  
"Thank you, Caline, it smells nice," Tayla told her warmly.  
  
"They're not just for show," Caline told them. "Mother showed me a secret about these roses when I was small, a secret that no one would take seriously. The oils on the petals are supposed to instantly heal wounds; the only catch is that only a few drops of oil can be obtained from each rose petal, so it takes a rose or two per person for his or her wounds to be completely healed. It was just now that I remembered, for Mother had used one of them to treat a cut that I had, just a few weeks before, before, she died." Caline's voice shook on the last word, but she managed to remain calm.  
  
Tayla looked thoughtfully at the rose, removing a petal, and then she rubbed the petal onto her exposed, broken shoulder. She gasped aloud with shock when the shoulder healed itself within seconds of the strange treatment.  
  
"My shoulder feels much better!" she exclaimed in amazement and delight.  
  
Gracina tentatively rubbed a torn rose petal onto a cut hand, and the cuts on her slender, graceful hand vanished almost immediately, leaving nothing left but smooth, peaches-and-cream skin.  
  
"Sweet Orchida!" she gasped, and then she and Tayla carefully tore rose petals from the flowers and began to rub them all over their bodies, where the oils began to heal cuts and gashes and then mend the broken bones. Tayla dabbed a petal onto her jaw, and she was happier that her jawbone had now completely healed. Gracina cried out happily when a few drops of oil fixed a sprained wrist that had been troubling her earlier.  
  
Caline used her rose to heal her own wounds, and while the two Astorian princesses were tending to their injuries, Caline scurried over to a brooding Raakon with a blue rose. She felt sorry for him because he could not be with Natala, and she wanted to help him cheer up and heal.  
  
A puzzled Raakon accepted the rose with a quiet thanks, and Caline whispered to him it was for luck. He was even more puzzled then when Caline told him to tear off a few petals and squeeze them onto his wounds. Before Raakon could inquire as to why, Caline swiftly left.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The discussion among the young men about her continued…  
  
"…Well then maybe Amitar being such a bastard monkey wasn't such a bad thing after all," Rojal stated.  
  
"Rojal!" Gorna scolded. "Such language!" she said sharply, as she briefly walked past the young men in search of Shalila.  
  
"He was Ridikar's father, Rojal," Arlon said reprovingly.  
  
Rojal gave an exasperated sigh. "C'mon, Uncle Arlon, you know I was telling the truth. He didn't deserve to have someone like Caline for a daughter. Look at what she's done for us so far; she and Kekron here helped to get almost all of our people out to safety, plus many of the Calmagians. Ridikar, I apologize, if I offended you just now, but you have to agree that you father wasn't exactly what Great-Nama would call a saint."  
  
"What is a saint?" Ridikar asked, puzzled.  
  
"Someone who is either a heavenly person or a holy or godly person," Riccan piped up. "Great-Nama told me that before when I brought her a cup of tea and her writing tablet. She said, 'Thank you, Riccan, you are an absolute saint', and then I asked what it was. That's how I know what a saint is."  
  
"Well, I wouldn't call Father heavenly or holy, although he did seem to be above everyone except for Grandfather," Ridikar responded. "Anyone, Rojal is right; without Caline and Kekron, many of these people probably would still be hostages right now, including my brothers. I am thankful that my older sisters, Rosyn and Meyline, are on the other side of Calmag right now, where no fighting has occurred yet. Julien has just returned from battling himself, and it seems from what his commander has told me, my brother has done well. He may be only fourteen, but he's getting as good a fighter as Father was. Naykiar thankfully made it out with the other Calmagians. He is thirteen, and he sure was mad because he wasn't considered old enough to fight at the time, but he was never much of a warrior anyway. I'll be back shortly." And with that, Ridikar left the young men to find his brother, Julien.  
  
"Caline was very brave," Kekron spoke up. "When I first met the shy little thing, I never knew that she had it in her to do what she did. She easily led all of the hostages that we could take through the labyrinths to the outside in the Magan woods. Steak and I would have got lost in the labyrinths, if it wasn't for her. Most of the credit would go to her, I say." He looked over at Caline, who was now placidly sitting with his aunts, Tayla and Gracina, and he smiled wistfully.   
  
Rojal looked over at Caline with him. Gracina had procured a new dress for Caline earlier from the ruins of a clothing shop, and Caline was now dressed in a pale lavender dress that had a scoop neckline with puffed sleeves that reached down to her slim ankles. Gracina had washed both Caline's and Tayla's faces earlier the best that she could, and she had managed to find a simple fighting gi for Tayla that was light blue with short sleeves and a white obi out of the same clothing shop. Both older boys, Rojal and Kekron, couldn't keep their eyes off of Caline; Tayla was lovely too, but she was their youngest aunt and therefore not a prospect, so their full attention was on Caline, who at that time most people would have considered prettier than Tayla because of her fair looks and large, appealing cobalt-blue eyes and lovely, cornsilk-like hair.  
  
"Too bad she's not older," Rojal said thoughtfully, after a few moments. "If she was about fourteen or fifteen, I might have tried to pursue her. She is a pretty little thing."  
  
"I fancy her myself," Kekron admitted. "But she is only eleven, and even though she's already been married once, it wouldn't be right, I don't think, to try to court her at this time, or even right after this war ends, assuming any of us are still alive."  
  
"She's still a child," Rojal observed. "But children do grow up, and who knows? If she gets to go home to Astoria with us, then maybe in a few years, well…"  
  
"She'll be eligible for courting?" Kekron finished. "About fourteen years of age or so, assuming that she would even want another husband or beau?"  
  
"Petalia has mentioned that Caline never wanted to marry again," Rojal said quietly. "But she's only eleven still, and that's much too young to decide that you don't want a man ever."  
  
"She's scared of that sort of thing now," Kekron pointed out. "She doesn't mind if Uncle Lektron or Dirkan touch her because she doesn't view them as threats, but as father figures, but she doesn't seem to like the idea of a male being interested in her. I don't think that she trusts men in that capacity anymore, and I don't blame her. Father has told me that most females who have been sexually assaulted like her are uncomfortable with romantic love or sex."  
  
"Poor thing," Rojal said, a bit sadly. "I feel sorry for her. I'm glad that she's rid of Alberm. I would have liked to blast him myself, but that Rybanese warrior called Jaden beat me to it."  
  
Kekron looked at his normally selfish cousin, stunned. In all the years that Kekron had known the bratty, arrogant Rojal, he had rarely ever seen or heard Rojal show or express sympathy or caring for another person besides himself other than Dedron and perhaps his mother, Gorna. Rojal had changed a lot since the war had begun; Kekron had noticed that Rojal had grown up a lot and had become more humane. Most of the time before, Kekron couldn't have borne to be around Rojal for too long. Rojal had been self-absorbed and opportunistic, caring for little except to become stronger than Tayla and train to become a fine warrior and the next ruler of Astoria. Rojal was still overly confident at times, even if he had lost to Vegeta and his bunch before, and a bit arrogant still, but he didn't seem to be so bad now as he was before. If Kekron had lived on planet Earth, he would have thought that Rojal was becoming more human.  
  
Other than losing to Vegeta and Journa earlier, Rojal had definitely proven himself to be a fine, powerful warrior who would possibly someday obtain his Awakening. He had killed most of the Upper Low-Levels himself and many Saibamen, and he had helped Dirkan earlier to defeat the Saiyan called Raditz. He had done himself and his family proud, and Kekron truly had to give him credit. Rojal was much smarter these days as well; he was no longer content to have his mother coddle him, and he had become a man.  
  
"You've changed, Rojal," Kekron told him.  
  
"Huh?" Rojal asked puzzled.  
  
"I've never heard you express concern for someone else before."  
  
"Um…right…" Rojal said, uncomfortable with Kekron pointing out the changes in him. He and Kekron had never been really close, and he was uneasy with Kekron seeing into his soul so well. He wasn't ready yet to fully see and accept the new, more mature, manly person that he had now become. He quickly changed the subject back to Caline, whom he now considered to be a safer-and much more interesting-topic.  
  
"Well, at least Caline should be safe now, and she can definitely come home with us, surely King Kitchator couldn't find reason to object," Rojal pointed out.  
  
"She does have a family, and I doubt that she would want to leave Ridikar behind," Kekron told him. Then he saw a short, stocky, muscular, barrel-chested young man with a black mustache and hair on top talking with Julien and Ridikar twenty feet away from Caline, Tayla and Gracina. He looked smarmy and slick, despite his burly appearance, and he had bad skin that was rough and bumpy and hairy. He was dressed in a faded, tattered gray army uniform and worn brown boots. A hawk-like nose was his most remarkable feature, and it was sharp and pointed.  
  
"That guy over there looks like a humanoid hawk!" Rojal cracked, as he watched the strange man.  
  
Kekron permitted himself a small smile, but then the small smile faded to a deep frown.   
"Rojal, that's Filcor Sedemeyer. My Kami! I just remembered that Amitar had promised Caline to him."  
  
"What???" Rojal exclaimed. "He's too old for her and uglier than an Oozaru!"  
  
Kekron briefly told his crown prince cousin what Caline had told him about Filcor, and Rojal's frown now matched Kekron's. "He sounds like a carbon copy of Alberm, despite the difference in looks. And has anyone broken Caline's engagement to him yet?"  
  
"Caline has said that she doesn't want to marry him, but her opinion doesn't matter in Calmagian law."  
  
"Can't Ridikar release her from that engagement? He's in charge of her now, isn't he, now that Amitar has passed on?"  
  
"Yes, but I don't know if Ridikar has released her."  
  
"Kekron," Rojal began seriously. "Caline is only eleven, and I've been thinking. If there was a way to get her to come home with us, and then one or both of us could obtain her trust and affection, then maybe she would be willing to be courted when she gets a little older. You seem to like her, from what I can tell, and so do I. She's too young right now, but in a few years, she'll be eligible by our standards to be courted and pursued. If we can get her to like one of us…" A slow smile spread over Rojal's face, as he continued, "By the time she was fourteen or fifteen or so, she might be willing to let one of us pursue her."  
  
"Isn't that a bit sneaky?" Kekron asked him. "I'd feel as if we'd be using her."  
  
"She could refuse us, if she wanted, I'm just saying, Kekron, just thinking of the future. At least she'd know that not all men are like Alberm or Amitar or this Filcor. I know that if she ever got to trust us or like us, only one of us would be able to have her."  
  
"That could cause problems, us eventually competing for the same girl," Kekron pointed out.  
  
"We'll deal with that when it comes. For now we have to get her out of her engagement to that awful Filcor, even if it means threatening Ridikar to do it. I don't care if he and Tayla are making up; he's not forcing his sister into another bad marriage. And we would check out other girls as well, since only one of us could have Caline-" Rojal would have continued, if not for Filcor's shouting voice from the distance:  
  
"Your father promised her to me, Prince Ridikar! If you were a man of honor, you would insist that she still marry me!"  
  
"She doesn't want to marry you, Filcor, and I am not going to force her to. I understand that you did a lot for my father when he was alive, and I will see that you are rewarded for it, but I cannot make Caline marry you, if she does not wish to do so. If Caline wishes to marry again, it will be of her own choice this time. I am sorry, Filcor, but I am breaking the engagement agreement."  
  
"I'll go to your grandfather!" Filcor threatened.  
  
"Do so then," Ridikar told Filcor calmly. "But if Caline doesn't want to be your bride, then she won't be. End of story, sorry."  
  
"This isn't over, Prince Ridikar, you don't rule Calmag yet! Your grandfather is still a hostage, for he did not make it out with the others, but when I help to rescue him, he will surely agree to honor the betrothal agreement that your father made with me before he died."  
  
"You don't scare me, Filcor," Ridikar told him coolly. "Remember that I will rule over you one day, and much sooner since my father has died. My word takes place of his word now. Accept it and find someone else."  
  
"Don't pull rank on me, Prince!" Filcor growled. "When we rescue King Kitchator, I will see that he helps me! He at least is a man of honor, and he will let me have Caline! I will have her yet! And with that, Filcor turned on his heel and left.  
  
Fourteen-year-old Julien frowned, his scowl resembling the dark scowl that used to rest so easily on Amitar's face. Despite his hefty weight (he was about half of Alberm's size), Julien's looks were handsome, a masculine version of Caline's fair looks, and while he and Ridikar were close, and Julien greatly envied his older brother's birthright to Calmag's throne. Julien also embraced their father's values and ideals much more tightly than even Ridikar himself had.  
  
"Ridikar, Father did promise Caline to Sedemeyer, and I believe that he would want his wishes honored," Julien pointed out to his brother. "Caline's wishes mean nothing; you know that. She's just a girl, but a Calmagian princess, and Sedemeyer is a fine match for her-"  
  
"Caline doesn't want to marry him, Julien. She's released from the engagement to Filcor, and that's the end of it. Filcor will live, not that it matters much to me whether he does or not," Ridikar told him sternly. Julien just stared at him, stunned, but he was forced to reluctantly acquiesce. As their father's word had once been law in their immediate family, so now was Ridikar's. Julien grudgingly gave in; he shared their father's attitude about Caline and females in general, but Ridikar was in charge now.  
  
"What's come over you, Ridikar? You've changed. You're behaving now as if Caline is as important as we are," Julien said, whining a little. Whenever Julien whined, the whining would grate on Ridikar's nerves as it did now. Ridikar then allowed himself to smile, for he remembered that Caline had long ago nicknamed Julien "Whinien", and she had dubbed him that whenever Julien had not been within earshot.  
  
"Caline is as important as we are. I was wrong to treat her badly and snub her like I did, and so were you, Father, and Naykiar. It's time we started changing the way that we view females, Jules, that females are not inferior to us, and that they can be just as strong and brave as males are. Tayla taught me that, and I owe those lessons from her. When this war is over, I am going to do whatever I can to regain her love and change the way Calmagian men view women."  
  
"You mean you're changing because of Tayla, that Astorian slut who jilted you just because you wanted to have a little fun with her?" Julien sneered. "My, my, Ridikar, I never thought that a female would make you become so soft. I heard Prince Dedron Chloe refer to her as a lapdog earlier, and he's right, for she's nothing but a bitc-"  
  
With one sharp blow to his face, Julien was knocked into a mud puddle by Ridikar, who hissed, "Don't you ever insult her again, do you understand me? I still intend to make her my love, and you will treat her with utmost respect, as befitting a princess. You will also treat Caline with kindness and respect as well starting now, and if you or Naykiar mistreat either Caline or Tayla in any way, you will be banished and stripped of your titles, do you understand me, Julien? I will tell Naykiar of this as well."  
  
Julien spat out tawny blood, the color of honey, from his mouth, for Ridikar had hit him in his mouth. He quickly jumped out of the mud puddle, his handsome velvet-like red suit soaked and muddy. A tree twig dangled from a gold lock.  
  
"Bastard brother!" he snarled. "How dare you treat me this way? I used to look up to you, Ridi, I really did, and so did Naykiar, but not anymore! I won't follow a brother who's now developed a red willow switch for his spine in the place of the steel rod that was once there! You're becoming soft, weak, Ridikar, and if Father were alive, he'd be ashamed! And to hit me, your own brother, the sibling most loyal to you! And you are dishonorable because you refuse to respect Father's wishes concerning us. Father promised Caline to Sedemeyer before he died, and Sedemeyer has done much for our family, fought for our family and provided many goods and services to us! You are ungrateful; Caline as a prize to Sedemeyer is not an unreasonable request! Where's your sense of honor, Ridikar? Has it been tainted or weakened by our whiny baby sister, a daughter that Father never wanted, a daughter that Father had wanted Mother to abort, or is it Tayla, that Astorian wench that fights and acts and speaks just like a man?   
What has become of you, brother, that you would allow two wretched, worthless females to influence you so? It doesn't matter if they are princesses; they are still females! And because of them, you want to change us forever, along with the Calmagian way of life! I am ashamed to call you my brother, and I hope and pray that you have a son soon, so that maybe he can be trained to become a real man, not like the whipped weakling that his father has now become-"  
  
Ridikar was about to land another blow on Julien, but before he could so, Caline and Tayla came up besides him. They had originally left to gather more roses to heal everyone's wounds, but Caline and Tayla had heard all of Julien's insults, and Caline had enough.   
  
Caline said quietly, steadily, "Julien, that will be enough. Ridikar is our guardian now and our future king. He is charge now, and you will show him respect." The jaws of Ridikar, Tayla, and Julien dropped down to the tops of their chests, for they had never heard Caline speak in such a commanding tone before. Tayla recovered much faster than the two Calmagian princes, and her shock changed into pride, admiration--and a new respect for Caline. She watched in sisterly pride and love, as the tiny Calmagian princess, once a meek and timid little child bride, show off her new self, a self that would slowly grow into a confident, bold, brave young woman.  
  
Julien was the next to recover. "How dare you order me about, you impertinent little wench? Father was right; the Astorian females are a bad influence on you! Where in the hell did you learn to talk back to your betters like that-?"  
  
"You are not my better," Caline told him coolly. "And you owe Ridikar an apology. You also owe Tayla an apology for insulting her, as she is my friend, Ridikar's intended, and an important guest of our grandparents. And you owe me an apology, for insulting me and trying to force me back into an engagement that I don't wish to be in. I don't expect you to apologize to me, but you will at least apologize to Tayla and Ridikar. Your disrespect towards him and females will stop. This ends today."  
  
"I'll do no such thing," Julien snapped, his face twisted into an ugly scowl. "And you will shut your mouth, you little wench, or I will shut it for you!" And with that, Julien raised his hand at Caline, preparing to slap her, but before he could hit his sister, Tayla caught his flying wrist in her small hand.  
  
"You will not hurt her," Tayla told him evenly. "I suggest that you take her advice, only you should add that apology to her as well."  
  
"Oh, really," Julien jeered. "An Astorian whore is going to order me about; you're twice as worst as Caline. I bet Caline learned to become the cheeky wench that she is now from you. Father told me that you would make an unsuitable wife for Ridikar, and he was right. If you and Ridikar marry after all, I will never honor you as my Queen, I'll tell you that right now!"  
  
"Ridikar and I are not marrying anytime soon; I am only twelve," Tayla told him steadily, still holding his wrist. "And you may do as you like, outside of insulting or harming Caline or Ridikar, and if you say anything cruel or do anything to hurt them, you will deal with me personally. Is that clear?"  
  
"Clear?" Julien asked. "I'll show you clear, you little bitc-" And as he was about to finish, he used his other hand to strike out at Tayla, but before he could, Tayla kneed him in his groin. In two seconds, Julien was on his chubby knees, and he tried to paralyze Tayla, but she laughed at him when his attack didn't work.  
  
"What the hell-"  
  
"Sorry, Julien, but I overcame that a long time ago. Nice try though," Tayla told him, still laughing, as she neatly shoved him back into the mud puddle. Ridikar and Caline couldn't help but laugh along with her, when Julien's face emerged from the puddle, a dark olive-brown shade.  
  
"Nice mud pack!" Tayla joked. "I've heard from my Aunt Hazel that mud is good for the skin; maybe it will help you!"  
  
Julien growled, as he climbed out of the mud puddle and sulkily stomped away. Princess Tayla Chloe would not see or hear the end of this!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the other side of Magan Park…  
  
"Has anyone seen Raakon?" Bajal asked his family members.  
  
"Not since lunch," Lektron said, as he burped loudly, making Bajal laugh. When he noticed Gracina's disapproving look out of the corner of his eye, he then said meekly, "Excuse me."  
  
Most of the adult Astorians were now standing at the other side of the Magan Park, overlooking a street of once-beautiful homes that were now reduced to rubble. The Astorians had eaten a few snacks for "lunch" (taken from a wrecked snack shop), for sustenance. Raakon had not eaten a bite; he seemed to be too deeply disturbed about his wife, who had not escaped with the others. He had been seen scribbling a note in the Astorian language (he was too upset to worry about writing in the Standard language where everyone else could read it). He had mumbled something to Cletos about needing to "use the trees" (a polite Astorian euphemism for using the bathroom), and no one had seen him since.  
  
"I know where Uncle Raakon went!" a sweet, childlike voice sang. Tila ran up to her father, waving a note, the same note that Raakon had been writing earlier.  
  
"Where, Ti?" Lektron asked worriedly.  
  
"He went to save Aunt Natala! He decided that he couldn't wait any longer!" Tila exclaimed excitedly. "That's what this note says!" Like many small children, Tila liked to be the first to deliver an exciting piece of news, no matter how shocking or worrisome the information was.  
  
"WHAT????!!!!!!" the Clan of Chloe and their friends shouted.  
  
"Tila, read the note out loud," Gracina ordered quickly. "In Standard."  
  
Tila read in her sweet, high-toned voice, translating it easily into Standard, so that everyone could understand the words:  
  
  
"Dear Everyone,  
  
I am sorry, that I am leaving ahead of everyone, but I can wait no longer. I've sensed that Natala is in great danger, and I am not going to let anyone hurt her or violate her. The moment that Kekron had told me what Balair tried to do to my wife earlier, I knew then that I had to leave. I know that it's going to upset everyone that I am going off on my own, but Natala needs me now. I have entered the labyrinths, and I am going to finish off Balair once and for all. He isn't going to live to hurt my wife or any other female again. His reign of terror and his life ends the moment I lay eyes on his ugly Sistrai face again.   
  
I won't let him hurt Natala. I won't let him hurt anyone else.  
  
This ends today.  
  
Farewell for now, and wish me luck. If something happens to me, please look after my wife and children, and my wife will be alive for you to look after because I won't allow it to be otherwise.  
  
Again, this ends today.  
  
Gooden boden fro noy. (Goodbye for now.)  
  
Raakon"  
  
"Has Raakon lost his mind?" Lektron exclaimed, horrified. "He had a hard enough time defeating Balair last time all of those years ago!"  
  
"And Balair's become so much stronger," Shalila added worriedly. "What in Orchida's name is he thinking? It is not like Balair is by himself!"  
  
"If I had caught him earlier, I would have throttled him!" Dirkan raged. "I understand that Natala did not make it out, but Raakon is in way over his head. He's usually the most levelheaded one among us; what has come over him?"  
  
"Love," Gracina said softly. "He is foolish going by himself, but I don't blame him. Natala means more to him than life itself. I think we ought to follow him right after."  
  
"He's the smoking gun, as they say on Earth," Shalila said firmly. "Well, we've wasted enough time. The time to act is now. As Raakon said in his letter, this ends today. Tila, go find Caline and tell her we need her help again; she'll have to come back into the labyrinths with us to lead the way."  
  
"Yes, Great-Nama!" Tila cried, and she scampered off.  
  
"Isn't that risky, Nama?" Gracina asked worriedly.   
  
"I agree," Bajal told Shalila. "Caline cannot fight."  
  
"It is not just the warriors that win a battle or a war, Gracina and Bajal," Shalila told them, still firmly. "It is also those like Caline who risk their lives helping others, even though they have no chance of fighting, even if they know that they may die. Caline's knowledge of the labyrinths saved the lives of hundreds, and she was brave enough to risk her own life to see that so many people were able to escape. We don't know the labyrinths, as well as she does, and we need her."  
  
Five minutes later, a breathless Tila had returned, and she panted, "Caline says to go to that manhole over in the middle of the street. There's another way to the labyrinths there. She will lead us back to the castle. She says that she has presents for all the fighters going! Wait, I want to come too!"  
  
"You're not going, Tila; you will remain here where it's safe," Gracina ordered her sternly.  
  
"But I could help, and Caline's going!" Tila protested.  
  
"Tila, you heard your mother, you will remain here, and so will Tayka and Nikon," Lektron reiterated his wife's orders firmly. "It is too dangerous for young children."  
  
Riccan, who had followed Tila back to the adults, exclaimed excitedly, "We're going to fight again? All right!"  
  
"Be careful, Riccan," Lektron ordered him. "You stay near the adults and do what you are told."  
  
"Yes, Pappa."  
  
Shalila saw Caline, Tayla, and Ridikar approach the manhole that Caline had said for the Astorians to go to. She was puzzled to see the three young people holding huge bouquets of blue Calmagian roses, but she would figure that incident out later. She ordered the others to follow her to the manhole, and she said firmly, "Everyone follow me once we get down there, no I mean follow Caline. This will end today."  
  
No one hesitated or argued, as fighters, Calmagian and Astorian alike began to follow Shalila and her family to the manhole.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Deep in the labyrinths beneath the edge of the Magan woods, just before the Calmagian royal castle…  
  
Raakon Chloe's face was grimy, but determined. All he could think about was Natala, and what Balair could be doing to her at this moment.  
  
"I'm coming, Natala, my love, don't you worry!" Raakon said resolutely. He said also to an absent Balair, "Balair, if you so much as touch one strand of hair on my wife's head, I will make your death extremely painful! I am known as a jenteel warrien, but like all Astorians, I show no mercy towards those who hurt the people that I love! When I am done with you, Balair, you'll wish that I had killed you long ago in the Battle of Chloe!"  
  
And turning his thoughts back on Natala, a weary, but determined Raakon navigated the labyrinths using the map that Kekron had quickly sketched out for him. (Kekron had known all along what his father was going to do, but Raakon had instructed him to tell no one until they saw the note. Raakon's oldest son fully supported his father's actions.)  
  
"Again, I am coming, Natala, hold on!" Raakon declared, as he easily and gracefully found his way through the corridors quickly, thanks to his son's map. He was now fully healed thanks to that strange blue rose that Caline had given him a few minutes before he left. 


	83. Time To Pay The Piper, Balair!

Chapter Eighty-Three: Time To Pay The Piper, Balair (As Nama Would Say)  
  
Two hours, in the corridors of the royal castle…  
  
"NATALA! WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU? YOU BETTER COME OUT NOW! DON'T THINK THAT I WON'T FIND YOU, WENCH!"  
  
Natala Chloe's whole slender body shook and trembled at the sound of Balair's loud, baritone voice booming throughout the halls of the castle. She had resorted to biting Balair's wrist in order to force the cruel Sistrai fighter to release her. Luckily, she had managed to bite him hard enough to cause him extreme pain; she never knew that she had that much strength. Before Balair could grab her again, she had managed to fly down several flights of stairs (she wasn't about to use the elevators because she feared that he could vaporize himself to enter the elevator and recapture her) while Balair was screaming about his bitten wrist.  
  
After the Sistrai monster had recovered, he began to search the castle for her, who was now hiding in a cellar on the first floor and hiding her ki fully. Natala wanted to search for a way to the labyrinths, but Balair was getting too close to her now. She sat on her bottom, hugging her slim knees and trembling hard, trying to hold back as many of her unshed tears as she could. She could sense Balair's ki coming closer and closer.  
  
"NATALA!" Balair shouted again, angry with her for leaving him, and angrier because he couldn't vaporize himself into a cloud and find her faster. Curse that weakling brat of hers and Raakon Chloe's!  
  
"NATALA!"  
  
Oh, Raakon, Raakon, where are you now? I need you! Where are you and everyone else? Natala thought to herself, as she huddled further into herself. A few tears escaped her large midnight-blue eyes and fell onto her knees. Her lovely cinnamon-nutmeg hair was tangled and tousled, as it fell about her tear-streaked face like a tattered, golden-brown curtain that reached past her trim waist. The pine-green bedspread that was her only garment was almost drenched in her own sweat, and it was almost sticking to her honey-tinted skin. She buried her light-brown hair in between her knees and soft, medium-sized breasts. She felt her courage and determination slowly drain from her body, as the unstoppable tears continued to flow down her smooth face with delicate features and high cheekbones.   
  
Just before she had bitten Balair's wrist, Balair had decided that he couldn't wait to get her to a bedroom, so he had selected a large closet instead for his intended defiling of her. He had started to unwrap the bedspread from her body, as she continued to fight to prevent him from doing so. While he was trying to strip her, he had forcibly kissed her, shoving his long tongue almost down her throat. Balair had managed to slip her bedspread off of her body halfway, and when it was down to her shaking knees, he had started to feel her in that special place between her legs. And when he tried to do a few other things to her private area with his fingers, she couldn't take it anymore, so she had, in blind fear, leaned down and bit down hard into his wrist, almost deep enough to reach his bone. Within a minute, she had retrieved her bedspread while Balair was screaming about the pain and barely escaped.  
  
Natala was now trying to gather together what wits she still had, as she felt Balair's ki grow closer and closer, so close, that he was actually right outside of the cellar door.  
  
Don't breathe, don't show your ki, don't cry, don't even think, she thought to herself, as Balair's ki continued to hover outside of the cellar where she was hiding at. When Balair's ki seemed to be moving further away, Natala released a sigh of relief.  
  
That would prove to be a mistake.  
  
Balair opened the door then with one quick punch, and he said cruelly, as he stared down hard at his terrified prey, "I knew that you were hiding here the whole time, sweetness. Couldn't pick up your ki, of course, but I could pick up your scent. I never forget the scent of a woman, especially the scent of one that I plan to screw. I just followed my nose." He didn't think to close the door, as he casually and boldly walked towards his intended victim.  
  
"Leave…me…alone!" Natala screamed, as she felt the bit of courage and valor that she had left fade away into almost nothing. "Don't touch me!"  
  
Balair smirked; he was waiting no longer. "You picked a nice place for us to do it in, sweetness. I ought to beat you for running away from me like a naughty little girl, but that wouldn't leave much left for me to work with."   
  
His cruel smile deepened, as he yanked the bedspread off of her with one swift movement. Before she could react, Balair flung himself upon her shaking body and pinned her down with his weight alone. He punched her hard in her face to subdue her, and Natala felt herself beginning to black out. He quickly seized both of her wrists in one hand, and he used the other hand to roughly caress her now bare breasts. He pinched and pulled at her large brown nipples, making her scream in pain.  
  
"Let me go!"  
  
"Sorry, sweetness, but you knew this was coming! If you had been nicer to me, I could have made this easier for you. Now I'm the only one who's going to get any pleasure from this. Hold still, woman!"  
  
"NO! LET ME GO!"  
  
Balair pressed his pelvic region into hers, as he thrust his tongue into her protesting mouth once more, nearly suffocating her. Natala writhed and squirmed under Balair's heavy body, but he would not budge, and her efforts were useless. She could feel Balair's manhood hardening, as his free hand began to roam over her slim curves.  
  
Balair tore his mouth and tongue from Natala's mouth, and he said wickedly, using one of his lyrics (he was a poet somewhat, but a lousy one), "You'll satisfy me better than rum/now open your legs, baby, 'cause here I come!"   
  
"NO! DON'T DO THIS!" Natala gathered what fight she had left in her, but she knew that it was hopeless. Balair would succeed in forcing himself on her; at this point, she just hoped that he would satiate himself and allow her to live.  
  
Balair would remember this day for the rest of his pathetic life, but not in the way that he wanted to remember it…  
  
…For at that very moment, just as he was about to enter her, a very strong Astorian Prince of Chloe roughly pulled the evil Sistrai warrior off of his potential conquest.  
  
"What the hell-" Balair began. He swiftly turned his scarlet, Tyrannosaurus-Rex-like head around to look into the angry eyes of a now merciless Raakon Chloe. Raakon was holding Balair from behind, holding him under his arms. Balair struggled in vain against Raakon's tight grip, and before he could do anything, Raakon shoved him headfirst out into the hallway in front of the cellar and onto the floor facedown. The Sistrai warrior promptly flipped over onto his stomach, prepared to confront his archenemy.  
  
"Time to pay the piper, Balair, as Nama would say from an old Earth expression," Raakon told him coldly, in such a deadly, icy tone of voice that unnerved the normally unshakable Balair.  
  
"How dare you-" Balair snarled, but before he could do so, Raakon punched him hard in his face, and before Balair could react, the Astorian Prince of Chloe socked him in his stomach. Raakon Chloe landed blow after blow onto Balair's body, and while Balair managed to land a few punches and kicks, they were ineffective.  
  
Balair had been considerably weakened by Raakon's previous Shock Cage attack, and he was only able now to fight at one-third of his true strength. He could not even vaporize or liquefy himself to gain an advantage over his Astorian opponent, and he could not even get away from Raakon long enough to use his Fire Flare attack. He was forced to fight Raakon in hand-to-hand combat, with all of the martial-arts abilities that he had learned. He tried to belt Raakon's face with his tail, but Raakon, being significantly stronger than many of his Astorian cousins and siblings because of his Awakening when he had been seventeen, easily squeezed the tip of Balair's tail, crushing it further.  
  
"BASTARD! YOU RABBIT BASTARD!" Balair hissed, just before Raakon slammed his medium-sized fist into Balair's ample jaw, breaking the jawbone.   
  
Raakon rained blows and kicks upon Balair so swiftly that the Sistrai Top Elite officer had little time to react. Balair's physical brute strength would have normally been greater than Raakon's, but Balair had been greatly damaged so far by the fighting that he had done. Raakon had been a diamond statue for much of the war until Tayla's spell freed him, so he was still fairly fresh and very strong and more than ready to kill the Sistrai monster who had dared to force himself upon Raakon's beloved wife.  
  
Raakon landed one final punch into Balair's now-terrified face. Raakon swiftly grabbed Balair by his throat, and he flew into the air, holding the hideous, bruised, and battered Sistrai alien. Raakon found an open window, and he flew out the window with a worried Balair's throat still held tightly in his.  
  
Balair did not know what to make of the situation, and he did not act quickly enough, for Raakon flung him away from him hard into a meadow just outside of the castle. Balair fell facedown into a deep mud puddle, and he tried to struggle to his feet. Raakon then landed twenty-feet away from him, and then he felt around for any ki signatures within fifty miles of the castle. There were none, for all of the castle's occupants left were in the ballroom on the second floor. Raakon was one of the minority of Astorian fighters who had mastered this powerful attack well-enough to be able to contain it in a small area and not have it cause damage to a large area; not even Tayla herself had come that far with that part of mastering this attack, although she was learning.  
  
Balair tried to get up, but he couldn't for his leg was now broken, and both of his arms were twisted. Raakon swiftly placed his hands, palms down, onto the ground, and he screamed out, as he began to gather together his ki:  
  
"ELECTRIC QUAKE!"  
  
Raakon sent forth almost all of his ki, as his ki turned into high-voltage electricity and rushed out of his hands and into the ground. He could see the green cracks and strings of electricity, as they scurried along the ground towards Balair and right into his body. Balair screamed out, his voice rising to a high C pitch and shattering many of the windows in the royal castle, as Raakon's Electric Quake attack shot throughout his body. It had twice the effect of Shock Cage, and it was twice as damaging.  
  
Latticed, netted strings of voltage curled, stabbed, and zigzagged throughout the Sistrai warrior's body, as he stood there, trembling and shaking. Raakon used what ki he had left to send a strong blue ki ball towards Balair, this ball full of more electricity that shot right into the deadly reptilian fighter. This ki ball shoved itself into Balair and knocked him off of the ground and far, far away into one of Magan's famous chalky-white cliffs, causing the cliff itself to explode. Raakon could see the mushroom cloud that was left of the cliff and Balair-and he could no longer sense Balair's ki, not at all.  
  
Balair had been finished, once and for all.  
  
He was out of the war.  
  
Raakon had won this round, and Natala was safe, along with many other women and girls, including Caline and Ebrona.  
  
Balair had finally paid for his hideous crimes.  
  
Raakon felt no pity or sorrow for him, and he sincerely hoped that Balair would have a nice time with Enma Daiou before being sent straight to hell.  
  
He fell to his knees, trembling, and crying out and thanking whomever he had to, from the East Kai, to Kami Orchida, to the ancestors, to Nama and Dirkan for supporting him, and to Natala who had stood behind him and also supported him, even though he knew she had preferred that he not go back to fighting. He was thankful mostly to her for her unending support, no matter what.  
  
He was a bit sad now, sad that he had to go back to fighting again, but this time he had no regrets, and the sick feeling that he felt every time he had ruthlessly defeated someone, that feeling that he had felt during the Battle of Chloe so many years ago, had not been present.  
  
He didn't know if that was a good thing or not.  
  
But what he did know was that Natala needed him now.  
  
Everything else could wait.  
  
He slowly lifted himself off of the ground, and then he flew back much faster to the castle.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Natala had managed to gather the bedspread and cover herself once more. She huddled under the cover, terrified and shaking, still in deep shock. She was afraid to move, afraid to speak, as she stared at the walls of the hallway outside of the cold cellar. She was curled into a ball, a tight ball that was trying not to let the pain and fear out and to keep her spirit in.  
  
She was scared and ashamed, although she did not know why she was so ashamed, for she had done nothing wrong. She just felt so dirty, like a pair of used stockings that had been soiled and discarded into the nearest garbage bin. She buried her face into her knees, sobbing loudly, so scared and cold and alone. She was shaking violently, as if her slender feminine body was caught up in its own private earthquake. The tears cascaded down her lovely cheeks and dripped down onto the gray stone floor into a puddle.  
  
She was so lost into her own dark, lonely world, that she did not sense his ki, or feel him stroking the soft, honey-brown tresses of hers.  
  
"Natala?"  
  
She did not respond.  
  
"Natala, it's me, Raakon."  
  
No verbal response, but this time, she did look up at him, as he slowly lay down on the floor beside her and cautiously pull her closer to him, as not to frighten her. She trembled.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you, love," he reminded her gently, as he tenderly gathered her into his arms and held her close. Natala slowly, very slowly, began to recover from her shock, as she began to respond to him, much to Raakon's relief. She curled into him, stretching out little by little, until her body was completely bonded to his. She felt Raakon began to stroke her bare back lightly (the back was not covered at all now by the bedspread). She felt his large fingers rub slow curves and circles along her spine, and she felt herself gradually relax and become herself again. She cried softly into her husband's chest, as Raakon held her closer. He tilted her chin up towards his face.  
  
"Is it all right, if I kiss you, sweetheart?" he asked her softly.  
Natala nodded very quickly; she wanted Raakon to help her forget those awful memories of Balair. She raised her head towards his, and Raakon softly kissed her lips.  
  
"You're safe, now," he assured her. "Raakon's here."  
  
"I-I know," she choked out in a whisper. She sobbed, "I-I missed you, Raakon! I thought that I would never see you again!"  
  
Raakon kissed her again softly, sweetly, as he continued to stroke her back, rubbing her spine. He chuckled lightly, "You know better than that, my love! Since when is a Prince of Chloe ever truly defeated?"  
  
A small laugh escaped Natala before she could prevent it. "You sound just like Bajal or Lektron!"  
  
Raakon was relieved to see her slowly smiling. "They are among my closest friends, as well as my brother and cousin, sweetheart! I guess even I wind up picking up some things from them!"  
  
Natala asked hesitantly, as she lay in her husband's strong, loving embrace, "B-Balair? Where is he now?" She wrapped her slim arms around his muscular, trim body and clung to him tightly.  
  
"Gone," Raakon told her firmly. "And hopefully will soon be forgotten."  
  
"He was so awful, Raakon!" Natala cried out. "He killed innocent people, and tried to rape me earlier, but Zarbon intervened. Raakon, I almost did something horrible, so horrible, I hope that you can forgive me, but I had to do it."  
  
Raakon held her chin in his muscled hand. "What did you do, sweetheart?"  
  
Natala briefly told him about the situation where she had offered herself in place of Caline as Balair's sex slave. Raakon held her tighter to him and kissed her forehead firmly.  
  
"You did it to save an innocent little girl, Natala. Don't feel guilty anymore, for Caline will never have to endure Balair or another man forcing himself on her ever again. You saved her from more pain, my dear, and I am proud of you, as well as sorry that you were forced to make that choice."  
  
"I couldn't let him hurt her, Raakon, I couldn't! Alberm hurt her so badly, why the poor little thing had the most horrible nightmares about him. I don't even want to describe some of the nasty things that Alberm made Caline do with him that Caline told me about. I know that I shouldn't say this, Raakon, but that is one man that I can honestly say received what he truly deserved. He and Balair are two peas in a pod, as Nama-lan would say, and I am not sorry that they are gone for good. I hope that Enma Daiou gives them both much grief before they are sent to hell. It is unusual for me to be glad of someone's death, I know, but I cannot feel for either Balair or Alberm."  
  
"I can't feel anything for them either," Raakon told her honestly. "I feel sorry for you and Caline, and for all the other females monsters like Balair and Alberm had harmed."  
  
"What will happen to Caline?" Natala asked him, now wanting to steer to a safer topic for now.  
  
Raakon sighed, "Well the good news for now is that Ridikar has changed tremendously, and he and Caline have reconciled. If we can't take Caline with us, at least Ridikar will care for her, if Ridikar lives through this war. Ridikar seems to be truly sorry for the harm he has caused Tayla and Caline, as well as the trouble he and his father had created for us. He and Tayla seem to be making up."  
  
"Is that a good idea? Tayla and Ridikar getting back together and becoming that close again? Raakon, he did try to rape her, and if I were that child, even I couldn't forgive a male that easily. When I first heard about what that boy tried to do to her, I wanted to slap him and give him the cuffing that his father should have given him years ago!" Natala declared indignantly.  
  
Raakon permitted himself a small smile. His normally peaceful, amicable wife was not often prone to violent thoughts. Neither was he, for that matter. "So did I, my love, so did I. I wanted to strangle that young man for what he did to my sister, but now he seems to have changed for the better. Tayla seems to almost have forgiven him completely, and they had held hands a few times."  
  
"How do Nama-lan and Dirkan feel about that?"  
  
"They're not happy about it, but Nama insists that it's Tayla's choice now, for Tayla is becoming a young lady. Dirkan still wants to hang Ridikar out to dry, as Nama would say, but he's agreed not to touch the young prince, as long as Ridikar behaves himself with Tayla. I don't like the match myself too much yet, but since Ridikar is trying to make up for his previous ways, I believe that he deserves a fair chance. As long as he makes Tayla happy and doesn't hurt her, I'll leave him be."  
  
"I still don't like it, Raakon. Tayla is only twelve, and I don't think that a woman should be that kind towards a male for attacking her the way that Ridikar did. Even I couldn't be that forgiving towards him, if I were Tayla. I just hope she knows what she's doing; I think that I should try to talk to her when all of this mess is over, if we're still alive."  
  
"Don't say 'if', my love. We will live, just like before. We're strong, my love, all of us Clan of Chloe members are, whether we're warriors, healiors, healers, or whatever. We will win this war, and we will survive, no matter what. Nama said a long time ago, just before the Battle of Chloe that Astorians, especially those of Clan of Chloe, 'will not go quietly into the night, will not give up without a fight, for we will go on, we will survive'. She couldn't remember who said that phrase, but everyone remembers it to this day." Raakon pulled Natala closer to him and kissed her firmly.   
  
"I love you, sweetheart, and we will survive this war, I swear that, Seven Moons Oath." He held up seven fingers as usual.  
  
"I love you too, Raakon. You be careful, do you hear me? You come back to me alive, do you understand? Am I making myself clear?"  
  
"As crystal," Raakon said with a smile. "And that was one of Steak's quotes."  
  
"I hope that Steak is okay," Natala said worriedly. "He helped so many people escape, and Caline and Kekron and I could not have done without his help. I hope that he is alive."  
  
"Steak is tough, no pun intended," Raakon told her seriously. "I have a feeling we'll have him around for a long time. And you won't be getting rid of me anytime soon either."  
  
Natala permitted herself another smile. "Can I get that in writing and in Seven Moons Oath?"  
  
Raakon laughed, and he cuddled Natala closer. They both kissed for a long time, and neither one of them spoke afterwards for what seemed to be hours. 


	84. Arachnor And Redusa

Chapter Eighty-Four: Arachnor and Redusa  
  
In the labyrinths, on the way to the royal castle…  
  
Caline was swiftly leading the way through the labyrinths, followed by Shalila, Dirkan, Lektron, Gracina, Bajal, Alora, Cletos, Gorna, Arlon, Lukan, Bendros, Dedron, Rojal, Riccan, and of course, Tayla. Following the fifteen fighters from Astoria were Ridikar and his brother, Julien, followed by three CRP officers, General Norbrook, Lieutenant Balboun, and Filcor Sedemeyer. A team of twenty CRP officers under General Norbrook's command was following behind them. The non-fighting Astorians and Calmagians, along with Toria and Veal, had remained behind in the ruined city of Magan. Dollan had wanted to come along to protect "his" Alora, but Alora told him bluntly thank you, but that she could well take care of herself. Bajal's threatening glare at Dollan also dissuaded the besotted boy from coming along.  
  
Shalila was following closely behind Caline, to protect the girl in case some trouble should occur in the labyrinths. She hovered over the little Calmagian princess, as Caline quickly guided her and the others through the intricate maze of tunnels and corridors that spread throughout the underground.  
  
"How much further now, Caline?" Shalila asked, ducking when a giant tree root nearly hit her in her head.  
  
"About another half a mile, Superior Gran, and then we should be there right at the kitchenette where we smuggled the other hostages out earlier," Caline replied, brushing a bit of dirt off of her dress.  
  
The labyrinth corridors were now darker than ever and cold, so cold and damp that some of the Astorian fighters had now put up their protective ki shields for warmth. Lieutenant Balboun flicked a yellow beetle-like insect off of his sleeve and shuddered.   
  
"Haven't been in the labyrinths for years, I say. Cold, nasty place it is, too. Whew! Chilly in here, I must say! Will be glad to get somewhere warm. What say you, General?"  
  
"It is cold, Lieutenant, but it shouldn't be much longer. Sedemeyer, how are you and the others holding up?"  
  
"Fine, General, very well," Filcor told Norbrook briskly, as he led the CRP soldiers behind him. "If you will excuse me, General, may I have your permission to go up front near Princess Caline?"  
  
"Permission granted, Sedemeyer. I am sorry to hear that you and the princess will not be wed. I hear that Prince Ridikar has dissolved your engagement to her."  
  
"I'm not giving up yet, General," Filcor replied firmly. "Prince Ridikar does not have the final say, as he would like to think he does. When we rescue the king, the king will surely hold up Prince Amitar's promise to wed Princess Caline to me."  
  
"Perhaps, Sedemeyer, it would be best if you were to pursue another girl," Lieutenant Balboun advised him. "The girl obviously wants nothing to do with you, and if a future bride felt like that towards me, I don't believe that I would want to force the issue. I'd just find someone else, if I were you, Sedemeyer. There are thousands of girls who would want to be your bride; Princess Caline is not the only fruit in the bushel. She is a cute thing though, although I prefer girls a little older. I wouldn't want a girl though who at least didn't show some interest in me. If I had forced my wife, Rayli, such a spirited thing, to marry me against her will, I would have had to worry about her sticking a knife in my back every night! "  
  
General Norbrook laughed. "You are luckier than many men, Balboun, for you and your bride married for love! Rayli was only fifteen at the time that you chose her, but she had loved you since she was thirteen; you are definitely a lucky man, Balboun. I have seen many miserable young brides on their wedding days being married off to someone that they did not want to be with. How long have you been with Rayli now-fifteen years?"  
  
"Seventeen," Lieutenant Balboun said proudly. "We just celebrated our anniversary two weeks ago, and I'm thankful that Rayli is on the other side of Calmag at this moment. I packed her and the kids and sent them off to her family over there the moment that I learned of Frieza's forces invading; I wasn't taking any chances. Blasted phone lines are down though; can't even contact her, and she's due any day now with our sixth little one! Be glad when this nasty war is over with!"  
  
"So will we, Balboun, so will we," Norbrook agreed, as he noticed Filcor leave them to join the others up front.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shalila and Caline were at the very front of the rescuers still, and Caline nearly jumped out of her porcelain skin when she saw a huge, hairy, red spider with ten legs, instead of eight, and three neon green eyes lower itself down in front of her. Caline bit her pale pink lip to keep from shrieking; the old Caline would have cried out and backed away, but the others were counting on the new Caline to keep calm and be as brave as she had been the last couple of days, so Caline merely shuddered and tried to duck around the spider. Caline was paler than before, for she had a deep fear of spiders; her arachnophobia was as severe as her father's claustrophobia had been.  
  
Shalila sensed Caline's intense fear of the spider, and she admired the girl for not letting it get to her. Shalila herself hated spiders with a passion, no matter what planet they were from, and spiders were her secret terror years ago, a terror that had taken Shalila decades to overcome. To keep herself and Caline calm, however, she aimed a tiny ki blast at the spider to eliminate it.  
  
It would be an attack that she would soon regret making.  
  
All Shalila's ki blast did was make things ten times as worse, for the scarlet spider suddenly enlarged itself to fifty times its sized. Caline finally lost control of herself and screamed, and Shalila herself couldn't help but cry out in horror.  
  
"You'll pay for that, wench!" the spider hissed in a raspy masculine voice.  
  
"That thing can talk!" Dirkan exclaimed. He yelled at the others behind him, "Everyone, stop!"  
  
The others, seeing the giant red spider, came to a halt immediately.  
  
"Men, get up to the front and fire at that beast!" Norbrook commanded his CRP officers.   
"We're not letting some spider get in our way!"  
  
"No, Norbrook, make your men stay where they are at!" Dirkan ordered Norbrook sharply. "This is one of Frieza's minions; you can tell by his uniform!"  
  
"He's just a spider," Norbrook pointed out.  
  
"He's Elite," Dirkan snapped at him. "He's wearing the Elite colors; we've fought against his type before! Make your men stay put!"  
  
"Men, stay put!" Norbrook told them, deciding that the Astorians knew more about Frieza's officers than he did.  
  
"The green thing is correct," the red spider told them silkily in his raspy tone. "I am Lower-Elite Officer Arachnor, and I was sent as a backup to destroy all of you and help capture Princess Tayla Chloe. Tell me where the girl is, and I'll spare most of you. Where is she? I'm in a hurry."  
  
"Oh, you're in a hurry, all right," Dirkan mocked him confidently. "As in a hurry to go to meet Enma Daiou!" And saying that, Dirkan fired a slim, white ki blast at Arachnor, who opened his fang-filled mouth and swallowed it.  
  
"What the hell-" Dirkan declared, but before he could finish, Arachnor spat out a sticky string of glowing silk from his mouth right at Dirkan, capturing him. Within seconds, Dirkan was wrapped up in a cocoon of ki-draining silk, which was quickly sapping his ki, of which he had plenty of now, thanks to Caline's miraculous roses. Dirkan cried out and struggled, as the dangerous silk began to drain his ki.  
  
Arachnor quickly released the cocoon string from his mouth and licked his lips.  
"Who wants to challenge me next?"  
  
"Lektron, Gracina, see what you can do to free Dirkan!" Shalila ordered. "I will deal with Arachnor!" And saying that, she launched a Rings of Saturn attack at Arachnor, who again swallowed the ki attack. Arachnor spat another string of ki-draining silk at Shalila, but Shalila, having learned from what happened to her husband, seized Caline and dodged the attack, as it hit the wall. Both Shalila and Caline fell to the floor facedown, with Shalila's body covering Caline's, as they were pressed up against the wall of the corridor.  
  
"That's it!" Bajal shouted, as Lektron and Gracina were trying to cut Dirkan free of the silk cocoon. He ran past them with his sword raised and bravely attempted to behead the cruel spider, but Arachnor's neck was impenetrable to swords. In fact, Arachnor's entire body appeared to be like flesh, but it was as hard as steel, and Bajal could not even cut into the spider warrior's skin.   
  
Finally Arachnor had enough of Bajal trying to filet him or behead him or whatever, and he puffed up his body, taking a deep breath. He swelled up like a giant hot air balloon, and then he blew out a gust of air equivalent to the wind of a hurricane from his mouth. The wind overcame all of the fighters, and everyone, including Shalila and Caline were swept up into the wind, and everyone was blown backwards for almost a good two miles.  
  
After Arachnor stopped blowing, there was a pile of cluttered, colorful bodies, all piled on top of each other. The Astorians and Calmagians tried to scramble off of each other as fast as they could, and while they were trying to put themselves back together and check themselves and each other for wounds, Shalila came up with a plan.  
  
So Arachnor likes to use our ki against us, eh? And he likes to blow people away literally. Well, let's see how he likes my next idea, Shalila thought to herself.  
Shalila, to everyone's surprise, sped back to Arachnor within less than two minutes. Before Arachnor could react, Shalila was standing before him, smiling triumphantly.  
  
"Oh, Arachnor," she began sweetly. "You are a fine fighter, I can tell that already. Why don't we both fight each other, just the two of us, above ground?"  
  
"Fight a woman?" Arachnor laughed. "You don't look like much of a challenge, even though you did give me much ki to use against you earlier. The green thing's ki wasn't too bad either. I love the taste of ki, especially when it's spat back out at my foes. I use the ki people attack me with for food, and then the waste product in the ki, I use against them! Creative, eh?"  
  
"Very," Shalila told him pleasantly. "So will you accept my challenge or not?"  
  
"Sure thing, old woman!" Arachnor chuckled in his raspy voice again. "This shouldn't take too long."  
  
"Oh, you're right about that," Shalila agreed whole-heartedly.  
  
Arachnor easily blew a hole in the roof of the labyrinth, blowing away dirt, debris, concrete, and blacktop. Shalila noticed the moonlight from two of Calmag's three moons shining down into the maze; she had not realized that it was this late at night. She followed Arachnor out of the labyrinth and into the night outside.  
  
When they came up to the surface, and then two miles away, they were on the edges of the city of Magan. Shalila then opened up her hands, using a special attack that she developed in the past several years that she had dubbed Whirlwind Blaze. She threw back her hands, palms close together in a scooping position, as if she were about to bowl a bowling ball and cried out, "WHIRLWIND BLAZE!"  
  
A bright-red cyclone-shaped attack spun slowly out of Shalila's cupped hands, growing larger and larger until the cyclone was half the size of a regular tornado. Shalila had to close her eyes now, for the light radiating from the cyclone in her hands was too bright for her. She lightly tossed the cyclone away from her and let it whirl down to Arachnor, who happily opened his mouth to swallow the cyclone. Arachnor sucked in the cyclone the same way that someone would suck in a string of coiled spaghetti. Whirlwind Blaze had such a large amount of ki in it that it made Arachnor's body swell up slightly.  
  
Shalila rubbed her eyes and smiled, as Arachnor relished the delicious ki attack from her. The good thing about Whirlwind Blaze was that it could be used five or more times before it would drain all of her ki. So she launched several more Whirlwind Blaze attacks at Arachnor, who greedily ate them all. Arachnor was too busy eating Shalila's ki to attack his opponent with her ki transformed into ki-draining silk.  
  
Shalila gave him two more Whirlwind Blaze attacks, and Arachnor's body grew fatter and fatter until he was literally straining to hold all of the ki light that Shalila had given him in. Finally Shalila gathered more ki together to launch one more ki attack at him, and this one would be Arachnor's last meal.  
  
For within seconds, Arachnor's body swelled up to its fullest, fattest size imaginable. "Oh, no!" he screamed in terror. "Not this! No!"  
  
But it was too late, for suddenly, like a balloon that had been filled with too much air, Arachnor's body exploded loudly into thousands of bloody and hairy spider parts. A bright, blinding light radiated throughout the air, the light of a million kilowatts flowed throughout the city of Magan, as Shalila closed her eyes tightly and shielded them with her small hands.  
  
When the smoke and light cleared, nothing much was left of Arachnor except for his severed head, which had remained perfectly intact, or it had until Shalila aimed a small ki blast at it, obliterating it into dust.  
  
"Talk about not being able to handle a 'light' meal!" she joked to herself with a small grin. "Now, it's time to head back.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
But before Shalila could get back into the labyrinth, Dirkan (whom Lektron and Gracina had finally freed from the awful cocoon and whom had been healed by a Calmagian rose), the Astorian fighters, and the Calmagian fighters were faced with another problem.  
  
It didn't seem to be such a problem at first. A humanoid woman, neither of Astorian, Saiyan, or Calmagian descent had shortly entered the corridors just after Shalila had led Arachnor out of the labyrinths to fight him on her own. She had been hiding her appearance under a bright, shiny yellow cloak and headdress that enveloped her entire body.   
  
She then threw off her headdress and cloak, revealing her true beauty, with long, flowing mint-green hair, white skin, deep violet eyes, large, bouncy, round breasts and a perfect hourglass figure. Most of the men couldn't help but gape openly at her, even the married ones. She winked at them with her left eye and smiled devilishly.  
  
Dedron had openly leered at her. "Wow! What a fine piece of woman! I wonder where's she from!"  
  
Alora had sharply belted him in his ribs, or she had tried to anyway, but she couldn't.  
  
Why?  
  
Dedron's height, which had towered near Alora's great height before, was now only up to her ankles.  
  
In fact, any male who had seen the green-haired woman's great beauty were now the size and height of Earth fashion dolls such as Ken and Barbie. All of the men who had looked at her had shrunk.  
  
"What did she do to the men?" Lieutenant Balboun demanded just before he looked at her himself, and he swiftly shrank down to only six inches. He and all of the other male victims were the same size at six inches tall.  
  
"What happened?" Balboun squeaked, for his voice now sounded like he had been inhaling helium.  
  
"What's happening?" Tayla cried in horror when she had noticed Dedron and Rojal shrink down to six inches tall. Even Dirkan was now six inches tall.  
  
More of the men made the mistake of looking at the strange woman before the females, who were not being affected, began to realize why the men were shrinking.  
  
"No other men look at her!" Gracina cried out, for she was the first to realize that the men who had looked at the woman had been the ones to shrink, including her own husband. Lektron only came up to the hem of Gracina's red boot now, and he was shaking his fists at the mint-haired woman who had done this to him. The few males who were left at their original height, which included Riccan, Lukan, Bendros, Ridikar and Julien, who had been in the far back, obeyed Gracina's orders.   
  
"Allow me to introduce myself," the green-haired woman said smoothly. "I am Redusa, a Lower-Elite Officer who can shrink men down to size just by winking at them with my left eye if they gaze upon my magnificent beauty."  
  
"You bring the others back to size right now!" Gracina ordered.   
  
Redusa laughed. "Such a funny woman, you are! You are lovely to gaze upon, I will admit, but your beauty pales in comparison to my great looks. Sorry about your men, but the only way they can be brought back, is if I am killed."  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard," Gracina insisted. Redusa's ki level was not any higher than Gracina's, and Gracina was certain that she could handle her. Gracina pulled out her sword and pointed it towards Redusa. "It's time to cut you down to size!"  
  
Redusa laughed, a horrible, rusty laugh that grated on everyone's nerves immediately. Gracina charged at her with her sword, but Redusa seized a lock of Gracina's long, flowing golden hair and winked at her with her right eye. To Gracina's horror, she felt herself shrinking down to the same size as the men.  
  
Caline screamed when she saw her beloved Gracina being reduced to the size of a doll. Rashly, little Caline ran to gather up Gracina and Lektron before Redusa did something horrible to them, but Redusa seized Caline by her hair and pulled the terrified child up to her face. Caline shut her eyes tight and refused to open them, and this infuriated Redusa. She started to squeeze Caline's arm hard, hoping to force the girl to open her eyes. Caline had become an expert at passive resistance however, and she kept her eyes closed, even though Redusa's squeezing was leaving a huge bruise on her delicate flesh.  
  
The shrunken men all ran towards Redusa and attacked her feet and ankles, but Redusa kicked them away. Some of the fighters used ki blasts, but the ki signatures of the men had been reduced greatly as well, so their ki attacks could not harm the deadly beauty.  
  
"Let my sister go!" Ridikar shouted, and he dragged Julien along with him. Julien covered his eyes, as he reluctantly followed his brother as they ran to save Caline. Tayla and Bendros followed close behind, careful to cover their eyes, as they did so.  
  
Caline finally turned around and sank her tiny, pearly teeth into Redusa's arm, and Redusa howled in pain. In her fury, she flung a screaming Caline against the wall of the corridor, and a terrified Caline kept her face to the wall. Ridikar and Julien then made the mistake of opening their eyes when they heard Caline's cries, and Redusa was quick to notice. She winked at them with her left eye, and they began to shrink before they knew it.  
  
Alora and Gorna, trying not to look at her directly, launched themselves towards her while firing a few well-placed ki blasts at her. Redusa, unfortunately, knew how to put up a ki barrier to protect herself, a ki barrier similar to the Shield Field that the Astorians used. Alora and Gorna kept their eyes closed and kept firing at the ki shield the best that they could while Gracina and the shrunken men ran for cover.   
  
Riccan followed behind Tayla and Bendros, as they tried to make their way to Redusa. Riccan had his small eyes squinted shut, as followed them. He had his hand in Tayla's, and Tayla had her hand in Bendros' as all three of them raced to stop Redusa. Tayla had seen what happened to Gracina, and she had quickly surmised that women could be affected by Redusa's shrinking spell. She felt something round and heavy in her pocket on the blue gi that Gracina had procured for her. She released Riccan's hand for just a moment, and being careful not to look in Redusa's direction, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Petalia's favorite gold mirror. Petalia had lent it to her earlier, but Tayla had forgotten to return it to her before she left with her family to fight.  
  
It would turn out to be a fortunate mistake.  
  
Tayla then remembered an Earth myth that Nama had told her when she was about five years old. It had been a Greek mythology story about a monster named Medusa, and how Medusa was defeated when she looked into a mirror and turned herself into stone. Tayla recalled that in the story, those who looked at Medusa automatically were turned to stone. She held the cold mirror in her hot little hand and hoped that what worked for Perseus (the hero who had defeated Medusa with the mirror) would work for her.  
  
She abruptly released both the hands of Bendros and Riccan, and she took off running ahead of them in the corridors.  
  
"Tayla, come back!" Bendros cried.  
  
"Tayla!" Riccan cried.  
  
Tayla finally neared Redusa, who was still holding up her ki shield to ward off Gorna's and Alora's attacks.   
  
Redusa was now bragging about her great beauty again, and she was mocking Gorna's and Alora's individual looks.  
  
"You two have to be a couple of the ugliest women I have ever seen! A plain, fat woman and a woman with a monkey tail! I didn't know that there were any smelly monkeys fighting with the Astorians! Too bad your looks are as bad as your fighting skills!" Redusa looked at her lovely, clear white skin and smiled, as she toyed with a lock of her mint hair. "My beauty is beyond compare, not a single flaw! No wonder all the men in here were mesmerized by me!"  
  
"Your beauty's not that great!" Tayla dared to scream at her with her eyes closed shut. "Your hair's not even a natural color! You look like a skinny snowwoman with seaweed for hair!"  
  
"How dare you mock my beauty, you little black-haired wench!" Redusa hissed, with her lovely delicate features twisted into an ugly sneer. "You're ordinary compared to me, little girl! Anyone can have black hair, how unoriginal! And you're skinny and short, with no boobs at all to speak of! You look like you could be the president of the Itty Bitty Titty Club!"  
  
"Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?" Tayla asked her, secretly bristling at the insults, for she was as sensitive about her extremely slowly developing breasts as she was about her short height. Even Caline's little breasts were larger than hers, and Caline was smaller than Tayla. Tayla, like most girls her age, had compared her bosom to those of other girls, especially Petalia and Lelina, who already had nicely developing chests that were sure to be a magnificent size someday, a size that would attract men. Tayla's chest had just started developing a few months ago, with small flattish bumps that barely passed for real breasts, with nipples only the size of chocolate chips.  
  
Before her family had left for Calmag, the cruel Dedron had discovered Tayla's sensitivity about her flat chest when he had accidentally heard her complain to Gracina and Nama about it. When he had caught Tayla alone, he had dared to ask her if he could use her chest as an ironing board for his shirt since it was nice and flat. When Tayla had called him a bastardi, Dedron joked that Tayla must be a hermaphrodite since she had a girl's voice and hair, but a boy's figure and possibility a boy's genitals and hormones. Those insults had earned Dedron a hard punch to his face and Tayla two days confinement to her room, since Shalila had thought that Tayla could have walked away from that fight without hitting. But Dedron had never insulted Tayla about her chest again, thanks to a few nasty threats from both Lektron and Dirkan separately.  
  
Tayla brushed aside those memories for now and focused on fighting Redusa. She said, "I saw you earlier before you winked at the men, and you look old! In fact, you look old enough now to be my grandmother!"  
  
"What, you little slut! How dare you insult me! I'll show you! Uncover your eyes and fight me!"  
  
"With pleasure," Tayla told her boldly, as she opened her eyes. Redusa grinned and winked a her with her right eye.  
  
But her grin soon turned into a horrified scream, for she saw herself winking at her reflection in Petalia's mirror, which Tayla had held up right in front of her eyes. Redusa screamed in horror, for she had now caused herself to be affected by her own spell, and she began to shrink. Her ki shield faded away, and while she was shrinking, Gorna wasted no time in sending her to Enma Daiou with a quick ki blast. Within nanoseconds, Redusa was reduced to a small pile of white and green sparkling ashes.  
  
After Redusa was killed, Gracina and all of the males began to grow back to their normal sizes. The men were enormously relieved to look like men again, and Gracina was thankful not to be the size of an Earth fairy anymore.  
  
Shalila had returned just as the other fighters were celebrating being brought back to their normal sizes. Gorna was congratulating Tayla for her quick thinking, and Alora was spitting on the pile of ashes that had once been Redusa. Gracina was comforting Caline, and Riccan and Bendros and Ridikar were openly cheering for Tayla. The men were telling both Tayla and Gorna thanks for getting rid of that green-haired whore, and Shalila was looking at everyone.  
"What in Orchida's name happened here?"  
  
"Oh, Nama," Tayla told her brightly, going up to her beloved grandmother and hugging her tightly around her waist. "You'll never believe what happened here when you went out to fight that spider!"  
  
"At this point in my life, dandelion, I would believe about anything. But try me anyway."  
  
So Tayla told her Nama about Redusa, and Shalila couldn't help but laugh a little bit before she told her own story about how she single-handedly defeated Arachnor. 


	85. Land An Extra Blow For Me!

Chapter Eighty-Five: Land An Extra Blow For Me! Send A Blast Through His Heart!  
  
"This is getting ridiculous!" Diamonique wailed. "So much to do, and so little time to do it! Honestly, a woman of my great beauty and class deserves much better than this! After all that tar-headed, muddy-eyed brat, Tayla Chloe, put me through, I deserve something good! I deserve the best, and I will get it! That scrawny royal brat won't get me down for long! Hopefully, what I'm about to do will make me feel better!"  
  
"Miss Diamonique?"  
  
"That's Commander Diamonique, you fat fool!" Diamonique sharply addressed a plump, frightened Calmagian maid who had been one of the hostages left behind. She and two other Calmagian maids had been forced to raid all of the bedchambers that had been occupied by women in order to procure new dresses, undergarments, jewelry and other trinkets for the excessively vain and greedy Diamonique. The three coerced maids were now bringing Diamonique the dresses from the rooms of the Astorian Princesses of Chloe and their handmaidens.  
  
Diamonique was now standing in Natala and Raakon's room, looking at a lovely ruby velvet caftan of Natala's that was sleeveless with a small V neckline and decorated with glittering diamonds at the waistline. It had been Natala's favorite party dress, and now it had become one of Diamonique's favorites as well. Diamonique also had her heart set on a tiny pale blue dress with delicate lace on the skirt that had been Caline's, but Diamonique was considerably taller and curvier than the small Calmagian princess, so the dress would not fit her. She tossed that little dress aside, and she was now dressing herself in a pale sleeveless tea-length lavender nightgown with a scoop neckline, trimmed with violet rexcon bird feathers (rexcon birds had similar feathers to marabou birds) on the edges. Diamonique quickly slipped that one on, and she was quite pleased with herself, as she strutted about the room like a fine duchess.  
  
"I wonder if Vegeta would like this on me," she wondered aloud in a purr. "If he could see this on me right now, he'd want me back in a heartbeat. He'd rip this off before I spoke his name. I'll definitely keep this one! Whoever thought that Astorian women would have such good taste in nightwear? I certainly never did."   
  
In the men's closet behind Diamonique, a furious Princess of Chloe who had just escaped Balair's clutches, thanks to her husband, was fuming, as the hated slut who had turned her husband into a statue was trying on her favorite nightgown. She watched through the white metal blinds in the closet, as Diamonique paraded around in her beloved nightgown.  
  
"Of all of the nightgowns there, she had to pick mine!" Natala couldn't help but hiss deep below her breath. The lavender and violet nightgown had been Natala's personal favorite-and Raakon's too-and was one of three usually reserved for the nights that was reserved for their lovemaking. "Who does that woman think she is?" Natala was far from being shallow or vain, but she, like Petalia, was fond of fine, elegant clothing.  
  
Before Diamonique had come to raid Natala and Raakon's room, Natala and Raakon had arrived to find Natala a dress to wear in place of the bedspread that she had been wearing. Natala had chosen a pale silver, long-sleeved caftan, silver lacy briefs, and a lavender sash with her most comfortable pair of silver shoes (silver was one of Natala's favorite colors). Then Raakon had sensed Diamonique's ki, and they had fled into the closet before Diamonique could spot them. Diamonique had started to raid Natala's closet, but she had not bothered the one with the black door that Raakon and Natala had been hiding in because the Gemstarian warrior already knew that the bedroom closets with black doors were reserved for men's clothing only, so she didn't waste her time.  
  
"Shhh," Raakon whispered in his wife's ear, as he held her from behind to close him. "A nightgown can easily be replaced, my love. But your life can't, and neither can this little one's." He slowly rubbed the slightly swollen mound that was Natala's abdomen. It wasn't until long after Raakon had defeated Balair and Natala had calmed down that Raakon had noticed a small ki signature between them that were neither his nor Natala's.   
  
He had felt his wife's stomach, and the new ki signature there had confirmed his hunch-and delighted them both, for Natala and Raakon had been quietly trying to create a baby between them before the war had started. Natala was ecstatic to be pregnant again, for she had started to fear after Arlina had been born, that she would never have another child again. Arlina had been a difficult birth that had nearly taken Natala's life, and for a long time, Raakon had been reluctant to impregnate his wife again for fear of endangering her life. Raakon would sooner do with only two children than lose his beloved wife, who meant more than life itself to him. It had taken Natala years to convince her husband to try again for another child, and it was only this year (with some encouraging and teasing from Bajal and Lektron) that Raakon had agreed to try for a third child.  
  
Natala smiled slightly, as she patted her husband's hand, which was still covering her stomach. "You're right," she whispered back to him. "A nightgown is nothing. Our child's life isn't. Raakon, I am so happy to be having a baby again." She turned towards him and kissed him gently on his lips. "Thank you, my love, for this is the best gift you could have given me this year."  
  
Raakon smiled in the darkness, ignoring Diamonique's yelling at the maids to bring her more things to try on. He and Natala quietly, then tensely, watched the Gemstarian woman try on a butter-yellow sleeveless caftan with intricate mauve lace covering it that Natala knew was one of Gracina's favorites. Diamonique then casually removed the dress, and then she stood in her silver-blue bikini underwear and bra, as she studied one of Gorna's dresses.  
  
"Ugh! Whoever owns this dress should be arrested by Intergalacticpol for poor fashion sense!" Diamonique gagged, as she looked at a plain navy-blue caftan with thin black stripes in distaste. Diamonique scrunched up her face when she studied another one of Gorna's dresses, a straight, dull, shapeless dark burgundy caftan with a black herringbone pattern on it. Gorna was well known to be a coordinated, but plain dresser with very little creativity or style. Gorna always dressed severely and conservatively, with no frills.   
  
Gorna's taste did not suit Diamonique's at all, and so Diamonique tossed all of Gorna's dresses aside, as she moved on to one of Alora's dresses. This dress was a sleeveless black cotton-like caftan with a wide yellow band on the waist and a wide yellow band on the cuffs and hem. The dress also had a slit up one side.  
  
Alora had very few actual dresses or caftans to begin with, for like Tayla, she lived in her fighting gi when she didn't have to dress up. Alora's dresses, like Gorna's had no frills or fancy additions; they were fitted to accentuate what few curves Alora had, but they were simple and comfortable. Alora had no need or use for many fancy things; she would have worn her fighting gi to balls and parties had she been allowed to. She was a much more casual dresser than even Tayla.  
  
Diamonique looked at several more of Alora's casual, simple frocks, and she tossed them aside with a bored air. She decided then to settle on the beautiful clothing of Natala and Gracina, and she put on Natala's ruby red velvet caftan again (much to Natala's secret chagrin). Diamonique had just taken a long, luxurious bath, and she felt clean and sensual. She dressed herself up in Natala's silver jewelry, which accented the dress perfectly, and then she fluffed out her magnificent ice-blue hair, which was slowly growing past shoulder-length. A pair of Gracina's crystal slippers with a small diamond on each toe completed the ensemble, along with some of Natala's makeup. Diamonique then twirled about the room, admiring her newfound finery. And as a finishing touch, she added a good dose of Natala's perfume, which smelled of a scent similar to vanilla mixed with lavender; this perfume was Raakon's favorite on his wife.  
  
"I do look divine, even if I do so say so myself!" she purred.  
  
Raakon and Natala (who were hiding their ki signature, so they would not set off Diamonique's scouter [which had been an extra lent to her by Dodoria]) were fervently wishing that she would leave, so that they could escape. Raakon had defeated Balair, but he didn't want to advertise to the other Elite officers yet that he was back to stop them. They both tensed when they felt the ki signatures of Dodoria.  
  
Great, Raakon thought. Just what we need.  
  
"Diamonique, what in the universe are you doing?" Dodoria demanded to know, as he entered Natala and Raakon's room.  
  
"Just finding myself a new dress," Diamonique hummed happily. She paraded her dress and her sultry curves in front of her former trainer. "What do you think?"  
  
"I think it's time to stop playing dress-up, little girl. It's your turn to watch the hostages," Dodoria ordered her sharply.   
  
"I need to rest, Dodi!" Diamonique exclaimed in protest. "After what Tayla Chloe put me through, I must really relax and recover, you know! I will soon need my beauty rest!"  
  
"You're going to take a permanent rest, if you don't get your pampered butt downstairs and watch those hostages!" Dodoria growled. "We're not having any more hostages escape, and you're to help Captain Ginyu watch them. Get going!"  
  
"Don't order me about, Dodoria," Diamonique told him sharply. "I can go down there on my own, even though I really need to find a new outfit. Guess this number will have to do!" And she left the bedroom sulkily.   
  
Just right after Diamonique left, Bhodie and Hazel entered the bedroom, with Hazel coming in the room first. Bhodie had a laser gun poking into Hazel's slender back. Hazel was clinging to her robe, a pink, lacy robe trimmed with marabou feathers that matched the nightgown that she had worn the night that Bhodie and his cronies had invaded the royal Calmagian castle. Hazel had not been able to change her clothes since that night, and she had barely managed to keep herself covered, for Bhodie had tried to take off her robe several times.   
  
The last time he had tried to remove her robe (and her nightgown as well) had been an hour ago when Bhodie had forced her into a closet at gunpoint to "feel her up" before they went upstairs. A furious Hazel had finally lost control, and she had sharply shoved Bhodie away from her hard with a surprising show of strength that only her fury could fuel; the shove was so hard that he had fallen to the floor backwards. The reason for her assault on him was because he had felt her between her legs while squeezing one of her ample brown breasts. Bhodie had retaliated by backhanding her across her eye hard, and now Hazel's left eye was swollen and blackened; Bhodie's strength had greatly increased since the last time she had seen him. That eye was now swollen shut.  
  
A stunned Hazel had thought to herself, He actually raised a hand against me? I didn't think that even he would go that far, but then I should know better. He must have killed thousands of innocent people over the past four years. Bhodie, did I ever really know you? Have you always been this way, and I was too blind to see it? What happened to that charmer I used to know? Was it just a façade, a mask? Is this what you have been all along, even when we were together?  
  
Tears ran freely out of her good eye, as Bhodie once again nudged her with the barrel of the laser gun, as he led her to the bed. Bhodie was becoming more lecherous and more aggressive by the hour; Hazel now knew that Balair was Bhodie's trainer under Frieza, and if Balair had meant for the Human to become a clone of himself, he had done his job well. Hazel cried out when Bhodie poked her again with the laser gun, and she lashed out at him before she thought.  
  
"Stop poking me with that thing! What the hell are you, a Nazi?" Hazel snapped.  
  
"What the hell's a Nazi?" Dodoria wanted to know.  
  
"Evil Earth people who obliterated millions of innocent lives!" Hazel hissed. "You guys and the Nazis would have gotten along great! Your forces are the equivalent of Nazis, and furthermore-"  
  
"Shut your trap, woman!" Bhodie insisted. His scowl melted into a mischievous grin. He winked at his potential conquest. "It's our time alone now, baby girl. Ol' Bhodie can't wait to get a bite of them sweet sugar buns! Yum, yum, yum!" He made slurping noises that made Dodoria laugh.  
  
"Save some for me, would you, Bhodie?"  
  
Bhodie laughed. "Sorry, Dodi, ol' pal, but Hazel's exclusively mine. I've wanted to do her for some time now! That Intergalacticpol chief may have popped her cherry first, but that's okay, he just made the entrance easier for me."  
  
"Bhodie, you and Balair have the same problem, you two just don't know how to share!"  
  
"Sorry, Dodi, but there's still plenty other babes around here somewhere. Me an' Bali's been trying for the past few hours to get ourselves some before the hostages started escaping. Last time, I saw Bali, he was taking Natala upstairs to screw her. Speaking of Bali, where is he anyway?"  
  
"I don't know, Bhode, I'm getting worried. I tried contacting him on the scouter, but he's not replying. All I'm getting is static."  
  
"You don't think that Natala killed him, do you?"  
  
"Hell no! Bali isn't going to get killed by a weakling Astorie woman! C'mon, Bhode, Bali's probably is screwing the brains out of the Astorie woman that used to belong to Raakon Chloe. Anyway-what in the universe-" Dodoria was interrupted when his scouter beeped. He pressed a small button. "Yes?"  
  
"Dodoria, this is Zarbon. Have you heard anything lately from Arachnor or Redusa? I sent them into the labyrinths earlier to finish off any Astorians that may be trying to enter the royal castle through the labyrinths. Have any of the hostages been recaptured?"  
  
"Not yet, sire, but we still have enough important hostages that the others of are no consequence. Crystalis and Pork are still with us, and believe me, I hope that Lord Frieza gives those two little traitors what they richly deserve! The nerve of the little brats, thinking that they can switch sides! Anyway, Zarbon, what's the plan if Arachnor or Redusa fail? Remember that these are Astorians that we are dealing with."  
  
"I do have a backup plan, Dodoria. Arachnor and Redusa are some of our finest Lower-Elite officers, but I have others. There are three other Lower-Elites and five Mid-Elites. The best one that I have is Samsonite, Balair's youngest brother. Next to the Saiyans, he is the strongest out of all the Mid-Elite officers. Also, there's Flirtius, a member of Jeice's race, who's unfortunately every bit as obsessed with humanoid young women as Jeice is, but he's almost as strong. Then there's Seductia, Redusa's cousin, with her famous Kiss of Death Attack and her Fatal Attraction Attack, in which she makes men unwittingly fall in love with her and then makes them do anything she wants, from killing their comrades to even killing themselves to please her. She uses that last attack to make her suitors kill their mates and then themselves; she's such an excellent user of mind control. Fourth of the Mid-Elites is Knightmare, a nasty, but powerful cretin who drives his enemies insane with their own bad memories or worst nightmares; he's also a fine user of mind control. And last, but not least is Splitz, who can do a multi-form technique where he splits himself into up to three people."  
  
"Hmm…interesting," Dodoria noted. He knew Samsonite, Knightmare and Seductia personally; all three were candidates for Top Elite, along with Prince Vegeta. He then asked Zarbon, "What about the Lower Elites other than Arachnor and Redusa?"  
  
"The three remaining Lower Elites are the Terror Triplets, Torture, Torment, and Taunt. All three of them usually enjoy torturing or taunting their victims until the victims literally go insane. Knightmare, as you know is a trainer for Lower-Elites and Low-Levels, and he taught those three all of his tricks. Anyway, Dodoria, I have to let you go now; I must speak with Lord Frieza and try to contact Balair. Contact me immediately, if you've heard from him. Have you tried to contact him?"  
  
"I can't reach him, Zarbon. All I'm getting is static."  
  
"Keep trying, Dodoria. Goodbye for now. I am signing off." And Zarbon's scouter channel closed.  
  
Dodoria turned to Bhodie, who was now forcing Hazel to lie down on the bed. "Bhode, I have to go. Don't take any more than an hour with your little woman there; you'll be needed downstairs shortly. I've got to go try to find Bali."  
  
"Fare thee well, Dodi! Me and my little Hazelnut will be keeping ourselves occupied while you're gone, won't we, brown sugar buns?" Dodoria chuckled at Bhodie's bragging, as he marched out of the bedroom. Except for Raakon and Natala hiding in the closet, Bhodie and Hazel were alone.   
  
"Hell no!" Hazel exclaimed, her full anger returning. "You release me now, you little prick, or I'll-"  
  
"You'll what, Hazelnut? Kill me? You're funny, sweet thing, very funny!" Bhodie laughed. He promptly pinned Hazel down with his weight, as he began to nibble along her brown collarbone while using his right hand to stroke her slender curves freely. His left hand was holding her left wrist.  
  
"Let me go of me, you bastard!" Hazel screamed, trying to push him off of her with no success.  
  
Bhodie ignored her. "Let's play one of my favorite games-What's Under Hazel's Nightie. You've filled out a bit since the last time we were in bed together like this." Bhodie then gave one of her ample mounds a firm squeeze, as if he were testing the ripeness of a tomato. He then began rubbing the center of her breast with his index finger, hoping to make it harden. While he was doing that, he crushed his lips against hers. Hazel writhed and thrashed about the best that she could until Bhodie easily nudged her left breast with his laser gun. He slowly drilled the barrel of the gun into her soft flesh.  
  
Freeing her mouth temporarily, Bhodie said menacingly, "No more protests, Hazelnut. No more fights. We've only got an hour to spare, and I want to get some from you before we have to go downstairs. Your hubby ain't comin' back, and you just going to have to do with ol' Bhodie, who's been wantin' ya for some time! Relax, brown sugar buns, you'll like this. Give ol' Bhodie a kiss, and just think of this as pickin' up where we left off, babes! I don't want to have to hurt you, Hazelnut, but I'm tired of you fightin' the inevitable." And with that Bhodie gave her right breast a hard squeeze.  
  
"Stop it!" Hazel screamed, her terror rising a hundred notches. "Get off of me!" She tried to claw at him with her free hand, but Bhodie quickly seized her wrist.  
  
"No way, brown sugar buns, not while I have you where I want you! Just let Bhodie-" Bhodie's speech was abruptly cut off when he felt the icy tip of a sword blade pressed against the jugular vein of his throat.  
  
"Do as she says, Bhodie, if you value your life," Raakon said severely, with his blade at Bhodie's neck and his hand on Bhodie's back.  
  
Bhodie did not dare turn around, for fear that Hazel's rescuer would slash his throat at any moment. "How-how in the hell did you sneak up behind me?" he demanded to know shakily. "My-my scouter didn't go off."  
  
"I am an Astorian; you know that we can hide our ki and fool your precious scouters," Raakon told the Human coldly. Natala stood next to him, casting her most disgusted, angry look at her former captors. She had grown to despise Bhodie almost as much as she did Balair.  
  
"Get off of her," Raakon told him in a steely tone. "Now."  
  
Bhodie then thought quickly, and he literally shoved the barrel of the laser gun into Hazel's breast. "Forget it, Princie," Bhodie sneered. "You hurt me, and she'll be dead faster than you can say Frieza's name. Now, if you and your sexy little wifey want her to live, you two will leave this room immediately, if you care about her at all."  
  
Natala paled, and Raakon clenched his teeth. Now what in Kami Orchida's name would they do?  
  
"Remove your sword, Princie," Bhodie demanded icily.  
  
Raakon slowly, reluctantly removed his sword away from Bhodie's throat.  
  
"Now that's more like it. Astories can see reason after all. Now, are you two leaving or not?" Bhodie wanted to know. "I intend to have her, and I'll be darned if you two are stopping me. No one's stoppin' our fun, are they, Hazelnut?"  
  
Hazel did not respond, and if she could grow pale, she would have. Sweat was beading upon her chocolate-toned brown, and tears began to form at the corners of her matching eyes. She was now thoroughly scared of this monster, a man that she had once thought that she could trust. Her slim brown body trembled beneath her filmy pink nightclothes. She couldn't repress her sobs.  
  
Natala, seeing her friend's look of hopeless despair, came up with a quick plan. Slowly, she tottered over near the bed where Bhodie and Hazel were, and she lightly tugged at a lock of Bhodie's brown hair. Bhodie looked at her, astonished. Raakon's eyes widened; what was his wife planning?  
  
"Bhodie," she said in her best tone of her normal velvet voice, "why are you wasting your time with her? She's just a Human female, much too weak for a man of your needs. You need a strong woman, sweetheart, and one who would gladly take what you would have to offer. You mentioned before on how you would like to mate with me, and now here's your chance. I've often wondered what it would be like to be with a man who is not an Astorian or a Sistrai."  
  
Hazel's jaw dropped, and Bhodie's jaw dropped further. Raakon stared straight into his wife's eyes. Denim-blue eyes interlocked with azure ones, as a dismayed Raakon looked at his beloved wife in shock. Natala noticed her husband's distress at her propositioning another male right in front of him, but she then winked at him and mouthed the words, "Trust me, I won't betray you."  
  
Their eyes held for several more seconds, as Natala silently mouthed another message to her true love. Raakon then nodded slowly twice, and no more communication was needed; he knew what his wife was planning. He trusted her completely, for he knew that she would never betray their marriage vows.  
  
He mouthed back anyway, "I trust you." Natala nodded once.  
  
Natala ran a slender cinnamon-toned hand through Bhodie's thick hair. Her voice became like melted butter. "You'll like it much better with an older, experienced woman. Most men do. I could teach you things in bed that you couldn't even dream of. Why have skim milk when you can have the cream-a genuine Astorian Princess of Chloe. Think about what you would have to brag later to your friends-that you bedded a real Astorian Princess of Chloe, Prince Raakon Chloe's wife. Balair would never have to know, if that's what you're worried about. He's already had his fun with me, and he was well satisfied, I can assure you. Why not have a bit of what he had with me or more?"  
  
"What about hubby here?" Bhodie asked slowly. He had already viewed Natala Cornsilk-Chloe as a virtuous, pious female. He hadn't thought her the type to cheat on her husband at all of her own free will, let alone in front of him. Then his shock wore off quickly, and then he began to grin, especially after Raakon said easily and uncharacteristically:  
  
"If she wants you, why shouldn't I let her experiment a little? I don't own her body, and Balair's already had his pleasure with her. Why shouldn't I be generous with her?" It made Raakon cringe to hear himself say these words, but he saw Natala's plan as their only chance to save Hazel.  
  
Bhodie's grin widened. "Well, if you say it's okay, Princie…I'll thoroughly enjoy her to my heart's content. It'd be nice to have a woman who won't scream or cuss or cry when I try to have some fun with her."   
  
And with that, Bhodie leisurely climbed off of a shocked Hazel. When he was off the bed with his feet on the floor, Raakon's ample fist slammed into the back of Bhodie's head. With a shocked cry, Bhodie fell face forward into the floor, and when his body crashed into the hardwood floor, he was unconscious, oblivious to the world.  
  
Hazel huddled into herself, ashamed and embarrassed. Her whole body shook, as Natala came closer to her and gathered her close in her arms. Raakon rested a hand on Hazel's slim shoulder. She looked up at him with wide, troubled eyes.  
  
"Okasen?" he inquired softly. (Are you okay?)  
  
Hazel shakily nodded, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. She was not fully fluent in Astorian, but she understood enough of it to understand most of what her in-laws were saying most of the time.  
  
"I hate him so much," she whispered. "So much now. I never thought that it was possible to hate anyone for me. If you two hadn't intervened-"  
  
"You're safe now, Hazel," Natala said gently. "No one will hurt you again. Raakon took care of Balair too, so we are safe now from those vile fiends."  
  
"Bhodie and Balair won't be harming anyone again," Raakon said firmly, as he left the two women temporarily, as he went to Natala's dresser drawer to rummage through it. He pulled out several of Natala's scarves and two of her long sashes.  
  
"I'm afraid that I am going to have to owe you a few scarves and sashes, my love," he told her, as he walked over to the unconscious Bhodie. Using the scarves and sashes, he bound and gagged Bhodie so tightly that it would have almost cut off his circulation, had he been conscious. Raakon then lifted up Bhodie's body and shoved him into the men's closet where he and Natala had been hiding.  
  
"He's not worth killing, even though his death would not be much of a loss," Raakon told his wife and aunt-by-marriage. "When this war is over, he will make an excellent witness, one that may lead us to Frieza-and the monsters who murdered my brother and cousin!"   
  
His voice shook at the last part of the sentence, and Natala excused herself temporarily from Hazel. She went up behind Raakon and gently wrapped her arms around Raakon's waist. Raakon's lean, muscular body began to tremble, as his large fists clenched tightly. He was trying to repress his sobs, but a tear or two escaped his eyes before he could prevent them. He had not cried since the time he had learned of his parents' and his siblings' deaths. On that day, he felt as if his entire world had collapsed beneath his feet, with two dear parents and ten loving siblings gone forever. And now Jaypros was gone, and possibly Farla; Natala had told him that Dodoria had been responsible for Jaypros' death. She had also told him about Marya's visions of Farla's death. Raakon sighed sadly with a catch in his normally smooth voice; his priestess sister's visions about someone's death had always been accurate. The dam in his eyes was now slowly breaking, and tears started to stream down his chiseled cheeks.  
  
Natala smoothed her husband's hair, and she rested her nutmeg head on his broad, trembling shoulder. Raakon finally turned around and embraced her tightly, his body now shaking hard. He was embarrassed to be crying like he was in front of his wife and aunt. Natala hugged him to her securely, rubbing his spine in slow, small circles as he clung to his mate.  
  
"Jaypros wasn't a bad man; he just made a mistake," Raakon chokingly whispered through his tears. "He just loved Farla so much that he was willing to risk all for her, no matter what it cost him. It-it was wrong of them to run off the way that they did, but they surely loved each other, enough to leave everything behind for each other. He gave up everything for her, everything. He risked all for her, everything."  
  
"Like you did for me when you fought Balair," Natala whispered back, tears gracing her smooth cheeks. She kissed him between his wide blue eyes, as she stroked his golden-brown hair. She wrapped her slim arms around his neck and weaved her long fingers into his tangled hair. Their lips met in a soft, warm kiss.  
  
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," he whispered back. "You are everything to me, my Natala."  
  
"And you are my life," she said hoarsely. "I thought that I would never see you again."  
  
"We are very lucky, my love," Raakon told her softly. He brushed a lock of Natala's sugar-brown hair back from her cheek, and then he looked at his own hand strangely, seeing a seemingly insignificant crescent-shaped scar just above the knuckle of his right index finger. He studied the old scar intently.  
  
He whispered softly, "Jaypros gave me this scar when we were training to fight in the Battle of Chloe. He was just learning the fine art of warring, just barely trained to be a good warrior. This scar occurred during that sparring match. We were so close then, him and I, in fact I was closer to him then than I was to Bajal or Lektron or Cletos. He looked up to me, worshipped me, and thought that I was his role model, his mentor. I tried to get him to talk to Farla one last time before she married our brother, Cletos, but he had honestly believed that she wouldn't leave Cletos for him. No one but me saw him cry the day that Farla married Cletos. He was so heartbroken, and my heart broke with him. He was never the same since."   
  
"And now he's gone, and I can never comfort him or be there for him again. I wish that I had been able to talk to him before he and Farla ran away together. It's too late now, too late!" Raakon's voice raised several octaves. "Curse Dodoria! I hate that fat pink bastardi! I should have burst out of that closet and taken him on then and there-"  
  
"Raakon, Raakon," Natala said urgently. "Doing so would have endangered our lives and definitely Hazel's. You will surely be able to take on that monster soon enough. Dodoria will surely get his just deserts, if not in this dimension, then the next."  
  
"I will destroy him," Raakon said fiercely. "He will join Balair in hell."  
  
Natala hugged her husband tighter. She looked deep into his eyes and whispered, "Raakon, you know how I've felt about fighting and warring in the past, but-"  
  
"But what?" Raakon asked slowly.  
  
Natala lowered her eyes and said steadily, her gentle features hardening into a determined expression. "When you see him again and fight him, land an extra blow for me." She took his hands into hers and squeezed them firmly. "Give him what he deserves-for your brother, for Farla and any children that they may have had, for Hazel, for Caline, for all of the people he's hurt or killed."  
  
Hazel joined in from the bed in cheering Raakon on. "Send a blast through that bastard's heart!" she cried vehemently.  
  
"I intend to," Raakon told both of the women solidly. "But first thing is first: I must get you two ladies to safety before I hunt down Dodoria."  
  
Natala left her husband briefly and she gathered Hazel into her arms. "I think I may have found another way into Caline's labyrinths, Raakon. I will get her out of here, and you do what you have to do."  
  
Raakon went to both of them and leaned over to give Natala a long, loving, lingering kiss, which she returned fervently. Hazel watched them with both longing and despair, for she missed her Gohan dearly.  
  
"You will see your husband again, Hazel," Natala reassured her after ending her kiss with Raakon and noticing Hazel's anxious expression. Hazel shakily nodded.  
  
"You be careful, my love, do you hear me?" Natala ordered her husband sternly.  
  
"I will. And you two be careful as well," Raakon told her equally as sternly. All three of them left the room behind. Natala decided that she would tell Hazel about her baby once they got to safety.  
  
  
  
A/N: Sorry to be really slack lately on updating. Anyway, I'm thinking about reinstating the poll again, or I may just email it to anyone who asks to see it. If you want to take the poll, just let me know. Also, I'm thinking about starting a mailing list, so if you want to be on it if I put one out, please contact me at mtsawnya@aol.com  
Gooden boden fro noy (goodbye for now!) and Dragonspaceballs Ch. 4 should be out. I am currently working on the next Chestra chapter, which should be out (I hope) either tonight or tomorrow, Friday at the very latest. 


	86. An Unsuspected Traitor

Chapter Eighty-Six: An Unsuspected Traitor And A Nasty "Knightmare"  
  
Zarbon was talking quietly on his scouter, as he was hovering over the Calmagian royal castle-that was until the speaker on the other end of Zarbon's scouter channel made a shocking announcement-Arachnor and Redusa were dead.  
  
"How in the hell did that happen?" Zarbon demanded to know furiously.   
  
The voice on the other end of the channel stammered, "Well, you see, Commander Zarbon, little Princess Tayla Chloe, the one that you are after, managed to cause Redusa's reducing spell to backfire on her. And then Princess Gorna Chloe, her eldest sister, disintegrated the shrinking woman. Redusa never had a chance after that. And from what I've been told, Superior Gran Shalila Chloe herself finished off Arachnor by feeding him too much of her abundant ki. He exploded, Commander."  
  
"Stupid Arachnor! He knew that he could only consume so much ki light at one time, and that too much would cause him to self-destruct. And Redusa had already been warned as to Princess Tayla's craftiness. This is what I get for allowing amateurs to attempt a job that only professionals, such as Top Elites and Mid-Elites know how to do properly! I knew I should have refused to have Lower-Elites handle this matter. Well, I may as well make use of what few Lower-Elites that I do have left, only Knightmare will be accompanying them. There is another part of that next plan, but I will need you to help carry it out."  
  
"Anything, Commander."  
  
"Do the Astorians and their friends have the slightest suspicion that you are working for Frieza yet?"  
  
"No way, Commander, no way. I am considered to be completely trustworthy among them. No one would ever suspect me, ever. I've put on a good act all this time, gaining everyone's trust and making everyone think that I wanted to help destroy Frieza. Working for Frieza has been the only thing that's kept my mind off the death of my wife some time ago. Wasn't happy when I was turned into a diamond statue earlier, didn't appreciate that at all."  
  
"I apologize for that. Diamonique did not know that you were one of us. How much closer are the Astorians to the castle now."  
  
"Within two hours, Commander, within two hours. Now what's the next phase of the plan?"  
  
"It's a simple task, really. You know the labyrinths almost as well as little Princess Caline of Calmag does, am I correct?"  
  
"Yes, Commander."  
  
"Princess Tayla has shown no distrust towards you, has she?"  
  
"We're not that well-acquainted, her and I, but she's not hostile towards me, no."  
  
"Next question: are there any shortcuts to the castle?"  
  
"Why yes, Commander, there is. There are a few passages in the labyrinths down here that not even little Princess Caline knows about. We're coming close to this nice shortcut in just a few minutes, and I had asked Princess Caline earlier, if she knew of any other ways from the labyrinth tunnel that we are in now that would take us to the castle faster, and she said no. That is good, for it means that Princess Caline does not know of this shortcut, which is hidden behind a huge boulder attached to the side of the labyrinth corridor that would take us directly to the castle."  
  
"Very good. Now, I want you to find a way to lure Princess Tayla away from the others when Knightmare and his buddies, Torment, Taunt, and Torture come into the labyrinths tunnels to reduce the number of rescuers. You are to lure the girl into the shortcut with you and bring her directly to us, is that clear?"  
  
"Consider it done, Commander. I just have one request when Frieza conquers this planet."  
  
"You will get your rewards as promised. You will be granted a high position in Frieza's army, and possibly the governing of the new Calmag. Just don't foul things up the way that your colleague, Alberm Dunlop of Rendor, did."  
  
"I won't, Commander. Unlike that fat fool, Alberm, I won't be so foolish as to give myself away too soon or fail. Alberm deserved what Commander Jaden gave him earlier. I only have one small additional request."  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"I would like to have Princess Caline of Calmag as my bride."  
  
Zarbon gasped a shock through the scouter channel. "Isn't Princess Caline only eleven years old? She's barely out of the cradle yet!"  
  
"We Calmagian men prefer our wives young, very young. The younger a girl marries, the better she can be trained to become a proper, submissive wife. I have wanted the child for myself for a long time, but there is no way that Prince Ridikar will give his blessing for my wedding her. Alberm had a difficult time with her, but he could barely manage his checkbook properly, let alone a wife! She won't behave so badly with me the way that he claims that she did with him. Prince Amitar should have married her to me instead of that fat fart that gave himself away. She's the only other thing I want, other than what Lord Frieza has already promised me."  
  
Zarbon did not like the man on the other end of the scouter channel. Sure, this man had proven to be a better spy that Alberm Dunlop, but the fact that he wanted to wed and bed a child who was probably not done with puberty yet disgusted Zarbon. Nevertheless, the little girl was of no real consequence to him, and if he didn't grant the request, surely Frieza would.  
  
"I'll propose it to Lord Frieza, but that's all I can promise," Zarbon told his counterpart tightly. "It shouldn't be a problem though, for you to have one female for yourself."  
  
"Thank you, Commander."  
  
"No problem-yet. Now don't fail me, for Knightmare and his bunch will be coming to you shortly. Make sure you lure the Princess Tayla away while the fighting is going on."  
  
"Yes, Commander. Unlike Alberm, you can trust me."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
An hour later...  
  
Caline was walking between Gracina and Tayla, who had decided to remain upfront for now, as the little Calmagian princess led them through the cold, chilly, dark corridors of the labyrinths. General Norbrook and Filcor Sedemeyer were close behind the three princesses, and Caline nodded politely towards the general. Norbrook had always been one of her father's closest allies, and he had lost his wife, Sayri, two years ago in a skycar accident. The general had taken the news sadly, but he seemed to be recovering greatly now, and Caline knew that her father had been trying to match one of her female cousins with Norbrook before Amitar had perished. Norbrook was not much different from other Calmagian men, but he had always conducted himself honorably, and Caline knew that Calmag was lucky to have him as a general.  
  
She noticed Norbrook casting occasional intense glances in her direction, and she wanted to know why. Probably to determine if she knew what she was doing. Caline looked back at the general once, but he had looked away and abruptly began a conversation with Lieutenant Balboun, who had joined him and Sedemeyer.   
  
Balboun smiled warmly at Caline, and Caline smiled back; she liked Balboun and she had met Balboun's wife, Rayli, who had been a warm, spirited woman. Caline had just married Alberm at that time that she had first met them when Balboun and Rayli had visited Alberm and Caline's main home in Rendor. Caline had seen Balboun and Rayli's happiness, and she had envied them their marriage. Balboun had never shouted at Rayli or raised a hand to her, and Rayli had seemed to be happy and contented with him. Caline had not wanted Rayli's husband, but the easy, free existence that Rayli had with Balboun, whom Rayli had affectionately dubbed "Bounie". But the only cloud on that occasion was the pitying looks from Rayli and Balboun every time that Alberm would order Caline about or raise his voice to her. At least Alberm had not hit her or raped her while Balboun and Rayli had been staying in Rendor, and Caline had been saddened when they left to go home to their own city.  
  
Now she and those with her had come to a fork in the labyrinth tunnels, with three passageways, and Caline was now trying to think of which way they should best take to get to a safe enough place where they could attack the rest of Frieza's minions. Everyone had agreed that it would be foolish to try to go back through the kitchenette way where Caline and Kekron had used to assist hostages in escaping.  
  
Kekron. Caline allowed herself to smile slightly at the thought of him. She had already firmly decided at her tender age that she had never wanted to marry again, that she would remain single and free for the rest of her life, rather than risk another abusive husband. She had also decided never to have a beau or suitor, no matter who he was. However, there was nothing wrong with speculating about the young, kindhearted boy who had helped her to free some of her people and saved her life from the cruel Balair.  
  
She would have rather died than be raped again, and both Kekron and his dear mother, Natala, had helped to prevent that. Caline silently prayed for Natala's safety, and that Raakon would find her soon and save her from that awful Balair. Caline had also been privy to Raakon's plot to leave early to go save his wife, and she, like Kekron, had supported him in his plans. She had given him a few healing roses in case that he had needed them. She was worried about Natala, but Kekron had told her how brave and strong his father was, and so Caline tried to ease her mind about Natala's welfare.  
  
Natala and Raakon were lucky to have some one like Kekron for their son. Caline had never met any young man like him before. Kekron was no warrior, but he was far from being a coward. He had attacked Balair to save her, knowing that doing so could have won him a free trip to see Enma Daiou. He was brave and sensitive and kind, an absolute gentleman. Caline and Kekron had not really become acquainted with each other until Zarbon and the others had taken everyone in the royal castle hostage. It was only after Natala had offered herself in Caline's place as Balair's next conquest that Caline and Kekron actually paid each other any mind. Kekron had managed to ease Caline's feelings of guilt over what Natala had done for her, and Caline had seen many good qualities in him, qualities that she had not seen in most Calmagian males.  
  
She wished that Kekron could have come with them, but she understood why he had to stay behind. He had to help look after the others above ground in case something should happen in the city of Magan, and he would be of little use against a whole team of Elite minions from Frieza. She and Kekron knew that luck and the Kais had been on their side when Kekron had taken on Balair, but Kekron's fighting abilities were greatly limited, and Caline would not have wanted him to throw his life away for nothing. He had wished her luck and said that she was in his prayers before she had left to lead the others down into the labyrinths. He had told her that she was one of the bravest young girls that he had ever met, and he had also told her that he hoped that she could come home to Astoria with them.  
  
Caline had told him that she had hoped so too, but she was not sure anymore as to whether she could leave Ridikar behind now that they had reconciled. Kekron had offered his condolences on the death of her father, and she had thanked him calmly. She knew that Kekron, like almost every one of her new friends, thought that Amitar wasn't much of a loss, but they were too kind and gracious to tell her so directly. To her deep shame, neither did she. Maybe someday, she would be able to grieve, but for now, she felt only relief that her father wouldn't hurt her anymore, or force her into another horrible marriage. Ridikar had promised her that her next husband would be of her own choosing, but Caline wanted no one for a mate, although Kekron might have made a good possibility…  
  
Caline shook her small, pale head wildly, attracting the alarmed looks of Gracina and Tayla. She did not acknowledge their concerned expressions at first, for she was now trying to tell herself that Kekron would never really want her.  
  
She thought, despairingly, He wouldn't want me; I'm not a virgin or an Astorian. Surely, he would want to marry someone of his own kind, or at least someone who's braver, stronger, and not so afraid of everything. He'd want someone like his mother, not someone small and weak and helpless like me. He'd want someone who's pure, who's closer to his age, and who is a true Princess of Chloe…  
  
She was only distracted from her thoughts of Kekron when she had noticed Filcor Sedemeyer watching her intently. She deliberately avoided him, even though he was walking behind her. She knew that Filcor had another wife before her, another young girl that Filcor had married when she was twelve, but had died at age fifteen. The deceased wife, Carie, had drowned herself intentionally one year ago. Caline had known Carie personally, and they had been best friends despite their differences in ages. Carie had been the only real friend that Caline had besides Ridikar, and Carie had been more of a sister to her than Caline's real sisters had been. Carie had confided in the young girl of the way that Filcor had been treating her; Filcor was more verbally than physically abusive, but even he had hit Carie now and then when Carie would not satisfy his insatiable sexual hunger like he wanted her to do. Carie had shamefacedly confessed to Caline that Filcor had even raped her several times.  
  
One time Carie had ran away from her fancy home in Rendor that she had shared with Filcor, and Caline, who had been ten years old then, had hidden her for three months in the basement of the castle until Carie could make plans to disappear permanently. Ridikar had been at a military academy during those three months, and Caline had so wanted to tell him, but Carie had made her promise not to tell anyone. Plus, Caline had feared that Ridikar would feel obligated to reveal the information to his father, who would have surely contacted Filcor. Caline had sheltered and fed Carie and provided for all of her other needs while Carie was making solid plans to move to the other side of Calmag, where she could hide forever.  
  
It had been that rat brother of hers, Julien, that had exposed her poor best friend! Caline had never forgiven him to this day, for the way that Julien, who had unexpectedly decided to go down to that same basement to explore it and its contents, had cold-heartedly revealed Carie's location to Amitar and the authorities from Rendor searching for Filcor's runaway wife. Caline had tearfully begged Julien not to turn Carie in when he had discovered her hiding there, but Julien, who had been their mother's favorite before Caline had been born, cruelly ignored his sister's pleas. Julien had been extremely jealous of Shydine's love and affection towards Caline, and he had never accepted his youngest sister. Julien was the sibling who had been the most hateful towards Caline, and he had loved to make her life miserable whenever possible. So Julien had turned Carie in, and both Carie and Caline had received a severe beating each, Carie from her husband, and Caline from her father. It had taken weeks for both girls to recover, and Caline had never seen Carie alive again, for Filcor and Amitar had forbidden all and any contact between the two unfortunate girls.   
  
It had been Julien who had happily informed his baby sister of Carie's suicide, and because he had been grinning and laughing when he had broke the news of Carie's death, Caline had sharply slapped him across his face. It had been the only time that Caline had dared to strike out against anyone before the war had started, and that slap had earned her another beating from her father. Ridikar had tried to talk his father out of both beatings on Caline, but Amitar had sharply told Ridikar to mind his own business.  
  
Because the memories of Carie were now too painful, the little Calmagian princess abruptly shoved all thoughts of the past out of her head, and she firmly resolved to focus on leading her friends and family to a safe place to enter the castle. She hastily reassured Tayla and Gracina that she was fine, although both Mantros Chloe sisters still had serious doubts after hearing Caline's hurried words of assurance. Caline knew that she was not a good deceiver, and that she was as readable as a flashing neon sign. She sighed, straightened herself up, and concentrated on remembering a way to get into the castle safely.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later...  
  
  
Two of General Norbrook's men were sharing a flask filled with strong cognac that the older soldier had smuggled down into the tunnels. Each of the two soldier were taking turns sipping greedily from the flask while they were leaning against the wall of the new corridor that they were checking out to make sure that no new enemies would pop out at the Calmagians or the Astorians. The younger man was telling his older companion a sleazy story about a favorite whore who would frequent the CRP officer barracks.   
  
The younger soldier was boasting, "That whore was a fine piece of female, and the things that she knew how to do with a man! Sweet Ankor, she looked like an older version of the little Princess Caline. The child is a luscious piece, isn't she? If I had a chance, I would have tried to convince Prince Ridikar to give me Caline as a bride!"  
  
The older soldier laughed, "Like he would give her to you! Remember, she's a princess, young man! She'd be better off with a man of experience, such as myself! I lost my wife quite some time ago, and I wouldn't mind having her for myself. I was thinking of talking to Prince Ridikar myself. He's changed, the strange prince has. I've heard around that he is actually going to allow Princess Caline to choose her own husband! Maybe I could get her to "choose" me, eh?"  
  
"Hey, I lost my wife too, and I should have a fair chance myself! Lord Alberm Dunlop was nothing but a fat fool, a foolish man! Prince Amitar should have never married Caline to him; she's obviously meant for a younger, more virile man such as myself! Lord Alberm couldn't handle her or keep her in line, but I bet that I could! That strange beast woman called Jaden did us all a favor when she blasted Alberm into oblivion!"  
  
"Keep dreaming, young man, keep dreaming! A young girl like her needs an older, more experienced hand to keep her in line! I intend to get to know the little princess a little better when this war's over. Someone like her needs to be with a trustworthy, dependable man who's served this planet well such as yours truly."  
  
"Aw, c'mon! I've served this planet well myself! Been in these troops since I was fifteen! I'm twenty-three now."  
  
"Well, I have fifteen years to say against your eight, young man!"  
  
Suddenly, a small navy-blue creature with a green stomach and three gold horns fell from the ceiling. His four eyes were large and bulging and red, and he had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth sharp enough to tear steel apart.  
  
"What in the hell is that thing?" the younger soldier, whose name was Private Gauze demanded to know.  
  
The horrified older soldier, whose name was Sergeant Baraki fired his laser gun at it, but the little monster easily dodged the ray, and before the older soldier could prevent him, the creature knocked away the laser gun from him onto the floor. Then the little monster flung itself onto the soldier, seized the wrist that had held the gun, and swallowed his large hand. The blue monster made loud, sucking sounds while sucking on the soldier's hand, while the soldier began to scream and cry in agony, as he felt his flesh being pulled from his hand bones.   
  
Gauze had grabbed a hold of the blue demon-like creature and tried to yank him off of his friend's hand. When the little beast had finally spat out Baraki's hand, Baraki screamed in horror when he saw that his hand was nothing more than a collection of bones, with no flesh no blood, no blood vessels, no skin, no nerves, nothing but bones.  
  
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he cried in terror, seeing his skeleton hand.  
  
The monster snarled, and then he flung himself onto Gauze and opened his jaws wider to swallow the soldier's head. Gauze was vainly trying to prevent the blue monster from swallowing his head whole and killing him.  
  
"Lunch time!" the little monster rasped as it tried again to swallow his victim's head whole, so that he could suck out all of the man's brains, blood, cells, flesh, hair, anything but the skull.  
  
But the monster would not get to snack anymore.  
  
In fact, after today, it never ate again.  
  
A powerful bolt of electric blue light shot out from nowhere and shoved the monster off of the soldier's head. The monster cried out in fury at its attacker, "You hurt Torture, you die! Torture eat you all up!"   
  
And with that, the minion called Torture flew himself at his attacker and the soldiers' rescuer, who just laughed at him scornfully and neatly sliced off his head with a sword. Within less than a nanosecond, Torture's head was rolling peacefully along the floor, his eyes bulged open forever in horror at what it had not been able to prevent-the abrupt end to his own pathetic life. Torture's killer than reduced his head and his body to a pile of blue muck.  
  
Alora Sahara-Chloe spat on the body mass of dead monster that now lay at her feet.  
  
"You-you saved us, Miss!" Baraki exclaimed, still clutching at his bony hand.  
  
"How can we ever repay you?" Gauze asked.  
  
"You are truly brave, miss!" Baraki cried excitedly.  
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it," Alora told them abruptly, as she tossed Baraki a blue musk rose. "Use that for your hand!"  
  
Baraki looked at the rose doubtfully, but he experimentally brushed the blue rose along his hand bones. Alora nodded at him to continue, and within two minutes, the soldier's hand was completely restored to normal.  
  
"These flowers are amazing!" Baraki declared.  
  
"Miss, we must do something for you in exchange for saving our lives and to thank you!" Gauze insisted. "We could-"  
  
"Shut up!" Alora yelled at them harshly, "Just shut up!" She then rapidly turned away from the two thankful soldiers, and she swung her sword out, with its point standing straight up into the air. She jabbed it up a little further, and to her satisfaction, another blue monster was impaled on the blade. This monster resembled the last one that had attacked the soldiers, and it had tried to jump onto Alora, but Alora had sensed it coming. She had turned around just in time to stab the second monster.  
  
"No!!!" the second monster screamed. "You stab Torment, no! Torment no wants to die!"  
  
"Torment have no choice," Alora told him in a steely tone. She disintegrated him with a ki blast before Torment had time to react, and within seconds, a mass of dripping blue funk was falling off of Alora's large sword.  
  
Alora tried to sense for other unfamiliar ki levels, and she found two, but this time her luck would run out.  
  
For at that moment, she felt a sharp ball of ki hit her hard in the back of her head, and before she knew it, she was on the ground, crying and screaming for mercy. Her slender, boyish, muscular figure trembled and writhed in horror in the dust, as she clung tightly to her head.  
  
"NO! Don't die on me, please, no!" she cried out in terror. Alora's mind was not in the present time; instead she was back in the Battle of Chloe, her first real war ever. She was seeing comrades die, many of them from her own Clan of Sahara.  
  
"Leave him alone, Balair, no!" Alora screamed in horror, for her tormented mind, she was seeing Balair, a much younger Balair vaporize himself into a cloud of red gas. Balair the gas cloud was quickly entering the lungs of many of Alora's clan members, forcing their to swell up and self-destruct. Alora was now trying to hold her breath, trying not to breathe in the deadly Balair fumes.  
  
"Alora!" Bajal shouted when he saw his wife writhing about on the floor. Alora could not feel Bajal's presence at all, for she was now once again in the Battle of Chloe, fighting Balair, fighting to stay alive.  
  
"Let me go, you son of a whore! Put me down, Balair, I mean it! Let me go, you murdering bastard!" Alora was crying out in her inner world of torment. Bajal raced to her side, his heart skipping beats repeatedly every time he heard Alora scream in pain.  
  
"Stop biting me! Stop it! Someone help me! Balair is ripping off my arm!"  
  
"Alora, wake up! It's me, Bajal, your husband! Balair's not here!"  
  
"She can't wake up, Astorie," a cool, chilly voice laced with silk said smoothly. Bajal looked up and around, but he could see nothing.  
  
Out of the shadows, a tall, dark black monster that resembled a larger version of Torture and Torment, stepped out. He wore a bright red cape, and his four eyes were glowing green instead of red, and his horns were made of silver, not gold. He was much taller and more muscular than his former students, Torture and Torment.  
  
Bajal stared angrily at this demon. "Who in the hell are you, and what the hell did you do to my wife?"  
  
The demon-like creature laughed airily. "I am Knightmare, one of Frieza's most powerful Mid-Elite Officers ever. If I succeed in this mission, which I know that I will, I will ascend to Top Elite! I have cast my Eternal Dream Torment spell upon your mate, and she will suffer from nightmares forever until I am dead. I use that favorite spell of mine to bring out the worst nightmares and dreams of my victims. Many of them wind up committing suicide to escape their inner torment, or they go insane. I don't like it when they commit suicide though; it reduces the fun."  
  
Bajal growled, "Well, guess what, Knightie, I'm going to send you to your own personal nightmare for what you just did to my wife! Have fun with Enma Daiou 'cause you'll be meeting him within less than a second!" And with this Bajal drew out his sword and dashed towards Knightmare, preparing to slice him in half, if need be.  
  
Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Knightmare swiftly flew a ki ball at Bajal's head before Bajal could reach him with his heavy sword. Within a fraction of a moment, Bajal was on the floor besides his tormented wife, crying in horror with his own nightmares of the Battle of Chloe.  
  
Knightmare grinned wickedly. "I love my Eternal Dream Torment attack! Oh, Taunt, come here, please!" Taunt, who was the third of the three Terror Triplets, was now the only survivor. He jumped down from the ceiling, to where he had been clinging, thanks to suction-like feet and hands, and landed happily in front of his trainer.  
  
"Taunt," Knightmare said smoothly. "Torment and Torture have perished, unfortunately, so you shall have to carry on their work for them. We mustn't disappoint Lord Frieza, right?"  
  
"No disappoint Lord Frieza!" Taunt agreed enthusiastically. He and Knightmare laughed maliciously, as Bajal and Alora's screams grew louder and louder.  
  
"Okay, Taunt, my pet, now go have fun and devour as many of the Astories and Calmagies as you can! Take as long as you like! I'll have my own fun while you go do my bidding! Now that spy of Lord Frieza's is supposed to lure that puking brat they call Tayla Chloe, but even if the spy doesn't, we'll have our pleasure, won't we, little Taunt?"  
  
"Sure will. Sure will. Taunt have fun. Taunt eat people! Taunt have fun!"  
  
And with that Taunt joyously danced around the turn of the labyrinth corridor, where he was to began his mini reign of terror.  
  
And it was also where he won his own ticket to the next dimension, to his own personal appointment with Enma Daiou.  
  
Taunt emitted one piercing screech, a final scream of terror and pain, as he slowly backed into the labyrinth corridor-with a glowing sword sticking out of his chest-and Dirkan holding the end of it!  
  
Tears streamed down Taunt's dark demonic face, as Dirkan mercilessly twisted his Light Blade further into Taunt's puny chest. To make the battle end quicker, Dirkan used his eye lasers to fry the little imp into a pile of darkened, smoking ashes.  
  
Knightmare roared in fury, for now all three of his favorite pupils had been quickly destroyed. He then reached into his own cape and drew out a sword enveloped in pure fire. Unlike Torture, Taunt, and Torment, Knightmare could not be affected by ki blasts or fire at all; he was fireproof. The only way to eliminate Knightmare would be to either kill him with a sword or be beaten to a bloody pulp.   
  
Dirkan knew this for a fact, and he knew this because he had encountered members of Knightmare's race before. Many of Knightmare's people had once worked for Queen Frost, and they had been among the most powerful of Queen Frost's troops. Knightmare belonged to one half of a rare race called the Feari, and this group was known as the Eli Dea Feari (Elite People Who Do Not Fear Death). All of the Eli Dea Feari had the same abilities as Knightmares had. The Terror Triplets had been members of the weaker Wea Feari (Weaker People Who Do Not Fear Death) half of the Feari race. The Wea Feari were much easier to destroy because they could be destroyed by ki blasts, unlike the Eli Dea Feari. When he and Shalila had first minions from both halves of the Feari race, the Eli Dea Feari had been among the most difficult of Queen Frost's soldiers that they had to defeat. Queen Frost had chosen many of the Eli Dea Feari as her personal bodyguards, but Shalila and Dirkan had destroyed all of them. Their ki attacks had not worked on the Eli Dea Feari guards, but their swift swords had. They had to kill all of the Eli Dea Feari guards in order to get to Queen Frost unblocked.  
  
Dirkan knew of Knightmare and the Terror Triplets, thanks to Intergalacticpol, who had them on their Most Wanted List. The Feari had been a tiny race, and it was known that only Knightmare and the Terror Triplets existed out of that near-extinct race. Intergalacticpol officers had destroyed almost the entire Feari race because the Feari had started terrorizing planets and were becoming as deadly as the Saiyans and Frieza's fighters. The Wea Feari section of the Feari race was now extinct. Now only Knightmare remained out of the entire Feari race, and Dirkan decided that eliminating him would be the best option.  
  
Dirkan withdrew his Light Blade from the dead Taunt and raised it into the still, stagnant air of the labyrinths. "Give me your best shot!" he ordered Knightmare.  
  
"With pleasure!" Knightmare declared, as he tried to fire an Eternal Dream Torment Attack at Dirkan, who batted it away with his sword, as if the ki blast had been a fly. (Dirkan was an expert at fielding ki blasts with his sword, and he could use his sword to shove ki blasts away from him using a bit of ki and streaming it into his beloved blade.)  
  
Knightmare tried twice more, but Dirkan, seeing how Bajal and Alora were suffering, decided to eliminate the last of the Feari race once and for all. He felt the ki signatures of his adopted family come up behind him, but he paid them no mind. He knew now that they were watching him battle Knightmare, but he could not acknowledge their presence, for he had a battle to win. He and Knightmare were now clashing swords, artfully dodging each other's sword attacks.  
  
While Knightmare and Dirkan were trying to stab each other with their swords, Shalila and Gorna swiftly crept past the two dueling men. Shalila hastily flung Bajal's fighting, terrified body over her shoulder, and he was heavy. Bajal was unconsciously fighting his grandmother, unaware of whom she was. Bajal was now struggling with Shalila, mistaking her for Frieza.  
  
"I'll kill you, Frieza, I swear to Orchida!" Bajal roared in both fury and terror, as he was desperately struggling to survive the deadly tyrant in his never-ending dreams.  
  
"Bajal, it is I, Nama!" Shalila cried anxiously, but Bajal did not recognize her, as he punched her in her chest with the force of a small battering ram. Finally, she had no choice but to hit her dangerous grandson hard in the side of his head in order to put him out. Bajal lapsed into unconsciousness, now in a dreamless slumber, much easier to live with than the nightmares of him fighting Frieza.  
  
Gorna had been forced to knock Alora out when Alora had seized her own sword and tried to slash Gorna's side, thinking that Gorna was Balair. Now Alora was in the same dreamless slumber as her husband, who was loudly snoring-and drooling on his grandmother's shoulder. Shalila and Gorna sighed with relief, as they carried their quarry out of harm's way.  
  
The two warrior women hurriedly carried them to another corridor of the labyrinth with the help of Gracina and Lektron. Lektron was worried about Bajal and Alora and asked, "Shouldn't we try to rouse them?"  
  
"Absolutely not!" Shalila declared vociferously. "They will only start having those horrible dreams again! When Knightmare perishes, then we will try to awaken them. Leave them be for now, or they will become dangerous again. He is the same Knightmare that Intergalacticpol has long warned us about, and he must be destroyed."  
  
As she spoke, Knightmare's piercing scream reverberated throughout the labyrinths. Caline clung to Tayla, who held her tight while clenching her own teeth at the horrible way that Knightmare was dying.  
  
Dirkan was crying aloud, "You've picked the wrong family to mess with!"  
  
Dirkan had managed to slice Knightmare's throat, and before Knightmare could do anything to save himself, Dirkan speedily beheaded the cruel Feari warrior. Now Knightmare was on his way to see Enma Daiou-and Alora and Bajal's nightmares would end.  
  
To be on the safe side, the fierce Namek warrior decimated Knightmare with a swift ki blast, turning him into a black pile of ashes. Dirkan spat furiously on the ashes and turned away.  
  
"He's gone, like the others," Dirkan announced quietly and needlessly.  
  
"Are you okay, Dirkan?" Tayla asked worriedly.  
  
Dirkan nodded. "I'm more than fine, kid. And don't worry too much about Alora and Bajal, for once we wake them up, they'll have no memory of the torment they went through."   
Everyone took deep heaving breaths, and the two Calmagian soldiers breathlessly thanked Dirkan.   
  
"We owe you and the other two a great debt," Baraki told the Namek.  
  
"Don't sweat it," Dirkan told them, quoting from one of Shalila's Earth expressions. "We'll go to rouse Alora and Bajal, then it's time to start again."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
And yet another ten minutes later after that…  
  
"Commander Zarbon?"  
  
"What is it now?"  
  
"The plan has failed, Commander. Knightmare and the Terror Triplets have been killed."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"I am sorry, Commander, but Dirkan has destroyed Knightmare and it is unknown as to who killed the Terror Triplets, but everyone is gone out of them."  
  
"Curses! Frieza is going to have my head for this-Knightmare was one of his personal favorites! He himself nominated Knightmare for Top Elite, and Knightmare was destroyed that easily!"   
  
"Commander, what do we do now?"  
  
"Do you know where that shortcut of yours leads to in the castle?"  
  
"Yes, Commander." He told Zarbon that location as well as instructions on how to get to that passage from the castle, and Zarbon said:  
  
"I want you to escort the Astorians and their friends through that shortcut. I am going to have Splitz waiting in the middle of that shortcut of yours, and then Seductia and Flirtius will be waiting at the end of the tunnel to stop our friends. Splitz is the weakest of the Mid-Elites that I am sending, but even if he doesn't eliminate the more powerful Astorians, then Seductia and Flirtius can surely do the job. And the few who make it past them, if any, will be unlikely to survive Samsonite and the Ginyu Force. I have decided to have Samsonite help guard the hostages for now. I'm tired of playing with Shalila Chloe and her ilk, and I want them destroyed, and so does Frieza. He is growing very impatient; Calmag should have been cleared days ago."  
  
"How will I explain how I discovered this shortcut?"  
  
"Simply tell them that you had remembered it from your days of training. They won't question it, not even the little Caline. Don't fail me; I am counting on you."  
  
"I swear on my grandfather's grave that I won't, Commander."  
  
  
******************************************************************************************  
  
A/N: Who is this traitor that has been spying on the Astorians the entire time in the labyrinths? There aren't many candidates, but it won't be likely who you suspect...or will it? (I have a good idea of who you think it is, but it may or may not be him. Remember in mysteries, it's often the one you least suspect...maybe.) Anyway, the traitor is mentioned in this chapter, he is Calmagian, a minor character, wants Caline, and he lost his wife some time back. Whoever guesses correctly first by the time that I write Chapter Eighty-Eight will be featured as a character in Chapter Eighty-Nine or Ninety. To make it fair for everyone who's reading, all answers need to be put in the reviews, that way everyone can see who answered correctly first, and there's no doubt.  
  
About the poll, I intend to reinstate it soon since a few people have requested it. I've sent the copy of a poll through email to a friend of mine to see it first before I put it up.  
  
Thank you all for reading this unusually long story, which became much, much longer than I had intended. I realize now that I probably should have made this story into two books instead of one. I could have started a new book beginning with Part Three, but I didn't think about that until a few days ago. Anyway, I intend not to let it go over a hundred chapters. I wish that I could wrap it up sooner, but I feel that it would be going too fast if I did it in a few chapters. (Strange, I know, but that's how I feel.) To those brave readers who have stuck with this long, long story, thank you, thank you, and thank you again! 


	87. Guardian Angel

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Guardian Angel  
  
Nighttime in the City of Magan, Angori Hotel just above Magan Park...  
  
Toria's slender aged hands trembled, as she paced anxiously through the hotel room that she was sharing with Arlina and Veal. She prayed for Marya, who was still inside the castle with the other hostages. Marya had opted to stay behind to comfort and be there for those who had been unfortunate enough to be left behind.   
  
Marya, Natala, Hazel, Steak and Ham were the only ones left out of the travelers from Astoria that were still in the castle. Toria felt for certain that Natala and Hazel were safer now than they had been for days, but she felt uneasy about the safety of Steak and Ham.   
  
She had seen in her visions that Steak was reunited with his youngest son, Pork, who had been forced to work for Frieza, and then she saw a rather strange brown creature with green spots and long neck. Such a girl with strange powers, and yet she was so timid, too afraid to use them against her enemies. Toria felt for this strange brown creature that had been a friend and sister to young Pork.  
  
She then stepped out into the ornate hallway of the once-best hotel in all of Magan. Much of the hotel still remained intact, but the Saibamen had damaged the courtyards and ballroom. The servants were downstairs in those wrecked areas, trying to clean up the damage the best that they could.   
  
The High Priestess of Astoria was about to ask a passing maid for a pitcher of water when she noticed a young man stepping out into the hallway with a battered faded blue suitcase. He wore a large elegant sword on his back, and the priestess could see that the hilt was sculpted out of a green stone similar to jade and shaped into the three moons of Calmag in crescent stage. Toria guessed him to be about five feet and five inches tall, and she saw that he was of slight build, with somewhat spiky hair and purplish-blue eyes. Her sorceress's instincts told her that he was no ordinary young man.  
  
The young man then observed her watching him, and he smiled and looked towards the older woman's direction. Casually, he walked towards her, as she stood out in the hall, watching him out of one eye.  
  
"Greetiens," she said kindly to the young lad.  
  
"Er...Greetiens. I take that to mean 'hello' right?" the lad asked.  
  
"Yasi, I mean yes," Toria told him.   
  
"You are one of the Astorians, aren't you, a Princess of Chloe, and am I correct? All of Calmag knows about the Astorians' arrival and the planned alliance between Astoria and Calmag."  
  
"Yes," Toria told him serenely. "I am Princess Toria Chloe, High Priestess of Astoria. And what is your name?"  
  
"Cirono. I just came from the other side of Calmag after winning one of the royal martial arts tournaments. My family is very poor, and I won the first prize money. It will help us get a brand new start, open a business and make a decent life for ourselves. I learned about Calmag being invaded weeks ago, and I know that it is risky to come here, but my family needs that money. The King of Calmag was supposed to send me the money days ago, but the war seems to have interfered with the transference. My family cannot wait much longer; they have many mouths to feed and huge debts yet to pay. There was supposed to be a special banquet and ceremony for me too, but I will just be satisfied with the money. Also, I thought that maybe I could offer my assistance to the CRP officers and the Astorians. Fighting in the martial arts tournaments gives me a refresher from my actual career."  
  
Toria looked at him strangely. "And what career is that?"  
  
Cirono flushed uncomfortably. His current life career was a profitable one, and it financed his parents and numerous siblings. However, his family and his fiancée did not entirely approve of what he did for a living. "I am a mercenary of sorts. My job is not entirely legal, but it pays well and supports my large family. Men hire me mostly to get rid of "pests", those who try to interfere with their businesses or bother them excessively. A few of my comrades have suggested that I might be good enough to join up with Frieza's Elite forces, but I want nothing to do with those bastards, especially when they're destroying my family and my people. While I'm here, I figure maybe I could help fight those insects and squash them once and for all!"  
  
Toria gasped; she was a bit disturbed by the young man's career and vehemence, but she sensed something about him, something that could make him an ideal ally. "I have heard rumors of a hostage situation at the royal Calmagian castle, something about an Elite minion named Zarbon holding everyone in their prisoner to force the Astorians to give up a little girl. What is so special about her that Frieza is going through all of this trouble?"  
  
Toria replied quietly, "She is one of our most powerful and intelligent fighters, and she is only twelve years old. The deity of our planet, Kami Orchida, considers her to be one of Astoria's last hopes against the deadly Frieza. Her future is still clouded, not written in stone, but we have great expectations for her. Twice, she has defeated the most powerful living Saiyan in the universe, a boy not much older than her named Prince Vegeta. And she has defeated other warriors, as well, and put them in their place. It is her fighting abilities and power potential that has drawn Frieza to her, making him want to induct her into his forces. She is opposed to Frieza's dastardly plans, but Frieza and his minions are persistent. If Frieza were to have his way, she would be on her way to becoming one of his strongest fighters. The Clan of Chloe and our allies are fighting to prevent that from happening. Had Frieza been able to have her when she was a younger child and bend her to his ways, she would have been a deadly threat to the entire Rosetta Galaxy next to Vegeta. But she is good of heart, strong of spirit, although a bit stubborn occasionally, with a very sharp tongue and temper at times. She grows stronger and wiser with each passing years, and many of the Clan of Chloe's hopes fall upon her."  
  
"She sounds like something else, but that's so many hopes and expectations on one young girl…imagine the pressure she must be under at times to live up to everyone's ideals," Cirono noted.  
  
"We do our best to allow her to lead a normal life, as normal as possible for someone like her," Toria told him quietly. "However, she is not destined for an ordinary existence."  
  
"It sounds like she isn't. Well, I wish you and your family the best of luck in defending her. I wish her the best as well. Well, anyway, I have to leave now, perhaps find one of the CRP leaders and see if I can join them temporarily in the war against Frieza. Maybe I can get my prize money when this bloody mess is over, assuming that there is still a planet left."  
  
"Good luck to you, Cirono," Toria told him sincerely. "May you return to your family and your fiancée safely. May you wish for that is good come true for you. May the ancestors, good spirits, and the Supreme Kai watch over you and keep you safe."  
  
Cirono nodded. "Thank you…Princess Toria. May I ask you a question?"  
  
"Of…course."  
  
"You know telepathy, don't you?"  
  
Toria tried to remain calm, although she was mildly surprised that Cirono knew of one of her many mind talents. She closed her eyes briefly, and she could read some of Cirono's thoughts. Cirono quietly sent her a telepathic message:  
  
*May the good souls of centuries past keep watch over you until you can become one of them. *  
  
Toria nodded. "Thank you," she whispered. She sensed that while Cirono was able to send telepathic messages, he was unable to receive them. "Farewell, and the same to you," she said softly.  
  
Cirono nodded, and he quietly left the hall, carrying his blue suitcase.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Magan Park, thirty minutes later…  
  
Cirono was now walking quietly through the disheveled park, hoping to find a CRP officer, any CRP officer, but the park and the streets surrounding it were deserted. He walked slowly through the night, feeling the cool wind brush against his young skin. He was lost in his thoughts, in fact so lost in his thoughts that he could not prevent himself from falling through a weakened area of the battered city streets of Magan. The blacktop and concrete collapsed under his feet, and he began to plummet through the street. He screamed in horror when he continued falling through the crumbling pavement and metal deep down into the labyrinths below.  
  
He just barely landed on his agile feet, now standing on the cold, wet, cracked stone floor of the labyrinths. He landed right outside of the entrance to a larger corridor of the labyrinths, and he heard voices on the other side of the door at the end of the corridor that he was in.  
  
He was a bit unnerved by the voices and the nearness of the people speaking, so he find a pole that helped to hold up the labyrinth ceiling and hid behind the large pillar.   
He noticed a man, a short corpulent man with black hair and piercing green eyes so dark that they were almost as black as his hair. The plump man had just entered this corridor of the labyrinths through the aforementioned door, and he was looking around, as if scouting for trouble. The man, who seemed to be an official and important CRP officer, a high ranking one, was talking on a strange device that was now resting upon his ear and in front of his eye. Cirono stayed hidden behind the pillar and listened to the man's conversation with the strange device, as the CRP officer moved closer to the pillar without noticing Cirono.  
  
"Don't worry, Commander Zarbon, everything is going according to plan now. You've changed your plans! Seductia and Flirtius are to come along with Splitz? So now you will have three Mid-Elite officers attacking the Clan of Chloe instead of two? I can completely understand your reasoning. Rest assured, Commander, all you have to do is have Splitz, Seductia and Flirtius come down and have their fun! Haha, and to think that no one ever even suspects that I, General Narvo Norbrook, head general of the CRP, is a spy for Frieza! Don't worry, Commander, I've been fighting for many years, and I know how to keep mum, believe me. No, no, Commander Zarbon, everything is under control, and in a few minutes, the Astorians will be ready to meet your new protégés!"  
  
Cirono gasped in horror when he heard General Narvo Norbrook, a man whose fighting and battling reputation was well known and well renowned throughout all of Calmag, say that he was a spy for the monster, Frieza! Cirono had heard of Norbrook and had admired him before, and he, Cirono, had been hoping to meet him when he had planned to join the CRP. And now he knew that Norbrook was a spy for Frieza!  
  
"My Kami!" he whispered. "I have to warn the Astorians of this! How many more in the CRP could be working for that tyrant? Are there any more of them like General Norbrook?"  
  
Norbrook continued, as he was unaware of Cirono's presence. The reason for this was that the ki-sensing aspect of his scouter was damaged, and he could only use his scouter as a communication device, so he had no way of knowing that someone was watching him.  
  
"I promise you, Commander Zarbon, that I won't fail. Don't worry; I am sure that your three attackers will keep the Astorians distracted long enough for me to take Princess Tayla Chloe to you. So Flirtius is bringing me a cuffing gun? I thought that only the Saiyans had the cuffing guns, but I was wrong. Yes, I can cuff Princess Tayla easily and take her away; I am a fine shot, I can assure you. I can simply cuff her then strike a blow to her head to put her out for a bit. Works out quite well, actually. I wish that I could take Princess Caline with me as well, but it would be hard for even me to abduct two girls."  
  
"Is there any way that you can assure that your three assassins won't harm Princess Caline? Thanks, I appreciate that, Commander. We've known each other for many years, haven't we, always been good friends, you and I. No, no, you really don't have to thank me at all, Commander! Serving Frieza and helping you is a pleasure! That enough is a reward, along with Princess Caline as my bride of course! I've had it with King Kitchator and his family and his reign! Calmag is turning into a garbage dump, and the king is just making things worse! We've had to live with pollution, both water and air, for years, and I'm sick of it! King Kitchator and his wretched heirs deserve what they get! All I ask is that Princess Caline be spared; I don't care what happens to the rest of the royal family! Oh, someone is coming! I must go now, Commander. Signing off." And with that, General Norbrook cut off communication.  
  
Before a horrified Cirono could hear anymore, a petite, yet majestic Astorian older woman with reddish-gold hair, charcoal-gray eyes, and a regal air passed through the door. She was wearing a battered red and gold fighting gi, and she was disheveled, but she still seemed to be strong enough to fight. Cirono had heard that the Astorians had allowed their women to fight, and this was surely one of their female warriors.  
  
"Norbrook?" she inquired softly. "Is everything all right?"  
  
General Norbrook as replied cheerfully as possible, "Yes, Superior Gran Shalila, everything is fine, everything is well. It is safe for your people to pass through this corridor. I guarantee you that this shortcut will lead us to Zarbon and his subordinates much quicker than the passageway that Princess Caline had chosen earlier. I myself have spent quite a bit of time in these labyrinths when I was first a mere private in the CRP, and like Princess Caline, I know quite a bit about these tunnels."  
  
Cirono gasped aloud. He knew from what he had been told about the Astorians, that "Superior Gran" was the equivalent of queen on planet Astoria. This older woman was the ruler of Astoria! He closed his lavender-turquoise eyes and concentrated hard. He had just started learning telepathy from one of Kami Ankor's temples which housed a school for young men who wanted to become telepaths, and so far, he could only send messages, not receive them.   
He had to warn the Superior Gran of Astoria somehow of what Norbrook was planning.  
  
*Superior Gran Shalila, I am Cirono. We've never met, but I must tell you that you and your people are in danger! General Norbrook is a spy for Frieza! He is leading you into a trap! The one he calls Commander Zarbon is sending two of his soldiers down to attack you and your people! Norbrook is planning to abduct Princess Tayla using a cuffing gun that one of the attackers will bring him! He is also after the Princess Caline of Calmag-he wants the girl for himself, as a bride. *  
  
A shocked Shalila could barely restrain her horror, as the unexpected telepathic message continued:  
  
*I wish that you were able to send me a response, Superior Gran, but I can only send messages, not receive them. The minions' names are Seductia, Flirtius, and Splitz, and they will be coming soon. Can you scratch your nose to let me know that you received this message? *  
Shalila did just that, her gray eyes now fixated upon Norbrook.  
  
*Thank you, Superior Gran. I wish you and your people luck, and I will try to help you fight these foes, if I can. I am an expert swordsman, but I have never fought against any of Frieza's soldiers, Elite or otherwise before, so I don't know how good I would be. But I will be glad to offer my assistance in any way that I can. *  
  
Shalila nodded briefly, hoping that this Cirono could see her. She felt in her heart that this young man was telling the truth; she didn't know how she knew, but she did. She turned around and said to Dirkan, and she decided to practice her telepathy then, sending a message to him, the exact same message that Cirono had sent her. Dirkan nodded briefly, and then he turned to Gracina, who did not know telepathy, and whispered an urgent message to her. A horrified Gracina's aqua eyes widened in fear and worry, but she managed to remain calm. She then drew Gorna aside and whispered the same message hastily to her, repeating the exact same words that Cirono had told Shalila, who told Dirkan, who just now told Gracina. Gorna's eyes too widened, and she spoke quietly to Bajal and Alora, urging them to pass the message along. Bajal and Alora carefully passed the message along, and amazingly enough; none of the receivers garbled the message or confused it in anyway, as they passed it on to others.   
  
Gorna then beckoned Tayla and Caline to her and warned the two girls of what was coming. Caline grew paler than usual, and Tayla tried to calm her, assuring her that Tayla's family would not allow General Norbrook to get her into his clutches. Caline was appalled that General Norbrook, a man who had once been one of her father's closest friends and a man old enough to be her grandfather, was now among her unwanted suitors. She now had a new fear of the once trusted CRP general. She had figured that General Norbrook's dastardly deeds would be something that Filcor Sedemeyer would pull, but not Norbrook, a respected and renowned CRP officer.  
  
When Lieutenant Balboun and Filcor Sedemeyer heard the message, they were shocked at what their beloved general had been up to and then angered. They both wanted to attack Norbrook at once, even though he was their commander, but Ridikar, who had now learned of the message, ordered the two men to remain put for now. They had no choice, but to obey him, for Ridikar was now second-in-command on Calmag next to his grandfather, King Kitchator. Ridikar himself wanted to kill Norbrook for even thinking of bothering Tayla or Caline, but he managed to hold his temper, although it wasn't easy. The Calmagian heir to the throne vowed that Norbrook would suffer horribly before he died, and he would die, if Ridikar had his way.  
  
Joined by Bendros, he went over to both Tayla and Caline, as the message about General Norbrook spread faster through the rescuers than a cold virus. "Are you girls okay?" he asked them.  
  
"We will be fine," Tayla assured him, holding Caline to her. A shaky Caline nodded as astutely as possible.  
  
"We won't let anything happen to you two," Bendros assured them, but looking directly at Tayla. He felt that he owed her thanks for helping him get his Oozaru powers under control. He had not forgotten the little Princess of Chloe's trust, even when he had been a ravaging, raging "giant monkey".  
  
"Thank you," Tayla told him softly, and Caline noticed a tinge of blush on Tayla's cheeks. Was Tayla interested in Bendros Sahara as well as her brother? She then saw Tayla favor Bendros with an appreciative smile, a smile that seemed to be only for him.  
  
Ridikar noticed the blush on Tayla's cheeks as well and that smile, and he didn't like either action. He had thought that he was making progress with winning her over again, and now she was interested in someone who was part-Saiyan and not even royalty? He looked at Bendros critically, and now a bit jealously, out of his eye. Was this Bendros now a rival?  
  
Tayla felt her cheeks grow warm, and then she realized that she had been responding to Bendros the same way that she had responded to him in the past before she had fallen for Ridikar. She liked Ridikar again, but Bendros still had somewhat a hold on her. What was she to do? She was technically too young to really have a suitor, and she was already debating between two men.  
She shook her head; she was being silly. Bendros was an adult, and she was still surely a child in his eyes. He would definitely be interested in someone closer to his age, a woman who was grown, able to marry and give him children immediately. She on the other hand, was only twelve years old, and she barely had breasts yet (oh, dear Orchida, why was she thinking about her chest at a time like this?). Would Bendros want a girl with no real breasts yet to speak of?  
  
Before they had left for Calmag, Rojal (who learned from Dedron about Tayla's sensitivity about her almost nonexistent breasts) had once taunted her about her chest, saying that she'd have a better chance of becoming Frieza's whore than of getting a suitor because no one would want a girl with a flat chest. The then snotty Astorian heir to the throne had also had gone as far to say that Frieza wouldn't have wanted her either because no male would even consider courting or screwing a girl with no breasts. An angry Tayla had been brought to tears, and she had almost slapped his face, but Bendros, who had heard everything as he was passing them, had caught her hand before she could do so.  
  
"He's not worth it, Tayla," Bendros had said that day. He then had Tayla leave before she could give Rojal what he deserved, and Tayla had went into the hallway outside of the lounge where Rojal had been giving her a hard time. Bendros had defended Tayla that day, telling Rojal that his harsh words were not true, and that if he or Dedron ever gave Tayla a hard time about her chest again, he would deal with them personally. Rojal had a few nasty words with Bendros then, telling him that if he even thought about attacking him, Bendros would be banished.   
  
Bendros laughed at him contemptuously and said that Rojal was not Superior Granden yet. Tayla, who had been listening, had never forgotten the way that Bendros had taken her part against the Astorian royal heir, warning him that he and Dedron better leave Tayla alone, or he would go to the Superior Gran himself. Bendros, a normally calm, rational warrior who rarely made physical threats unless he meant them, had told Rojal that if he ever heard of them bothering Tayla again, he would give them what they deserved physically. Rojal had grudgingly acquiesced, for Bendros was stronger than him because Bendros had his Awakening and Rojal hadn't, plus Bendros's Saiyan genes gave him an advantage over many members of Clan of Chloe.  
  
Bendros had left Rojal then to go out into the hallway to see if Tayla was okay. He had taken the distraught, but amazed favorite of the Superior Gran aside and talked to her, telling her gently that Rojal's words were not true, that not all men went by physical appearance only, and that the right man would love her no matter what her chest size was. Tayla had smiled then and thanked him, and she had wanted to tell him then and there that he was the right man for her.  
  
She shook her head wildly again, mentally scolding herself for losing track of what was going on. Now was not a time to think about suitors, men, boys, or otherwise. She straightened herself up as much as possible for her short height, and leaving an anxious Caline in the care of Ridikar for now, she hastily pushed past others, excusing herself quickly as she went, to catch up to her grandmother and Namek guardian. She had her sword, which she had managed to find again after battling Vegeta, in her hot little hand.  
  
Meanwhile, Shalila was staying close to Dirkan, not only for the comfort of his presence, but to keep him from murdering Norbrook prematurely. She kept a firm grip on her husband's arm to keep him from doing anything rash, as they both anxiously sensed about for unknown ki signatures. Tayla had joined them by then, and when Shalila saw her, she ordered the girl to stay behind her until given further instructions. Tayla obeyed, keeping a stiff, upright stance, as she too sensed about for unfamiliar ki signatures.  
  
Finally, Tayla was able to pick up a faint ki signature that growing stronger, and she cringed when she felt the maliciousness of it. She remembered her Great-Aunt Toria's lessons on determining emotions in ki signature, and she could feel slightly the wicked intent in this one that she had picked up. The ki signal was growing closer by the minute, as she beckoned both Shalila and Dirkan down to her.  
  
"Can you feel it?" she asked them.  
  
"Yes," Dirkan told her; he and Shalila had picked up on it at about the same time as she had.  
  
"Is it anyone that you fought against before?" Tayla wanted to know.  
  
Shalila said solemnly, "I'm afraid not, dandelion."  
  
"What do we do now, Nama?" Gorna asked, who had picked up on the ki signature too.  
  
"We wait," Shalila replied. "It is all that we can do."  
  
Just then two more ki signatures joined the one that they had first sensed, and these signatures too were strong. Shalila kept one wary eye on General Norbrook, as he calmly stood about, waiting for the enemies to arrive. She, like, Dirkan, wanted to strangle the treacherous CRP general, but she did not want to expose him just yet.   
  
She was thankful that she had managed to convince Dirkan to see things her way before her Namek mate had a chance to decimate the Calmagian pedophiliac bastard. Shalila shivered in revulsion when she thought of Norbrook desiring poor Caline and wanting to kidnap Tayla. Sure, Norbrook had wanted to abduct Tayla to turn her over to Zarbon and his comrades, but how was her family supposed to know that Norbrook wouldn't try anything else on her? Shalila clenched her right fist, seething inwardly. What was it about many Calmagian men that they couldn't find females close to their own age to take as wives or mates? Shalila pitied Caline; the Superior Gran was amazed that the innocent child had not gone insane by now. She vowed then and there not to have her family leave Calmag until she could get King Kitchator to let Caline come home with them, or at least to make him do something to ensure Caline's peace and happiness.  
  
She then noticed a thin, masculine arm peeking from behind the pillar not too far from General Norbrook. The hand attached to the arm waved slowly at her when Norbrook's back was turned, and Shalila was certain that this hand belonged to Cirono, their guardian angel.   
  
Cirono's face then peeked out from behind the pillar, to show the Superior Gran that he was still there. Shalila mouthed a thank you, hoping that he would see and understand. And it seemed that Cirono did, for he smiled briefly at her before hiding himself again, as Norbrook turned around back towards Cirono's direction.  
  
*Superior Gran, don't worry too much. The Astorians' reputation for fighting well, particularly that of Clan of Chloe, has spread to my side of this planet. I know that you and your family can defeat these menaces, and I will do all that I can to help you, for as long as I can. *  
  
Shalila nodded briskly, a silent thank you to the young man that she now deemed as a savior. She tried to look for him again, but she could not see him, which was just as well for now. Norbrook was nearing the pillar, pretending to be searching about the room. Her family and friends waited behind her with bated breath, watching, sensing, and waiting. The suspense in the air was so thick that only the sharpest swords (Shalila's Sword of Chloe and Dirkan's Light Blade) could cut it.  
  
Private Gauze was behind Tayla, and he squeezed past her and Gorna to come up near Shalila and Dirkan. Dirkan whirled about onto him and snapped sharply:  
  
"What in the East Kai's name are you doing up here? Get back behind us until we say otherwise!"  
  
"I just wanted to see what you all were watching for," Gauze protested, shrinking back under Dirkan's warning glare. Gauze didn't leave right away, and his slowness and curiosity would become a huge mistake.   
  
For at that moment, a small red spiky ball shot down from the roof and embedded itself quickly into Gauze's pale neck. Gauze screamed, as the spiked ball, the size of an Earth golf ball, dug itself in further into the nape of his neck until only half of the object was sticking out of the surface.  
  
Gauze's eyes became glazed and blank, and a silly, happy grin fell over his plain features. He was now like a lovesick schoolboy.  
  
Dirkan and Shalila rushed to his aid, but Gauze shoved himself away from them, crying out anxiously, "I must find her-the woman of my dreams!"  
  
He was not talking about Caline.  
  
He was talking about an extremely beautiful woman, with long, waist-length, wavy pale pink hair, a perfect creamy face and body, large pouty lips and large emerald-green eyes framed by long lashes. She was now floating serenely in the air above them, right above Norbrook. She had an hourglass figure with ample breasts that were almost visible through the sheer peach, low-cut, gossamer dress that seemed to be made from a cloud. A lavender belt hung loosely about her trim waist. Tiny clear crystal shoes adorned her even tinier feet.  
  
"I love you!" Gauze cried out to the strange newcomer suddenly. "Say that you'll be mine forever!" The woman laughed sweetly when he had declared this.  
  
"Has he lost his mind?" Gorna asked.  
  
Shalila said worriedly, "He may lose more than his mind; he may lose his life as well. And if we are not careful, we may lose ours."  
  
Dirkan wasted no time in calling out to the floating beauty, "Let me guess: you're the one called Seductia, am I right?"  
  
The angelic-appearing lady laughed softly. "You're correct, tall, green, and handsome!" And with that, she opened her palm, creating a red ki ball that solidified into another spiky ball, the same ball that was now implanted in Gauze's neck.  
  
Before Dirkan could dodge it, or someone could intervene, Seductia aimed the spiky ball into the strong trunk of Dirkan's neck, quickly digging itself into the side.  
  
"NO!" Dirkan screamed, trying to yank the ball out of his neck with no success.  
  
"DIRKAN!" Shalila screamed, running to him.  
  
But it was too late already. Dirkan's eyes were now glazed and blank, as he looked up at Seductia with the same mindless devotion that Gauze had quickly developed. 


	88. Fatal Femme

A/N: In Ch. 87, I forgot to mention that Cirono, the winner of my little mini mystery contest, first appeared in that chapter. Sorry for not saying so before. Anyway, now that Seductia has arrived, what does she have in store for the Clan of Chloe? Let me just say that it's not going to be pleasant.  
  
  
  
Chapter Eighty-Eight: Fatal Femme  
  
Seductia laughed again, as Dirkan began holding up his arms and crying out to her, "Seductia, my love, I can't live without you! Say that you'll be mine!"  
  
The jaws of Shalila and Tayla and everyone else who heard dropped as far as they could. Shalila's eyes widened as far as they could, as she stared at her Superior Granden; in the many decades she had known her beloved Namek, he had never been this openly amorous, not even with her. Any sweet words and declarations of love that Dirkan had ever told Shalila had almost always been said to her when they were alone. Dirkan was not known for open verbal declarations of public affection, or even brash displays. He and Shalila had held hands in public, and sometimes they would embrace around others, but they had rarely gone as far as to make out ostentatiously in front of others the way that Bajal and Alora often did. And yet everyone had always been able to sense and feel the strong intensity and deep devotion and affection that Dirkan and Shalila had always held for each other ever since the two warriors had fallen in love.  
  
"Dirkan?" Shalila asked worriedly, trying to take her husband's arm.  
  
"Come to me, my tall emerald hunk of masculinity!" Seductia said in a syrupy, gushing voice that made Shalila sick to her stomach. Dirkan shook Shalila off thoughtlessly, as if she were a fly, as he pushed past her and flew up into the air to meet his new love, or rather infatuation.  
  
"Do you love me, my greenness?" Seductia asked in a purr.  
  
"Yes, I do!" Dirkan cried out happily, seizing Seductia in his large pink and green arms tightly. Seductia ran her arms down Dirkan's muscled, padded arms, tracing the ridges of his jade flesh with slim, creamy fingers. "I have loved you, wanted you all my life! There has never been anyone else!"  
  
Shalila looked at her husband in utter disbelief, and Tayla came to her Nama's side and put an arm around her. Shalila's body trembled, as her granddaughter held her close; she knew that Dirkan was bewitched, but it wasn't a pleasant thing for any woman to see her husband openly declare his love to someone else.  
  
"I-I don't believe this," she whispered shakily to no one in particular.  
  
"That slutzini! How dare she do that to Dirkan and you!" Tayla screamed furiously. Shalila was too much in shock to rebuke her granddaughter, or even inquire as to where or whom Tayla had learned that awful word from. Gorna, whom under normal circumstances would have scolded Tayla for even thinking of saying such a thing, was too stunned by Dirkan's uncharacteristic behavior to say a word.  
  
The young Princess of Chloe shook her small fist at Seductia and yelled furiously, "How dare you take him away from my Nama? You let him go now!"  
  
Seductia laughed again merrily, with the sickening, cloying sweetness of her voice making Tayla wanting to vomit. "Listen to the squab squeak!" She turned to Dirkan and sighed, "What is your name, my love?"  
  
"Dirkan," the Namek warrior responded happily. "A Namek who gives you his eternal sweet devotion!"  
  
"Dirkan, sweetheart, give me a kiss," Seductia ordered, and Dirkan joyously and openly did so, kissing her loudly. Finally, Seductia pushed him away, laughing again, as she ordered, "Now, go shut the brat up for me! Kill her and make her death especially painful for her!"  
  
"With pleasure, my sweet, tempting goddess of love!" Dirkan answered enthusiastically without regret. "How should I destroy her?"  
  
"Any way that you like, just make the end painful for the brat as possible."  
  
Shalila instinctively hovered nearer to Tayla, as a mother would do with her young. It was clear that Dirkan was so possessed by Seductia that he would now think nothing of harming his beloved ward. Gorna and Gracina surrounded their sister; both women were prepared to fight Dirkan to protect her. Tayla looked at Dirkan in utter disbelief, and she felt her sensitive heart break. It was bad enough that her beloved Namek guardian was being passionate with another woman besides her Nama, and the fact that Dirkan would now willingly kill her on Seductia's orders was even worse.  
  
"Nama?" she whispered worriedly. "Will Dirkan really do what she says?" Her dulcet voice shook on every word, and Shalila held her close.  
  
Shalila was afraid to answer her for a few seconds, and then she said to Tayla, "We must be prepared for the worst, dandelion."  
  
Seductia laughed contemptuously at Shalila, Gorna, and Gracina, who were now encircling Tayla. By then, Alora, Bajal, and Lektron had joined them, having heard from Gracina about Dirkan's being under Seductia's spell. She finally told Dirkan, "Now, sweets, go kill the black haired girl and make it painful! Do whatever you like with her! Seeing her die would make me so happy, and you want me to be happy, don't you, my love?"  
  
"Of course I do, you needn't worry," Dirkan said in a soothing, caressing voice that he had only used with Shalila. "Consider her dead!"  
  
Tayla panicked when she saw Shalila and the others pull out their swords. "No!" she cried in despair. "You mustn't hurt him, please!"  
  
"Tayla," Gorna said stiffly, trying to keep the tenseness out of her voice. "Dirkan is not himself. He won't hesitate to kill you without a single thought. You must be prepared to fight him as well."  
  
"But what if we kill him?" Tayla cried in distress, no longer thinking rationally. Shalila rested a reassuring hand on Tayla's thin shoulder. She didn't relish fighting Dirkan either, but she saw Gorna's point. It would be foolish to just stand by and possibly die at her husband's hand without a fight.  
  
"Dandelion, Gorna is right. We must do everything we can to keep Dirkan from harming you or anyone else. I don't want to see him hurt anymore than you do, but we can't endanger ourselves, not even me. If Dirkan were in his right mind right now, he would have agreed." Shalila's voice shook, as she said these words. The Superior Gran was trying not to cry, but tears hung over her gray irises.  
  
Dirkan swooped down from the air like a hawk ready to seize a helpless rabbit, and Shalila, who had made the painful choice of confronting him first, flew up to meet him. Dirkan had no qualms about sending his large green fist crashing into his wife's cheek, and Shalila was forced to fight him back quickly, as Dirkan landed blow after blow on her. She knew then that she had to knock him out in order to keep him from harming others, but she could not touch him. Dirkan pummeled and kicked at his own mate, unaware of what he was doing, and after a few minutes, both Superior Gran and Superior Granden pulled out their swords and began fighting that way.  
  
"Out of my way, wench!" Dirkan roared at her, as he tried to stab his own wife in order to get to Tayla. "My love has commanded me to destroy the brat!"  
  
"Dirkan, you are not yourself!" Shalila cried out in vain, as she blocked his blade with her own. "Listen! I am your wife! Tayla is your ward! You are her guardian! You don't want to hurt us, especially her! Please, stop this now!"  
  
Shalila and Dirkan were almost of equal strength now, even at their advanced ages, but Dirkan was now gaining the upper hand on his distressed true love. In his insanity, he fully intended to destroy Shalila in order to get to Tayla and kill her to please Seductia.  
  
While Shalila and Dirkan were battling each other, Seductia cooed sweetly to Gauze, who was openly drooling, as he watched her heavenly body hover about, "Darling, come to me, your sweet Seductia!"  
  
"I would, my love, but I can't fly!" Gauze protested.  
  
"You can now thanks to my powers, so just jump off of the ground," Seductia purred. Gauze did what she asked him, and now he could fly as well as the Astorians. Gauze held his laser gun in his hand, as he stared at his new amour, drooling at her immense beauty. He also had a smaller, concealed laser gun. He was now floating in front of her.  
  
"What is your name, young man?" Seductia asked.  
  
"Private Matias Gauze, my flower," Gauze purred.  
  
"Matias," Seductia said in a loving purr. "Will you do me a favor and shoot that gun of yours at the Astorians, for they are starting to upset me. You don't want me upset, do you?"  
  
"No, my sweet true epitome of femininity, not at all! Which ones do you want me to shoot first?"  
  
"Hmmm…how about the two older ladies protecting that black-haired brat…the brown-haired fat woman and the blond woman?"  
  
"Sure thing, my honeysuckle!" Gauze replied happily.  
  
Gorna, hearing these words, ordered Gracina, Tayla, and the others to go back out into the corridor, and for them to keep anyone else from entering. Gorna was quicker than Gauze was; she fired a medium-sized ki blast at the private's laser gun, shooting it out of his hand before he could fire it. The laser gun fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and before Gauze could fly down to retrieve it, Gorna destroyed it with another ki blast.  
  
"Oh no!" Gauze moaned. He turned to Seductia and cried aloud, "My beauty, I am so sorry!"  
  
Seductia shook her mauve head at him, and then she noticed the concealed gun poking out through Gauze's long shirt, which had been not been tucked in for some time. She then asked Gauze serenely, as Shalila continued to fend off her husband's attacks with her sword, "Is that another gun that you have?"  
  
Gauze looked at her with a slack-happy grin on his face. "Sure is, my queen of grace!"  
"Matias, darling, would you do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure, my forever love!"  
  
Seductia laughed, but the syrupy sweetness of her laughter was gone. Instead it hinted entirely of malicious intent, but Gauze could not realize it in his mad devotion to her. She said softly, coolly, "Matias, I want you to point that gun's barrel to your heart."  
  
"Yes, my rose-haired dove, whatever you say." And to Gorna's horror, Gauze happily obeyed the deadly beauty, Seductia's request.  
  
"Stop!" Gorna commanded, as CRP officer, Sergeant Baraki, suddenly pushed past her.   
He saw Gauze pointing the gun at himself, and he screamed, "Gauze, no! Don't do it!"  
  
Seductia laughed louder than ever. "Matias, sweetheart, shoot that gun at your heart and kill yourself for me, will you?"  
  
"Whatever you say, my buttercup!" Gauze replied cheerily.  
  
And he did.  
  
"ZIP! WHIRR! SPLAT!"  
  
The room stopped, as everyone stood still in time, even Shalila and Dirkan, as Gauze shot himself through his own heart with his own gun. There was a chilling silence, as Gauze, realizing too late what he had done to himself, died instantly before his slight body fell to the floor, hitting it with a loud, sickening, plunk. Goldenrod-tinted blood was seeping quickly from his chest, as he laid facedown, his eyes forever glazed in a death trance. His mouth was frozen in time, hanging open in horror at his own actions.  
  
"GAUZE!" Sergeant Baraki screamed in agony, as Gorna stood there, unable to move. She, Dirkan, Seductia, Shalila, Cirono, and Baraki were the only ones to witness Gauze's ghastly suicide.  
  
Shalila's small body trembled, as she stared in horror at Gauze's corpse. What kind of woman was this Seductia? She then looked worriedly at Dirkan, whose eyes were still blank and glazed, as he stared indifferently as the dead CRP private.  
  
Seductia's shrill laughter, no longer loving or seductive, rang throughout the corridor at Gauze's untimely demise. After her cruel laughter ceased, she then nonchalantly called to Dirkan, "My green darling, what was your name again?"  
  
"Dirkan, Superior Granden of Astoria, my strawberry-haired angel!" Dirkan told her with that same silly smile on his face that Gauze had once held before his death.  
  
"Dirkan, come to me, my love!" Seductia purred, and Shalila seized Dirkan's arm to prevent him from doing so."  
  
"No, Dirkan!" Shalila screamed desperately. "She'll surely do the same to you that she did to Gauze! Don't go to her, please!"  
  
Dirkan shook Shalila off of his arm hard and shoved her away from him. Seductia laughed again, as Dirkan came rushing to her in the air. The cruel beauty then decided that Dirkan (whom she had heard much of his strength and fighting ability) would make a good ally for her side. Plus, the deadly lass thought that Dirkan was very handsome, even though she could see that he was of advanced years. She decided not to have him destroy himself just yet. Dirkan could prove to be useful, and she could keep him under her spell forever.  
  
Finally, the Namek warrior was face-to-face with Seductia, and she smiled, running her hands along his muscled arms. "Very handsome, you are, Dirkan. I think that I will keep you. But do me a favor, would you, precious?"  
  
"Sure thing, my rose! Anything to make you happy is my pleasure! I live for nothing more than your happiness, my sugar-sweet!"  
  
"Kill that red-haired old wench that you were fighting a minute ago. I weary of her, and there are more important things that I need you to attend to afterwards. Go destroy her immediately."  
  
"Whatever you say, my honeybee! Your wish is my command!" And with that Dirkan flew quickly towards Shalila with the full intent of killing her for Seductia. Shalila knew that she would have no choice now but to fight her beloved husband at full strength.  
  
Dirkan aimed his sword at the Superior Gran, as he flew at her to impale her on his blade. Shalila was ready for him, even though her heart was breaking at his forced betrayal. She would try to defeat Dirkan and put him out for a while. Then she would deal with that deadly wench who dared to turn her own mate against her.  
  
Dirkan tried to stab her repeatedly, but Shalila met his sword attacks blow for blow, to prevent Dirkan from killing her. The fierce Namek then went as far as to try to behead his own wife, but Shalila's Sword of Chloe blocked Dirkan's Light Blade, barely holding it away from her neck. Then Dirkan punched her hard in her stomach with his huge fist, forcing her to crouch down. Shalila tried to fly away from him in order to regain her bearings, but Dirkan seized her by her red-and-gold hair and raised his sword to behead her from behind.  
  
A terrified Gorna then flew up into the air to save her grandmother from her step-grandfather's finishing move, but Dirkan began firing his eye lasers at her so fast and so accurate that they hit her, scorching her wherever they landed. Gorna screamed, as she continued to try to dodge Dirkan's eye lasers. General Norbrook at this point was now lying down on the ground, huddled into a fat pile, himself trying to dodge Dirkan's eye lasers.  
  
Finally, Dirkan used a mouth blast, again one of his many abilities, to disable Gorna temporarily, shooting her hard in her stomach. Gorna screamed in extreme pain, as she was forced to land on the ground, clutching her stomach. She bent over, and every time, she tried to rise, Dirkan would fire another mouth or eye laser at her.  
  
Meanwhile, Gracina was out in the other corridor, struggling with a writhing, angry Tayla, who wanted to leave to go to help her grandmother. Gracina was holding Tayla tightly around her waist, and the worried girl was pushing and struggling against her sister to get away to help Shalila.  
  
"No, Tayla!" Gracina kept ordering her. "Nama would not want you to endanger yourself!"  
  
"LET ME GO!" Tayla screamed at her, as she kicked and fought to get away. "Nama needs me! Let me go now!"  
  
"Someone help me restrain her!" Gracina shouted to Lektron, Bajal, and Alora, and all three came to help grab Tayla. Gracina continued to hold her around her waist, while Lektron grabbed Tayla under her arms. Alora grabbed one of her kicking legs. Only Bajal did not grab her, for he had Cletos, Arlon, and Lukan in tow. Bendros had joined them, in order to help the others and to see if he could help calm Tayla down.  
  
"Listen, you guys, we've got to help Nama!" Bajal ordered his brothers, and all three of his brothers nodded affirmatively. Gracina, Alora, and Lektron were too busy with a fighting Tayla to try to stop the four men from shoving past them into the other corridor, where Shalila had just kicked Dirkan hard in his shin to force him to release her.  
  
"More prey!" Seductia cried out happily while Dirkan managed to seize Shalila by her hair again, as Bajal led his younger brothers out into the corridor. She then formed two red ki balls in her hands, allowed them to solidify into the spiky objects, and then she shot them at Bajal and Cletos, who barely dodged them. The red ki balls hit the walls, and then they faded away, for the ki spiky balls would not stay solid unless they hit flesh.  
  
Arlon and Lukan tried to fire ki blasts at her, but Seductia quickly put up a ki barrier, similar to the Astorians' Shield Field to deflect the attacks. She then dropped the ki barrier, formed more of her nasty spiky balls and continued to fire them at the four Mantros Chloe brothers with the speed and near-accuracy of an experienced Earth baseball pitcher. The four brothers could barely dodge them, but they did. They were finally forced to crawl on their stomachs in order to avoid her attacks, and Arlon managed to reach Gorna, who was still in pain. They had all seen the pitiful corpse of Gauze, but they tried not to think of his horrific demise, for fear that it would distract them. Cletos muttered a silent prayer for Gauze's soul.  
  
"Get Gorna out of here!" Bajal ordered Arlon.  
  
"No!" Gorna told him. "I am staying! Nama is still in danger!"  
  
"You're injured!" Cletos protested.  
  
"I am staying!" Gorna insisted, and all four of her brothers sighed. There was no point in arguing with her; Cletos wondered why they even tried to argue with her on any ocassion.  
  
"Okay," Bajal told his siblings. "Here's what we do now. I'll go to Dirkan to save Nama, and the rest of you keep that deadly whorici occupied while I do so!"  
  
"Oh, thanks," Arlon joked, as they continued to dodge Seductia's attacks. "Leave us with the fatal femme! I'd sooner take my chances with Dirkan!"  
  
"No, you wouldn't," Lukan scolded him. "Dirkan is just as dangerous right now, as that woman is! Better stay here and do what Bajal says. Bajal, you be careful!"  
  
"Aren't I always?" Bajal asked with a small grin, and the rest of his siblings groaned.  
  
Meanwhile, while Bajal was flying into the air to save his grandmother, Dirkan had seized Shalila's neck and flung his wife into the wall. The Namek raised his sword mid-way into the air, and he charged at her with his blade out to the side, intending to deliver a swift beheading to Shalila.  
  
Shalila held her sword in front of her, blocking Dirkan's blade with her own. Shalila's arms were forced back against the wall with her elbows sticking out, as Dirkan tried to shove her own blade into her neck with his own sword. Shalila's Sword of Chloe was the only thing standing between her neck and Dirkan's Light Blade. Shalila's right hand was holding the hilt of her sword while her left hand was pushing against her own blade. She grunted and panted, trying to keep her own sword from sinking into her neck.  
  
Bajal flew up behind Dirkan, but he did not watch what was going on behind him, and that would soon to prove a mistake. Seductia wisely took that opportunity to fire another red, spiked ball at Bajal, this time hitting her target. Bajal screamed, as the red ball began embedding itself deep into the nape of his neck. Bajal stopped in mid-air, and then turned around away from Dirkan and towards Seductia. Bajal now had the same glazed stare and goofy, dumb grin on his face.  
  
"Seductia, my love!" he bellowed. "How may I please you?"  
  
Seductia laughed merrily. "Easy! Just kill all the Astorians down below you while Dirkan beheads that annoying old hag!"  
  
"Whatever you say, my pink pearl of perfection!" Bajal enthused, as he flew down towards his siblings, opened his hands and began firing ki blasts at them, which all four of his siblings dodged repeatedly. Bajal then pulled out his sword, intending to slash at them, or even behead them. Gorna, still somewhat in pain, flew up to confront him with her own sword, and she and Bajal fought each other fiercely, clashing swords, the loud clattering of metals ringing through the dark, damp corridor.  
  
Seductia called out to Dirkan, "Dirkan, darling, quit wasting time and cut her head off!"  
  
"Yes, my lovely rose!" And Dirkan began to shove Shalila's blade towards her neck, using his own blade to push her sword. At the same time, he kneed her hard in her stomach to disable her, and Shalila screamed out. Dirkan pushed harder at his wife in order to behead her with her own blade, but Shalila pushed back against him for dear life.  
  
Down below, just at the entrance of the corridor, Tayla was still fighting to get to Nama. She finally realized that she had no choice but to openly kick and hit at those restraining her, and she sent her free foot crashing into Lektron's shin, while she twisted her body to free herself of Gracina's grasp. She then shoved at Alora, and just before Gracina and Lektron could seize her again, Tayla pushed them away from her and ran out into the corridor where the battle was going on with Seductia and Dirkan.  
  
"Tayla, no, come back!" Gracina ordered, running out after her. Lektron and Alora followed her, with Lektron grumbling:  
  
"Tayla's just as hardheaded as Bajal is! Out of those two, I don't know who is more stubborn!"  
  
"It runs in your family," Alora quipped, although she could herself be as thickheaded as Bajal and Tayla.  
  
Shalila saw Tayla flying up into the air after Dirkan, and she cried out, "Tayla, get out of here! Have you gone insane?"  
  
It seemed that Tayla had, for she paid no mind to her Nama, or to Gracina's frantic cries, as she continued to fly at Dirkan. It was her speed that saved Shalila a beheading, for the impulsive, fast young princess turned her feet towards Dirkan's thigh, and she kicked him that thigh hard with both of her little feet, using a blow the strength of a battering ram. Shalila quickly used that opportunity to kick Dirkan in his stomach, and afterwards, she slipped out from under both sword blades, still keeping her sword with her.  
  
"Thank you, child!" Shalila gasped, as Tayla replied with a quick nod.  
  
Shalila and Tayla panted with relief, but before they could fully catch their breaths, Dirkan, who had quickly recovered, charged after Shalila with his blade. It was Tayla who would meet him with her own sword, and she began to fend him off away from her grandmother. Dirkan was trying to get past Tayla in order to kill Shalila, but Tayla's speed was too much for him. With every sword blow that Dirkan delivered, Tayla was able to block. Dirkan fired his eye lasers at the girl, and Tayla barely managed to dodge every one. Shalila then tried to attack her husband from behind, aiming her agile feet towards his kidney areas. She then landed two hard kicks into Dirkan's buttocks, causing him to cry out, as Tayla then hit him hard in the side of his head.   
  
"Tayla!" Shalila cried. "We must try to knock him out! It is the only way that we can assure his safety, as well as ours!"  
  
"Yes, Nama!"  
  
Tayla then slammed her tiny fist onto Dirkan's wrist that held his Light Blade, but that did not cause her Namek guardian enough pain to force him to release it. Shalila was able to force him to drop his sword when she forcibly seized the same arm that was attached to his injured wrist and twist it. Dirkan screamed, as his sword fell from his green hand.  
  
Meanwhile, Cirono had joined Gorna and the others in fending off Bajal, who was firing hand lasers at them. Cirono was adept at deflecting Bajal's hand lasers with his sword, even though he had never had to fight anyone like Bajal in his life. Bajal then forgot about Gorna temporarily, as he and Cirono squared off, clashing swords, the fight between them almost fairly even. Gorna and the others were amazed by this young Calmagian man, who was more than holding his own against their possessed brother.  
  
While the two battles were raging, Seductia began to wonder why Flirtius and Splitz had not come yet. She sat in mid-air in a lotus position, and she called through her scouter to Zarbon:  
  
"Commander Zarbon, are you there?"  
  
"Yes, I am here. How are things going?'  
  
"Terrific! I have that big Namek called Dirkan under my spell, plus some Astorie man they keep calling Bajal. But where are Flirtius and Splitz?"  
  
"Flirtius and Splitz are on their way now, and-hey, did you say that you had Dirkan under your command?"  
  
"Yes, Commander."  
  
Zarbon's end of his scouter channel was silent for a few moments. "Seductia, there is a new change of plans."  
  
"And what's that, my Commander?"  
  
"I want you to leave immediately, taking Dirkan and that one called Bajal with you. I know that you have the ability to instantly teleport yourself and others with you. I have fought against both Dirkan and Bajal before, and with those two on our side the chances of us winning and seizing Princess Tayla will increase."  
  
Seductia watched the battle commence between Shalila, Tayla, and Dirkan, and she had heard Shalila call Tayla out by name. Seductia smiled to herself, for she knew then that the stubborn girl was the Tayla Chloe that Frieza had sent his soldiers after. "Good idea, Commander, but I have another one that I would like to add. How about if I arrange for both Dirkan and Bajal to capture Tayla and bring her to you."  
  
"I like that plan! You are very intelligent, Seductia, possibly the best student that Diamonique has trained yet! You are truly Top Elite material, and if your plan works, I will definitely see that you make it into Top Elite."  
  
"Thank you, Commander," Seductia purred happily. "I promise that I won't fail you. Signing off now." And with that, she and Zarbon cut off communication.  
  
She then called out sweetly to Bajal and Dirkan, "Dirkan, Bajal, darlings, we are going on a little trip! New orders: grab the black-haired brat known as Tayla and bring her to me immediately! We are leaving this place at once! Knock her out, if you have to!"  
  
"Yes, my sweet goddess!" Bajal responded.  
  
"Anything for you, my heart!" Dirkan told her.  
  
Dirkan and Bajal stopped battling their opponents right away, and they both flew up after Tayla. Gorna, Cirono, Cletos, Arlon, and Lukan flew after Bajal, and Shalila blocked Dirkan's path. Shalila and Dirkan once again began to fight with their swords. While Dirkan was distracted, Bajal flew up behind Tayla, and before the girl could react, Bajal sent his fist crashing into the back of Tayla's head. Tayla was now suddenly disoriented and stunned. She fought to prevent herself from passing out.  
  
Gracina, Alora, and Lektron flew up into the air to save Tayla from Bajal, but Dirkan began to fire his eye and mouth lasers at them, keeping them at bay. Alora and Lektron tried to keep the Namek distracted; they would have used Mirror Shield on him, but doing so would endanger Shalila's life. Gracina left them, still dodging Dirkan's eye lasers to reach Tayla. Tayla was becoming dizzy, and she could no longer keep her mind on things, especially when Bajal hit her in her head a second time. Tayla's eyes slammed shut like a steel trap, as her slim body began to slowly descend.  
  
Gracina soared up to her falling sister, and she grabbed Tayla in her arms. She would have succeeded in getting Tayla away from the fighting, had not Bajal slammed his fist into her golden head. Before Gracina could react, Bajal shoved his fist into her beautiful face, hitting her turquoise eye and disorienting her. Bajal then sent a final blow to the back of Gracina's head, and he grabbed both of his sisters. Bajal then threw Gracina away from him, flinging his sister into a wall, where she hit her head again. Gracina was now completely unconscious.  
  
When Seductia saw this, she declared, "All right, men, it's time to go! TELEFADE!" The maniacal maiden held out her hands in front of her with the palms facing outright and straight. Because Dirkan and Bajal still had the red balls in their necks, she could teleport them to anywhere, anyplace on a planet at a time. And if Dirkan or Bajal were holding anyone, the person or persons being held were teleported as well.  
  
Before everyone's horrified eyes, Seductia began to fade away into thin air, along with Dirkan, and then Bajal, who was still holding Tayla in his arms. Shalila flew after Bajal in order to stop him from fading away, but she was too late. Seductia, Dirkan, Bajal, and now even Tayla were gone, as if they were never there to begin with.  
  
"TAYLA!" Shalila screamed in horror. "DIRKAN, BAJAL!"  
  
"NO! NOT THEM!" everyone else cried.  
  
"No," Shalila whispered, as tears began to flow freely down her pale cheeks. "Not my husband, not Bajal, and not my little dandelion. Why? WHY?"  
  
The Superior Gran's heartbreaking screams echoed throughout the corridor.  
  
"Dirkan, Bajal, TAYLA!" 


	89. Getting Things In Order

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Getting Things In Order…  
  
At the same time in the castle ballroom…  
  
"Where in the hell are Bhodie and Balair?" Ginyu wanted to know. "He was supposed to be back hours ago. Did some Astorie or Calmagie kill him or somethin'?"  
  
"Wouldn't be that great of a loss, Cap'n," Jeice muttered. He and Balair had never been the best of friends, and Jeice only tolerated Bhodie.  
  
"You've got that right," Baata agreed with his best friend. "Bhodie's a whiny little Human weakling, and Balair is the king of all pedophiles. Sick pervert, wantin' to screw little girls, and Bhodie, I don't think is much better."  
  
"I don't know if it'd be that great if Bali died," Guido grumbled. "He owes me money, and it'd be just like him to die before repaying me."  
  
"It'd be just like Bali to die just to get out of paying me or you back," Jeice said loudly over a sleeping Reccoom's snoring. Reccoom was curled up on the edge of a dais, snoozing peacefully without a care in the world.   
  
"He owes me money too, you guys," Baata said. "If he'd stay away from the casinos on planet Algor, he wouldn't owe anyone money."  
  
"He owes everyone in Top Elite money, 'cept for Jaden and Chestra," Ginyu huffed. "They're the only ones who had the good sense not to lend Bali a space cent."  
  
"Yeah, well, I wish that those two ladies had lent some of their good sense to me," Jeice sighed. "I could really use that money that Bali owes me."  
  
"Yeah, that's just like Bali-okay, men, shut up! Dodoria and Bali's bro, Samsonite, are headin' our way. Keep your comments to yourselves," Ginyu ordered.  
  
The other Ginyu Force members reluctantly agreed, as Dodoria and Samsonite joined them. Samsonite was Balair's youngest brother, and he was a dark pine green color, but built exactly like his worshipped older brother. In other words, he was just like a green Balair, and he shared all of Balair's vulgar tastes in women and alcohol, only unlike his brother, Samsonite was smart enough not to gamble.  
  
"Has anyone heard from Balair?" Dodoria wanted to know.  
  
"Have you all seen my brother?" Samsonite asked. He was a definite potential for Top Elite, and Dodoria had trained him himself; Samsonite was one of Dodoria's prize pupils. Balair had helped some with training Samsonite, but since Samsonite was Balair's brother, Balair had not been allowed to be his main trainer. Samsonite had just shot himself into Mid-Elite three months ago.  
  
Before anyone could reply, Zarbon finally arrived. He looked around at the men and he said somberly, "Gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news."  
  
"This bad news doesn't involve Lord Frieza, does it?" Ginyu asked worriedly.  
  
"Not this time, Ginyu. He's not planning any of our deaths yet that I know of. I'm afraid it's just as bad, however. I traced Balair's scouter to the outside of this castle, and I…found…the remains of his body. Samsonite, Dodoria, I am sorry to tell you both this, but Balair is…dead," Zarbon said with finality.  
  
All of the men were quiet, just then, and Samsonite held his green head down. Dodoria patted him on his back, as he too was slowly realizing that his best friend would never come back.  
  
Samsonite suddenly raised his head up and demanded angrily, "Who killed my brother? Who?"  
  
Zarbon sighed, "I don't know, Samsonite, I wish I did. Unfortunately, from what I've seen of Balair's remains, his end was not a pleasant one."  
  
Guido whispered to Jeice, "There goes the money he owes us."  
  
Jeice whispered back, "What'd I tell you, Guido, what'd I tell you? Well, that means one less competitor for the ladies."  
  
"Yeah, that's true," Guido admitted.  
  
"Jaden will likely be celebrating, that's for sure," Jeice whispered again, and Guido nodded in agreement.  
  
Not hearing any of Guido's or Jeice's whispers, Dodoria asked Zarbon quietly, "How did Bali die? Any ideas on how he died and who killed him?"  
  
"He was destroyed by a powerful ki attack, possibly one involving electricity. No doubt an Astorian was involved."  
  
"Blasted Astories!" Dodoria fumed. "I'll destroy every last one on this wretched planet! I'll send them to join those Astories that I killed before we came here! They'll pay for Bali's death!"  
  
"Cursed Astories! I hate all Astories!" Samsonite yelled, even though he had never met an Astorian in his life. "It had to have been them, for there was no way that a Calmagie could have killed my brother! I can't believe an Astorie killed him; nothing or no one could touch my brother! I'm not going to rest until I find out who killed my brother!"  
  
"Easy, you two," Zarbon said as steadily as possible. "You'll get your chance to avenge Bali's death soon enough, I'm sure. We all will."  
  
"Not soon enough for me," Dodoria grumbled, staying near Samsonite to make sure that he was okay.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the office of Enma Daiou in the other dimension, the world of the dead…  
  
The line to Enma Daiou's desk was long, so long that it stretched all along Snake Way. Finally, Alberm, Amitar, Redusa, Arachnor, Knightmare, the Terror Triplets, and Balair were almost near Enma Daiou's desk. Enma Daiou sighed when he saw all of these men, all minions of Frieza except for Prince Amitar of Calmag. Processing these foes was going to take him forever, especially with the long rap sheets that Balair had by himself. In fact, almost an entire filing cabinet shelf was filled with the nasty deeds of Balair.   
  
Well, at least that Sistrai monster wasn't first, much to Enma Daiou's thankfulness. Enma Daiou had already taken care of most of the poor victims of Calmag, sending some to heaven, and some to hell, mostly the men, because not many of them were any better than Alberm or Amitar.  
Alberm was the first of Frieza's minions that Enma Daiou would have to review. Enma Daiou had Alberm's Book Of Deeds ready, and he cringed in disgust when he recited how Alberm Dunlop of Rendor had treated his own wife, the Princess Caline:  
  
"Over fifty counts of beating or assaulting your child bride…at least over thirty counts of raping her, or forcing her to perform sexual acts against her will…trying to murder her…kidnapping her…threatening her…you are one very sick man, Alberm Dunlop!" Enma Daiou boomed loudly. "Are most of you Calmagian men that way?"  
  
Alberm Dunlop couldn't hold his head up. He knew that he was going to hell, and the worst part of it was that he would be spending it with the rest of Frieza's minions, who would likely torture him for allowing his wife to live and expose Frieza's plans. He cursed under his breath, not yet feeling regret for his dirty deeds, only regret that he would have to pay for his crimes for all eternity.  
  
He just hoped that Jaden wouldn't die any time soon. Alberm was not eager to meet the deadly Rybanese warrior again for a long time. He never forgot the pain of her ki blast entering his heart, causing it to self-destruct.  
  
Curse that Caline! This was her fault, Jaden's fault, and of course, Princess Tayla Chloe's! If Tayla Chloe hadn't prevented him from murdering Caline, if he had succeeded in killing both girls, he wouldn't be in this mess right now! Frieza's plans wouldn't have been exposed until it was too late for the Astorians to stop his evil schemes.  
  
He knew, should have known better, than to marry that tiny, blond-haired wench. Why couldn't Tayla Chloe have minded her own business and stayed out of his and Caline's lives? Why did Caline have to go crying to Tayla about him disciplining her?   
  
Maybe it was just as well that he was dead now. If he had been alive, and Frieza had found out that Alberm had so carelessly allowed himself to be exposed, any torture that Frieza would have ordered for him would be ten times worst than death.  
  
Sometimes death could be a blessing.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Amitar…short record sheet, but not good, nevertheless…verbally abusing your wife, beating your child, Caline…forcing her to marry a fat pig like Alberm…what did you two sick men have against a little girl? Explain, tell me!"  
  
"I-I never wanted her," Amitar shamefacedly admitted. "I told Shydine that I didn't want another daughter, that five children were enough. Enma Daiou, you don't understand, the girl was difficult, disobedient, completely troublesome…"  
  
"Oh, spare me your excuses! I'm done with you, be gone! Down you go with your pathetic son-in-law!"  
  
And to the horror of both Amitar and Alberm, a solid black hole opened up beneath them, and both men plummeted through the dark, cold hole down to hell, their screams echoing throughout Enma Daiou's office.  
  
"NO!" both men screamed in eternal agony, their cries fading further and further away.  
Balair and the Lower-Elite officers of Frieza shivered with terror, as they heard yet the frightened screams of Amitar and Alberm. And all six villains knew that they too would surely join the two Calmagian men in hell, for their criminal records were three to five times longer than those of Amitar and Alberm.  
  
Balair was on tenterhooks, as he watched Enma Daiou quickly review the lives of all five Lower Elite officers. After an hour of hearing of her bad deeds, Redusa foolishly tried to seduce him, sitting on his desk and cooing, "I know that I have been a bad girl! But surely you would give a lovely thing such as myself a second chance, wouldn't you? Beauty like mine must not be wasted, wouldn't you agree?"  
  
A disgusted Enma Daiou shoved Redusa off of his desk and she fell down into the same black hole that Amitar and Alberm had descended into.   
  
"HELP ME, SOMEONE, PLEASE! HELP! I'M TOO YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL TO HAVE MY LIFE END LIKE THIS! HELP ME!"  
  
But it was too late for the cold beauty that enjoyed shrinking people with a wink of her eye. The Terror Triplets all cowered near Knightmare, clinging to his cloak. They shivered fearfully, as Enma Daiou recited all of their sins to them for what seemed to be many hours.   
Knightmare was trembling, as Enma Daiou said disgustedly to him, "Over thousands of lives have been ruined or destroyed thanks to your cruelty, Knightmare! Your Terror Triplets helped make things worse, such vampire-like vile creatures. So off all of you go as well!" And Knightmare and the Terror Triplets were sent to join Redusa, Amitar, and Alberm in hell.  
  
Arachnor was on all of his eight knees, begging Enma Daiou for mercy, but Enma Daiou wouldn't have it. "It would take me forever to tell you of the lives that you have taken…planets that you have helped clear…" And Enma Daiou went on and on for an hour about Arachnor's foul deeds, and then Arachnor was sent to join his companions in hell as well. Arachnor's pleas of mercy had only served to irritate Enma Daiou more.  
  
Enma Daiou sighed heavily when it was finally Balair's turn; Balair had a stack of pages listing all of his heinous crimes that was almost as tall as Balair himself. Enma Daiou had saved Balair for last because he had the longest record of foul acts. Balair looked at him and said:  
  
"I already know that I'm going to hell, so just send me there and get it over with!"  
  
"Quiet, you perverted, sickening monster! I give the orders here, not you! As much as I would just like to send you straight to hell, I have to read to you all of your deeds; that's the law and protocol, as much as I hate it. Cursed bureaucracy…anyway, sit down, Balair, this is going to take a while."  
  
Balair sighed, as he sat down. He clenched his fists and silently cursed Raakon Chloe. Raakon should be the one standing before Enma Daiou now, not him. Of course in Raakon Chloe's case, Enma Daiou would probably hand him a golden crown and a thousand medals and ship him straight to heaven, allowing him to keep his body! The nefarious Sistrai warrior cursed Raakon Chloe and his entire family, including Natala and the boy named Kekron.   
  
And he never even got to screw Natala, or Caline, or Ebrona, or any of the other females that Balair had planned to sleep with! There was an old Sistrai legend that all of the good-looking women who were sent to hell automatically lost their good looks and became ugly in appearance. Balair didn't know how much of that legend was true, but he knew that it would be a long time before he got to bed a woman again.  
  
He thought of Natala Cornsilk-Chloe, and how he could have made her his, if it had not been for Raakon Chloe! Raakon had told Balair during the Battle of Chloe that if they ever crossed paths again, and Balair had continued his evil, Raakon would give him a one-way ticket to Enma Daiou.  
  
Balair sighed; he should have listened.  
  
He really should have listened.  
  
"…Seventeen counts of rape on planet Lolo…three-thousand, seven-hundred-and-twenty-four sexual assaults against women…twenty counts of rape on planet Osmar…not to mention over twenty-thousand deaths on the planet caused by you alone…Balair, the number of your victims go up to millions! Frieza is among the minority who has exceeded your record in the Rosetta Galaxy. And that's only the crimes you committed in the western quarter of the Rosetta Galaxy. And now for the eastern quarter…"  
  
Balair crossed his arms and mumbled something unintelligible as Enma Daiou's voice rambled on. Enma Daiou did not need to send him to hell; he was already in it.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in the ballroom…  
  
Marya Chloe was on her knees praying; she had been praying for hours. Steak and Ham were sitting near her; all of the hostages were sitting down or lying down. Some were asleep. Crystalis and Pork were standing nearby, looking anxious and saddened.   
  
Marya had shivered in horror earlier when she had seen Tayla in her visions being abducted by their brother, Bajal. She had nearly cried out when she felt the pain of Seductia's attacking balls possess Dirkan and Bajal. The High Priestess of Chloe wept for her little sister, Tayla, whom her family had fought so hard to protect. She said a special prayer for Tayla, Dirkan, and Bajal.   
  
She tried to feel about for Tayla's ki signature, and although it was faint, she could feel it close by. She saw in her visions Tayla being held captive in an upstairs conservatory, with her wrists bound and tied. The possessed Dirkan and Bajal were guarding her on Seductia's orders, and the ice maiden, Diamonique was with them, congratulating Seductia on a job well done.  
  
Marya stopped her praying for a bit, and she arose, needing to stretch her long, slender legs. She walked over to both Pork and Crystalis, who were nervously watching the hostages, and she approached them. Both teenagers looked at her in confusion.  
  
She smiled gently at them, saying softly, "Do not worry; Enma Daiou and the Kais have forgiven you. Do not give up hope yet."  
  
"We are sorry for all we have done to your people," Crystalis whispered hoarsely.  
  
"You were forced," Marya told her consolingly. "You and Pork are trying to make amends for the things that you two have done, and the good spirits and ancestors see that." She then turned to Pork and said, "Pork, your family loves you very much, and they do not begrudge you for the things that you did under Frieza. Yes, you have done wrong in the past, but it was not entirely your fault. Pork, your family just wants you to come home with them. They have already forgiven you, even Veal, who is not among us at this moment."  
  
Pork looked at her, amazed and humbled, as Marya turned back to Crystalis. She beckoned Crystalis to bend down, so that she could whisper into the Espican girl's leaf-like ear,   
"Crystalis, you are braver than you think that you are. It is partially because of you that Pork has survived for as long as he has; in fact, much of the credit goes to you. Listen to me, we need your help, my dear."  
  
"How can I help?" Crystalis gasped. "I can't fight Frieza's Top Elite officers. They'll kill me, if I touch them."  
  
Marya said quietly, "Not necessarily, my dear. See, I have thought of a plan, but I will need you personally to help me carry it out. I, being a Priestess, have taken vows not to strike out physically against others, and I cannot break my Seven Moons Oath. You, however, are not held by such bonds, and you have the power to absorb any powers of anyone that you touch, right?"  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
"Listen to me, my dear. I sense the ki of Raakon Chloe, my brother, very close by. If we can get to him, I want you to touch him and gain his fighting ability. Before that, I want you to touch me to get my psychic visions; you will find they come in handy. And I also want you to touch Pork for his hearing ability. You are going to be a collector, my dear, collecting as many special abilities as you can from as many people as you can. You can gain the Calmagian paralysis attack, the Meatian hearing abilities, my power to see things, and all of Raakon's fighting techniques and powers. You must overcome your fears for now, my dear, for you have a special gift that fate feels it was time that you put to good use."  
  
"I am so afraid, Miki (miss in Espican) Marya. I am more likely to be a burden than a help."  
  
"You are no burden, my dear. It is only your fears that are holding you back now. I believe in you, Crystalis, and I am certain that Pork here does too, am I right, Pork?"  
  
"Definitely!" Pork crowed. "Crysti, I know that you can help them. I wish I was able to do what you could do. Please help us, Crysti, for my family's sakes, for the Astorians and the Calmagians' sakes, and for ours!"  
  
Crystalis nodded; she was still scared, but she knew that she had to find some way to make up for the things that she had done. "I'll-I'll do it then," she whispered affirmatively.  
  
"Good, my dear, I know that you can do this," Marya told her encouragingly. "Now come with me…"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
An hour later, in the conservatory upstairs above the ballroom…  
  
Diamonique stared at the unconscious Tayla in disgust and anger. She had just alerted Zarbon of Tayla's capture, and Zarbon had told her beforehand of Balair's demise (like she really cared that much about the perverted, sexist Sistrai bastard).   
  
Tayla was now lying on a leatherette emerald green couch that was the same shade as Dirkan's skin. The Astorian princess was lying facedown with her hands bound tightly behind her back, should she awaken. She had also been gagged with a red cloth in her mouth. Diamonique would have cuffed Tayla with a cuffing gun, but Flirtius had the only cuffing gun left, and all Diamonique could do was have the girl bound as tightly as possible.  
  
Dirkan and Bajal were standing in front of her, as still as statues, stiff and rigid as British soldiers on planet Earth guarding Buckingham Palace. Their faces were solemn now, staring blankly into space, but ready to attack anyone should Seductia order them to.  
Diamonique and Seductia were now sitting in chairs across from the three Clan of Chloe members. Seductia was smiling happily, as her eyes roved over Dirkan's muscular body, admiring every bulging muscle. "Isn't Dirkan just the handsomest thing that you've ever seen?" she asked Diamonique in her sugar-sappy voice.  
  
Diamonique said in a bored tone, "I suppose, if you like slug-like green men who can't even get a woman pregnant."  
  
Seductia was not to be discouraged. "You have to admit though, my plan was very clever."  
  
Diamonique smiled then. "Indeed it was, Seductia, indeed it was. Zarbon told me how brilliant you were in suggesting it. Who ever thought we would ever capture this brat? You have done your teacher proud. I see fine things in the future for you, Seductia."  
Seductia, who was about two years younger than her trainer, said sweetly, "Thank you, Diamonique. It has been a pleasure training under you."  
  
"It is a pity that Redusa, my other student, couldn't have done as well as you have. 'Tis a shame that she had to go the way she did, foolish girl!"  
  
"What is to be done with Tayla Chloe now?"  
  
"Oh, we will keep her here until all of the Astorians are destroyed. She must be guarded at all times. Dirkan and this Bajal make excellent guards for her. That girl is so troublesome, especially for a mere child." Diamonique's icy-sweet voice then suddenly turned to anger. "I wish that I was allowed to kill that bratty girl lying there behind them! Oh, how I hate her! I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! I wish that I were allowed to beat her, to give her the whipping that Shalila Chloe should have given her! Scrawny brat almost killed me! Ugh! She's lucky that Lord Frieza insisted that she not be harmed in any way!"  
  
"Shhh, please, my teacher," Seductia urged her trainer. "Listen, look. She's awakening!"  
  
"What?" Diamonique exclaimed.  
  
At that very moment, Tayla Chloe awoke, with her brown saucer eyes looking straight ahead at the two heinous women.  
  
The child would have screamed, had it not been for the gag in her mouth.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The hallways of the royal castle…  
  
Raakon Chloe could sense the ki signature of Tayla; he did not have Marya's gift of psychic visions, but he could feel in his heart that Tayla was in danger. Raakon Chloe was going downstairs to go the ballroom, but when he had sensed Tayla's ki, he changed directions and headed back upstairs away from the ballroom. He followed his little sister's ki signal, as he neared a castle conservatory-the very same room that Tayla was being held in. Raakon concealed his ki signature fully before he went any further.  
  
He then arrived at the conservatory, and he peeked in the crack of the slightly open door, and he had to keep himself from crying out in fear. Diamonique was taunting Tayla about her capture, and Tayla could not respond to her because she was bound and gagged. Raakon was further horrified to discover that Dirkan and Bajal were standing in front of Tayla, doing nothing to help her, just standing there. The Astorian prince was even further shocked to see Dirkan in a passionate embrace and kiss with a strange woman with pink hair and green eyes.  
Raakon felt as if he were looking in another dimension altogether.  
  
He shook his head free of the shock; he had no time to figure out what was going on with Bajal and Dirkan. Tayla needed him, but how was he going to save her?  
  
Raakon leaned back against the wall, hiding his ki still, pondering on how he was going to save Tayla before it was too late. 


	90. Flirtius And Splitz

Chapter Ninety: Flirtius and Splitz  
  
In the labyrinths…  
  
"Nama, let him go, please!"  
  
"Superior Gran, we need him alive!"  
  
"Nama, he isn't worth it!"  
  
"Nama, you're going to kill him!"  
  
"Good! No one will miss him!" Shalila hissed, as she flung General Norbrook's body across the room. The traitorous CRP general's body crashed into a wall, just as Shalila flung herself upon him. No one dared to get in her way, although some had pleaded for her not to do anything rash.  
  
Now Shalila, in her full fury and anguish, was holding General Norbrook in the air by his collar. "Where did that slut take my husband and grandchildren, you bastard? TELL ME!"  
  
Tears were streaming down General Norbrook's cheeks, as Shalila slapped him hard several times, hard enough to make his nose bleed. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren watched in horror, as they saw their beloved Nama take her full anger out on Norbrook.  
  
"Nama, please stop!" Gracina cried. "This isn't like you! Torturing him is not going to bring Tayla, Dirkan, or Bajal back!"  
  
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Shalila demanded to know of Norbrook.  
  
Norbrook sobbed, wishing that the Superior Gran of Astoria would just kill him and get it over with, "Se-Seductia t-took them back to the ca-castle!"  
  
"How long have you been spying for Frieza?" Shalila asked him coldly. "HOW LONG?"  
Norbrook cried, as honey-colored blood flowed freely from his bulbous nose, "Long time, Superior Gran, since my wife died two years ago."  
  
"Give me three good reasons why I should let you live?" Shalila growled.  
  
"For the first, I'm a living being," Norbrook whimpered, as Shalila's fist closed tighter around his throat.  
  
"I said a good reason!"  
  
Gorna was the only one who dared to get within Shalila's hitting range at this moment. She had to help her grandmother calm down. "Nama," Gorna said as softly as possible, as she tried to take Shalila's arm, the arm that was attached to the hand holding Norbrook's throat. "Nama, please take a rest. I can question him. You are too upset right now to think rationally or be objective. You're not helping Tayla, or Dirkan, or Bajal by attacking Norbrook. He isn't worth your energy, Nama. Save it for the real threats such as Zarbon, that whorici, Seductia, and the other Top Elites."  
  
Shalila was about to snap at Gorna for interrupting her "interrogating" Norbrook, but reason finally won over the Superior Gran's fury. She slowly realized that Gorna was right. She threw Norbrook to the ground, where he hit his left shoulder hard, dislocating it. She walked away, trying to calm herself down before it was too late.  
  
Norbrook was relieved, but his relief didn't last, for Gorna was now holding him captive with her sharp sword at his throbbing throat. Gorna's facial expression was cold, merciless, and deadly. She said icily to Norbrook, "Alright, you fat swine, who else is coming to attack us? Are they as strong as Seductia? What are their powers? Tell me!"  
  
"I-I can't," Norbrook whined. "If I tell you all everything, I'm a dead man. Zarbon will have me flayed alive."  
  
"Zarbon isn't here right now," Gorna told him coldly. "But I am, and I won't hesitate to kill you. If anything happens to my sister or my brother, you will perish, and not even Enma Daiou will hold your death against me. Who is coming? Speak now, or forever hold your peace-that is until you see Enma Daiou."  
  
Norbrook, sobbing, confessed all to Gorna within the next twenty minutes, telling her about Zarbon's plans, and Flirtius, and Splitz. Since Shalila was still too upset to think or plan like she should, Gorna took over as the Clan of Chloe's temporary leader. She began to devise a plan to help her family save Dirkan and her siblings.  
  
Gracina was trying to comfort an anguished Shalila, whose hands were trembling. She and Shalila were sitting down, with Gracina holding her grandmother close, trying to console her as much as possible. Shalila was now ashamed of her earlier behavior and extremely embarrassed. Gracina wished that Dirkan were in his right mind right now and still here. The Dirkan, the real Dirkan, would have known how to console his wife and keep things in order. Gracina herself was trying to keep from falling apart; she was deeply worried about Tayla. Once again, Frieza's minions had her beloved sister in their foul clutches.  
  
Lektron was pounding the walls, cursing Seductia, and agonizing about the loss of Tayla and Bajal and Dirkan, particularly his cousins. Arlon and Lukan, worried about their siblings and Dirkan, were trying to restrain Alora, who wanted to murder Norbrook on the spot. Alora was struggling against the shaky grip of her brother-in-laws.  
  
When Gorna had finished questioning Norbrook, she ordered Norbrook to go sit against the wall, and if he moved before then, he would die. Ridikar took that time that Gorna had stepped away from Norbrook to go punch the CRP general in his face before anyone could stop him. Norbrook cried out, as Ridikar landed a second punch on him.  
  
"That first one was for Tayla! That second one was for my sister, Caline, whom you thought you were going to force to marry you! And this one is for my father!" Ridikar screamed, as he kicked Norbrook hard in his gut. Norbrook screamed, but his screams ended when Ridikar slammed his fist into the side of Norbrook's head, knocking him out.  
  
"And that last one is for everyone on Calmag," Ridikar hissed.  
  
Bendros was trying to comfort Caline, who was weeping over Tayla's fate. The Sastorian future Granden of Sahara was holding the fragile Calmagian princess in his arms, as she cried into his chest. "Caline, things are going to be okay; Tayla's strong, you know that. She'll be okay, I promise you. We will save her," Bendros assured the girl in a soothing tone. He was worried about Tayla himself, as well as being worried about Bajal and Dirkan. He had to remain strong, however, for their sakes, and the sakes of those that were left behind.  
  
"She's my friend," Caline whimpered against his chest. "Li-like a big sister, a sister, a real sister. I'm scared for her, scared they're going to hurt her."  
  
Bendros knelt before Caline and took her tiny hands in his large ones. "Caline, listen to me. If Frieza considers Tayla valuable enough for his Top Elites to pursue, then surely he has ordered them not to harm her. A beaten or otherwise harmed warrior is going to be of no use to him, and someone in his position would have ordered his subordinates not to hurt her. We will save her, Caline, and I myself will do whatever I have to, to protect her, I promise you."  
  
"You won't let anything bad happen to Tayla?"  
  
"No, and no one else here will either."  
  
"I-I love her," Caline whispered. "I wish she was my sister for real."  
  
Bendros smiled. "I'm quite fond of her myself."  
  
"She likes you too, you know," Caline said suddenly. Bendros permitted himself a small grin.  
  
"Do you mean like a friend, or like-a suitor?" Bendros asked her.  
  
"The second one," Caline whispered, with her pale cheeks flushed.  
  
"I know," he told her gently. "But right now, I'm a little too old for her."  
  
"You won't be too old for her forever," Caline insisted. "And then, you'll surely want her. I can tell that you still think of her as a little girl, like me. But we won't be little girls forever, and if you two lived on Calmag, no one would think anything about you courting her right now."  
  
"But we're not," Bendros told her gently. "And Tayla needs someone closer to her own age. Technically, according to the Clan of Chloe's standards, she's not old enough for courting yet."  
  
"She will be soon, even according to Astorian standards. And then you'll surely want to court her then, if you don't have anyone yourself by then."  
  
Bendros was slightly taken aback, but he managed to remain calm. He chuckled nervously, saying, "I think that she still likes your brother." He then began to frown, for he still had not completely forgiven Ridikar for trying to rape Tayla two weeks ago. He agreed with Shalila and Dirkan that Ridikar was still not a good choice for Tayla, despite his attempts to change for the better.  
  
"Maybe," Caline whispered. "I'd love to have her for a sister-in-law, but I don't think that will happen." Her deep blue eyes looked down, as her whispery voice grew even softer.   
  
"Why do you think that?" Bendros asked her gently.  
  
"I-I saw how she looked at you earlier, when you reassured her that nothing will happen to us. I could sense how jealous my brother was of you; pardon me for saying so. I-I think that she likes you both, and th-that she's not so sure that she just wants my brother anymore."  
  
Bendros felt awkward at this moment. "Well, Caline, do you want her with your brother?"  
  
"I just want her to be happy," Caline replied honestly. "No matter whom she chooses."  
  
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar?"  
  
"Even if she doesn't choose Ridikar," Caline said firmly. "It would be nice if she and Ridikar did get back together, but-"  
  
She was interrupted then, for at that moment, a green alien emerged from the other end of the corridor. He had flowing white hair and a body structure and build exactly like Jeice's, only the skin color was a bright lime green. He also wore a flamboyant bright yellow cape that was decorated entirely with silver and gold beading. He landed about gracefully on the ground, dancing and pirouetting as soon as his feet touched the stone floor. He wore giant flashy neon pink sunglasses and a giant grin. He wore a glittering white satin suit with tiny silver mirrors each the size of a pebble. The mirrors glittered and sparkled as he danced across the floor.  
  
"Hellooooo, ladies!" the stranger sang, as he performed a dance upon feet that were made out of leather covered with sparkling black beads. "I am every woman's fantasy…the man that every lady here has been waiting for…the man with all the moves…the next member of the Ginyu Force…I am Flirtius!"  
  
He then danced across the room in pirouettes similar to those of Captain Ginyu's (Captain Ginyu had been the one to train him [with some help from Jeice] and recommend him for Top Elite), and then he landed gracefully in front of Alora, who glowered at him.  
  
"Hello, gorgeous!" Flirtius sang out. "How 'bout you and me forget this fight and go out on the town?"  
  
"And how about you go back to the rock that you crawled out from under?" Alora retorted.  
  
Flirtius laughed. "I like a feisty female! I really do! I just have one question though: my body's not working properly, so may I use yours?"  
  
Alora sharply punched him in his grinning face, and Flirtius fell backwards, tripping over his own two feet.  
  
"Get lost, bastardi!" she shouted, tossing her hair with an indignant shake of her head.  
  
Flirtius growled, wiping blood from his nose, "That's it! No woman has ever turned me down before!"  
  
"I wouldn't say that necessarily, Flirtius," a gurgled voice declared.  
  
Flirtius turned around and saw his partner, Splitz, and he frowned. He and Splitz were not the best of friends since they were both competing for the same Top Elite position and the same spot on the Ginyu Force. Splitz resembled an Earth circus clown, with frizzy, gnarled curly dark blue hair, a large green nose on a face that was painted white with his eyelids and lips and cheeks painted bright pink. His square eyes were large with red irises. He had an elongated face with a sharply pointed chin, a tiny blue goatee that hovered above a squat neck on a short body. The body was dressed in a shiny metallic checkerboard-pattern green and gold clown suit with shiny red bib overalls and huge, yellow clown shoes that were each two feet long.  
  
Splitz pulled out a long, skinny yellow balloon from his overalls pocket and blew it up quickly. He twisted the balloon into the shape of what Earthlings would call a French poodle, and he pulled out a strange glowing black marker and began to draw a menacing face on the balloon dog, with fangs and angry eyes. He then set the dog onto the ground.  
  
Lektron snorted, "How cute! The little funny man plans to use a blow-up dog to attack us! Aw, what's the little doggy going to do-attack us with its drawn-on teeth?"  
  
Splitz grinned cruelly, and it was then everyone noticed that his teeth were actually fangs. Splitz laughed, as he said to his balloon dog, "Go sic that fool who mocks us!"  
  
And to everyone's horror, the balloon dog suddenly came to life, and it opened it's mouth, with had razor-sharp teeth that could rip a limb off. The inflatable canine charged after Lektron, but before it could sink its teeth into Lektron's arm, Lektron fired a ki blast at it, popping the blow-up dog and disintegrating it.  
  
"Ha!" Lektron boasted. "Listen, clownie, if that's the best that you can do, you might as well go home to Frieza while you still can!"  
  
Splitz snarled, "I'm not done yet! I've just gotten started!" And after that, Splitz pulled out a sack of balloons from the pocket of his overalls, and then he blew them up quickly, one after the other without losing his breath once. Within minutes, the air was filled with colorful balloons, each balloon large enough to engulf a two hundred pound humanoid male.  
  
Arlon laughed. "Frieza must have decided he wanted us to be entertained before we destroy his minions!"  
  
"Send in the clowns!" Lektron joked.  
  
"You two, this is a serious matter!" Gorna scolded them. "We don't have time for-HELP!"  
  
At that moment, a giant blue balloon swallowed Gorna up, and Gorna was now encased in the balloon, like an insect trapped in a drop of amber. She tried to use her sword to pop the balloon, but the balloon was impenetrable that way. The future Superior Gran of Astoria fired a strong ki blast at the wall, but the ki blast disappeared the moment it insides of the balloon. Gorna clawed at the balloon and used a stronger ki blast, but she could not penetrate it.  
  
"Someone help me!" Gorna cried.  
  
But no one could come to her aid, for while Gorna had been fighting to free herself from her rubbery prison, many others were now enclosed within the huge balloons. When a balloon touched a victim, the balloon would automatically suck its prey into it. Lektron and Arlon were trapped in a green balloon together, and Alora was shouting every curse word that she knew of, as she struggled inside a red balloon.   
  
Filcor Sedemeyer and Sergeant Baraki were enveloped together in a gray balloon, and both men were firing their laser guns at the insides of the balloon with no success. Caline, Bendros, and Gracina was sealed in a pink balloon together with Caline clinging to Gracina, and Lukan was concealed in an orange balloon with Riccan, who was furiously kicking and stabbing at the inside wall of the rubbery bubble. Dedron was frantically slashing at the purple balloon that he was held captive in, and Rojal was wearing himself out blasting at the insides of the white balloon that had entrapped him. The unconscious General Norbrook was secured in a gold balloon, and all of the CRP officers were enclosed within balloons as well. All of the balloons floated about with their captives held helplessly inside.  
  
The only ones who had managed to avoid the oncoming balloons were Shalila, Julien, Ridikar, and Cirono, all of whom had wised up and kept their bodies low to the ground with their bellies touching the ground. All of the balloons floated high above them, but none of them ever came low enough to touch the crawling fighters. Flirtius had also managed to avoid the balloons, and he was lying flat on his stomach to avoid being touched by the colorful balls hovering over him.  
  
Splitz was laughing maliciously, as the balloons bounced off of him, not affecting him in the slightest. "Oh, this is so much fun!" he cried out happily. He continued to blow up more balloons without losing any breath, and he sent those balloons out as well. Splitz then raised one hand into the air to aim a ki blast at a passing balloon-the balloon that contained Gracina, Caline, and Bendros in it. The three occupants frantically tried to make the balloon move out of the way of the ki blast, but the balloon refused to budge with outside help.  
  
"Wait!" Flirtius cried. "Don't blast that one! That balloon has two pretty ladies inside! Maybe they'd want to go out with me!"  
  
"Shut up, you fool!" Splitz growled. "All Astories except Princess Tayla are to be destroyed-Lord Frieza's orders." And after that, Splitz opened his hand and three small ki sticks hovered in front of his hand. The ki sticks hardened into poisonous spears, and with a wave of his hand, Splitz aimed the three spears at the balloon containing Gracina, Caline, and Bendros.   
  
The spears would have hit the balloon and killed the occupants inside, for the ki spears were tainted with a poison so deadly that not even someone with Astorian or Saiyan blood could survive it. Each spear was meant for each individual occupant, and the spears could go through the balloon without popping it. And Splitz's attack would have meant the end of Gracina, Caline, and Bendros, if it had not been for one factor.  
  
Cirono's sword.  
  
At the same time that Splitz's spears reached the outer walls of the balloon that the three helpless victims were trapped in, Cirono had hurled his sword at the balloon, and the sword's point penetrated the balloon. The balloon popped on contact, and Gracina, Caline, and Bendros allowed themselves to fall to the ground on Gracina's orders.  
  
Cirono's sword landed into the ground, hilt facing upward, and the three deadly spears hit the ground, and they faded away into nothingness.  
  
Splitz snarled, "Who dared to intervene?"  
  
"I did!" Cirono shouted out boldly. "I'd be more than happy to help destroy any of Frieza's fighters! Cirono quickly ducked down as soon as a balloon passed over him.  
  
"You're dead, boy!" Splitz growled.  
  
"Haha!" Flirtius laughed. "Looks like some Calmagie spoiled your plans!"  
  
"Go to hell, pretty boy!" Splitz roared.  
  
"You'll be there long 'fore I will, you painted freak!" Flirtius joked, as he continued to crawl along the ground to avoid the other balloons.  
  
Gracina, Caline, and Bendros had taken their cue from Shalila and the others, and they stayed low to the ground, with Caline sticking close to Gracina. Bendros noticed the balloon containing Rojal floating over them, and he tipped his sword upward towards the hovering balloon. The Sastorian warrior made a quick slash in the bottom of Rojal's balloon, and Rojal's balloon popped. Within seconds, Rojal fell out-and onto poor Bendros! Bendros had to bite his lip to keep from crying out when Rojal's foot accidentally stepped onto his tail.  
  
Meanwhile, Shalila herself was cutting up balloons left and right with her sword, both occupied and unoccupied. Her sword slashes freed many of her family members from the rubbery enclosures, and now her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were slashing and cutting at the balloons as well. Alora herself hurled her sword about like a boomerang, and her sword destroyed many balloons in one swing. Within ten minutes, all of the balloons had been deflated or popped.  
Now all of the prisoners had been freed from their balloons, and Splitz was about to blow up some more, but before he could do so, both Julien and Ridikar charged at him, with both boys knocking him off of his feet. Both Calmagian princes kicked and punched at Splitz, who tried his best to block their blows, but was not succeeding. Splitz's powers mainly lay in his ki blasts and magical abilities; his brute strength, however, was barely stronger than a human's. Finally, Splitz had to use his last resort-his own version of the multi-form technique.  
  
"SPLIT!" he shouted out when he had a moment to escape Ridikar and Julien's assaults. To the boys' shock, Splitz began to divide himself into two more versions of himself, each a carbon copy of the original.  
  
"You will regret attacking me!" said the three versions of Splitz in a unified voice. Ridikar and Julien both crouched in defensive positions, as the three copies of Splitz began to charge after them. Ridikar decided to try to paralyze the doppelganger that was attacking him, and to his surprise it worked! The doppelganger of Splitz fell to the ground, stiff as a statue, and afterwards, Ridikar had seized its neck and twisted it, breaking it.  
  
Julien took the cue from Ridikar, and he too, attacked a doppelganger of Splitz by paralyzing him. When that clone of Splitz had fallen, Julien triumphantly stepped on its neck, crushing its windpipe.  
  
But the original Splitz was still alive, and because the original still existed, Splitz could make more copies of himself. He quickly tried to divide himself into threes again, but before he could do so, Cirono had hurled his sword into the air, like a boomerang, between Ridikar and Julien, who both drew back when the flying blade came. The blade aimed straight at Splitz's throat. Cirono's blade neatly sliced off Splitz's head, not even giving Splitz a chance to scream, as hot, orange blood burst forth from his severed neck. Splitz's body fell over, and that was the end of him.  
  
Julien and Ridikar turned around and stared at Cirono, amazed. "Thank you!" Ridikar shouted to him. "We owe you one, and more than that! I'll see personally that you are rewarded generously for your valor!" Julien nodded his head briefly in agreement.  
  
Cirono merely nodded gravely before flashing them a small grin.  
  
But now there was still Flirtius to deal with. And the flirtatious warrior had a few tricks of his own. He opened up his left hand and a chain of silver hearts emitted from the palm of his hand. This chain of hearts flew through the still, stagnant air and wrapped itself around Gracina, like an anaconda. She was forced to drop her sword, as the chain tightened itself around her slender, curvy body. Gracina struggled against the chain, as Flirtius pulled her closer to him using the chain.  
  
"You release my wife, you bastard!" Lektron roared, charging after Flirtius.  
  
"Oh, she's your wife?" Flirtius asked innocently. "You're one lucky man, Astorie, I'll give you that! I'm usually more partial to blondes myself."  
  
"Let me go, monster!" Gracina screamed, as she continued to fight against the chain of hearts. Flirtius laughed, as he drew Gracina closer to him. Finally, they were face to face, and Flirtius leaned over to kiss Gracina on her lips.  
  
"Release her immediately!" Shalila shouted, as she flew behind Lektron in order to face down Flirtius.  
  
"Let her go!" Caline screamed at him.  
  
Gracina was turning her face away from Flirtius's lips, trying to prevent him from kissing her. "Leave me alone!" she hissed at him.  
  
"Aw, c'mon, pretty thing, just one little kiss," Flirtius cooed.  
  
"No!"  
  
Both Lektron and Shalila charged at Flirtius, who used another one of his tricks-eye lasers. He aimed them at their feet. "Dance, Astories!" he shouted. He kept firing his eye lasers at their feet, forcing Shalila and Lektron to concentrate on dodging the well-placed ki blasts.  
  
"You let her go, you beast!" Caline screamed at Flirtius.  
  
Flirtius ignored her, as he fired his eye lasers at the ceiling of the labyrinth right above the heads of Shalila and Lektron. Pieces of ceiling began to crumble down onto them, and both grandmother and grandson had to throw themselves to the sides to avoid the falling rocks.  
While Shalila and Lektron were dodging the collapsing ceiling, Flirtius had used his one of his arms to embrace his new prey. Gracina kicked at his shins, but she felt her ki drain.  
  
"Sorry to do that, sweetheart," Flirtius said softly. "But this chain is also a ki-draining device, guaranteed to weaken the strength and willpower of any female that I desire. Don't fear, my dear, you like me, I promise." He then seized her unwilling chin with his large green hand and tried to force her to kiss him.   
  
Meanwhile, Caline was struggling in Bendros's arms. The little Calmagian princess had tried to leave to help Gracina, but Bendros had caught her before she could go too far. Caline writhed and kicked against Bendros; she was too worried about Gracina to see the danger that she was putting herself in.  
  
"Let me go!" Caline cried. "Gracina needs me!"  
  
"You'll only be endangering yourself, Caline," Bendros said, trying to reason with the frantic girl. "You won't be helping her if you throw your own life away for nothing."  
  
"She needs me!" Caline screamed. "I can't just stay here and do nothing. Why are we just standing here?"  
  
Just as Shalila and Lektron were getting closer to reaching Flirtius, Ridikar and Julien hurried over to Caline and Bendros. Caline looked worriedly at her two brothers.  
  
"Stop being a brat, Caline!" Julien hissed. "You're too weak to be of any help; all you'd do is get in the way and make things worse!"  
  
"That's more than enough, Julien!" Ridikar snapped. "Not another word out of you." He turned to Bendros and said, "Give her to me; I can calm her down."  
  
Bendros reluctantly handed Caline over to Ridikar; Bendros still did not entirely trust the Calmagian royal heir yet, especially when he had seen how Ridikar had treated Caline in the past. Caline struggled against Ridikar as well, but Ridikar pulled the fighting girl against him.  
  
"Caline, listen to Bendros; he's right. It's noble of you to want to help, but you're putting yourself in danger isn't going to help Gracina or anyone else," he told her gently. "The Astorians can handle it; they will surely save your Gracina."  
  
Caline beat her small fists against Ridikar's chest for a few moments, but then Ridikar held her to him and rubbed her back, just as he used to do when Caline had been a smaller, much younger child. Finally Caline's body began to relax some, especially when she looked over her brother's shoulder to see Lektron pointing his sword at Flirtius and challenging him to a fight. An arrogant Flirtius accepted Lektron's challenge, and Flirtius released Gracina's body and threw her to the floor. Gracina was still chained, as Shalila tried to unwrap the links from around her body.  
  
Shalila couldn't remove the chain from Gracina's body manually, so she was forced to use the same tactic to free Gracina that she had to use days ago to free Tayla from the ki restraints that Vegeta had used on her. Shalila formed the lavender ki balls again, only two this time, and she shot them at Gracina's chain. Gracina cried out, as the chain began to fade away in a blinding burst of light. Her arms were burned, and her clothing was scorched in several places. Shalila apologized to her, as she helped her up off of the ground.  
  
"Gracina!" Caline cried aloud, writhing against Ridikar. In the background, she could hear and see Flirtius and Lektron punching and kicking each other.  
  
"I'm okay, Caline," Gracina moaned weakly, for she felt greatly weakened and drained. While Lektron was breaking several of Flirtius's ribs, Shalila put her arm around Gracina's back and quickly led her weary granddaughter away from the fighting. Caline hastily burst out of Ridikar's arms and dashed over to Gracina, throwing her arms around Gracina's waist.  
  
"Easy, Caline," Shalila cautioned her. "She's lost some of her strength."  
  
Caline then hugged Gracina much more gently, and Gracina used what strength that she had left to embrace the little girl back. "I love you," Caline whispered to her fervently, as she pulled out one of her healing roses and tended to her. She then burrowed her face just above Gracina's stomach.  
  
"I love you too, little one," Gracina told her softly, stroking the child's cornsilk hair. The motherly Princess of Chloe felt some of her strength return after Caline had applied the oil from the roses. Gracina held Caline close to her, as she turned her golden head to watch Lektron fight Flirtius.  
  
The fight between Lektron and Flirtius was evenly matched, but Lektron had one advantage over the minion, and that was his knowledge with a sword. Flirtius's powers had mainly lain in his brute strength and his ki chains, but when it came to other special ki attacks, he possessed none beyond the basic ki blasting. Lektron deflected all of Flirtius's attacks with his sword and Mirror Shield attacks, and when Flirtius fired a particularly powerful ki attack, Lektron deflected that ki blast right at his opponent's face. This knocked Flirtius out of commission, and he fell backwards onto the ground, badly wounded. Flirtius's handsome face was scorched, and most of his armor had been melted away; he was barely alive. Lektron was quick to put the tip of his sword blade at Flirtius's throat; he decided that he was going to interrogate the bastard before he shipped him off to Enma Daiou.  
  
"Now, you little green swine, where did that woman, Seductia, take Tayla and the others? You tell me now, or I'll blast you away on the spot for what you tried to do to my wife!"  
Flirtius could barely move, and he was wise enough to know that he was defeated. Ginyu was right; he should have definitely avoided married women. He moaned loudly, "I-I don't know exactly; all I know is that Commander Zarbon ordered her to take Princess Tayla to Commander Diamonique until he could meet the girl himself."  
  
"Where exactly is she being held?" Lektron growled. "And are Dirkan and Bajal still alive?"  
  
"Dirk-Dirkan? And Bajal? Oh, you mean the tall green guy and the other Astorie? They're still under Seductia's spell. Last ti-time, I've heard, they were helping Seductia guard Princess Tayla. I-I'm not sure where exactly in the castle she is, sir. Pl-please sp-spare me! I was only following orders!"  
  
"And trying to make advances on my wife is following orders?" Lektron roared.  
  
Flirtius grinned sheepishly. "She's a hot babe, your wife. I liked her. Can't blame a guy for trying."  
  
Lektron rewarded him with a swift kick to his ribs; Flirtius groaned.   
Shalila had joined Lektron by then, and Flirtius pleaded to Lektron again, "Pl-please don't kill me!"  
  
"I don't think I should," Lektron told him. "You better make your appeals to my grandmother. If she says to let you live, I'll spare you. If not, you're history."  
  
Shalila's face was hard and cold, as she looked down at Flirtius with a scowl on her aristocratic face. "If anything happens to my grandchildren or my husband, or if Tayla winds up in Frieza's clutches, you will perish. Give us a good reason as to why we should spare you."  
  
"We could use him for a hostage," Lieutenant Balboun, who had just joined them, told her.  
  
"Neither Frieza nor Zarbon will care if he dies," Shalila explained quietly. "All lives are dispensable to them; he is not valuable enough to them to be useful as a hostage. However, he might be useful to Intergalacticpol, if he can be restrained. That is, if he's allowed to live."  
  
"Please spare me!" Flirtius begged. "I am too handsome and charming to die!"  
  
"Just let me finish him off," Lektron said to his grandmother.  
  
Shalila growled under her breath. She didn't really want to spare this minion of Frieza's, but he was too weak and pathetic now in her eyes to kill.   
  
Tears were beginning to form at the corners of Flirtius's eyes, as he whispered, "I-I can help lead you to them. Re-really, I-I can. I could-"  
  
"Quiet!" Shalila snapped. "You will remain silent. I need to think. Lektron, keep that sword on him." And she closed her gray eyes for a few moments to think and meditate. Finally, a small grim smile formed onto her face.  
  
She beckoned everyone over to her, and then the Superior Gran spoke solemnly, "I have a new plan. And this fool that Lektron defeated is going to be part of it."  
  
"Nama, he won't help us!" Gorna declared. "He'll betray us before this war is over."  
  
"What good is he going to be to us?" Cletos wanted to know.  
  
"He's going to lead us directly to Zarbon," Shalila told them. "If he values his life." She looked down upon Flirtius and said sternly, "If you agree to help us, I will see that any penalties or punishments that you may receive for your crimes will be minimal. At the very least, I will see that your life is spared."  
  
"You'll keep me from Frieza's wrath?" Flirtius asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes, I will do everything that I can," Shalila promised him. She then walked up to Gorna and embraced her tightly, kissing her astonished granddaughter on her cheek. "Gorna, if I do not survive this war…I want you to know that I believe that you will make a fine leader, a mighty Superior Gran. I am proud of you and your conduct these past weeks. I love you, my dear, and I know now that you will rule wisely and well."  
  
"Nama, I don't understand," Gorna stammered.  
  
"You will soon enough," Shalila told her, still holding her in her arms. "Listen, Gorna, there is only one thing that I must ask of you; this shouldn't be a hard thing for you to do now." She took a deep breath and asked softly, "If Dirkan and Tayla live on…will you look after them and see that they are well cared for, especially Tayla?"  
  
"N-Nama…" Gorna said shakily.  
  
"Please promise me…Seven Moons Oath."  
  
"Seven Moons," Gorna whispered, holding up seven trembling fingers. She added, "You need not worry about either Tayla or Dirkan, Nama. I-I will see that Dirkan is cared for, and that Tayla will be raised with love and respect."  
  
Shalila smiled then, relieved. She brushed back a lock of Gorna's hair from her sweat-plastered forehead. "Thanken, Gorna. There's something else that I want you to know: your grandfather would be pleased with how far you have come, my granddaughter. He told me before he had left for that fatal final voyage that someday you would find your way and become the worthy leader that he has always known that you were meant to be, and he was right." She then kissed Gorna's forehead again, and she then left to see the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren, telling each one of them that she was proud of them, and that she loved them, even Dedron, who gave her a cold, curt nod, but nothing more. Shalila accepted this, understanding the uneasiness between them.  
  
Caline was the last one that Shalila came to, and the proud ruler bent down and beckoned the child to come to her, and the Calmagian princess did. Shalila hugged the little girl and kissed her fervently on her soft, white cheek, stroking her hair. A surprised Caline hugged her back slowly. She did not know Superior Gran Shalila Chloe well, but she could see why Tayla loved her so much.  
  
"I am especially proud of you, my dear," Shalila told Caline. "Without you, we would not have made it this far, nor we would be alive right now, if it had not been for your courage. If you had not come to warn Tayla and us about the invasion from Frieza's forces, we might have been destroyed before we had a chance to defend ourselves. I know that you have had a hard life; Tayla has told Dirkan and I much about you in the past couple of weeks. You have come a long way, little one, since we first met you. You are much stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for, and I sincerely believe that you will someday be completely happy. I wish there was more that I could do for you in return, but I do not know how much longer I have left to live. I can promise you this much: you won't be abandoned, even if your family does not allow you to come home with us. I know that my family will see that you are cared for somehow, some way. Do not worry anymore about your future, child. You are no longer alone, and you never will be again." And with that Shalila kissed Caline's forehead and arose.  
  
"Th-thank you, Superior Gran," Caline whispered.  
  
"Please, for the rest of this time until your fate is decided, you can call me Great-Nama," Shalila told her with a gentle smile. "You have more than proven yourself to be a Princess of Chloe, in spirit, if not in name."  
  
"Th-thank, you, Superior-I mean, Great-Nama."  
  
Shalila patted the girl's head and left her to see Flirtius. She said to Flirtius in a voice loud enough for the others to hear:  
  
"You are going to take me directly to Zarbon and tell him that Frieza will receive someone far more valuable to him than even Tayla."  
  
"What? And who?" Flirtius wanted to know. "Who can be more valuable to him at this point than Princess Tayla?"  
  
"Myself. I am surrendering myself to Zarbon on the condition that Tayla and the others are freed, and that my people are left in peace."  
  
"WHAT???" everyone asked. 


	91. Nama, Where Are You?

Chapter Ninety-One: Nama, Where Are You?  
  
The next morning, on the way to the castle conservatory…  
  
Zarbon was unusually happy right now. He was talking excitedly on his scouter to Frieza, as he made his way upstairs to the castle conservatory to see little Princess Tayla Chloe for the first time. Not only had Princess Tayla been captured, but also he had heard from Flirtius that Shalila Chloe, the proud Superior Gran of Astoria, had offered to surrender herself in exchange for the freedom of Tayla and all of the hostages.  
  
"Wondrous news, isn't it, sire?" Zarbon asked through his scouter channel.  
  
"Hmmm…that depends on how you look at it, Zarbon. If it had been any other planetary leader, I would agree. But it is not like Shalila Chloe or any of her family to give up or give in that easily. You don't honestly intend to free Princess Tayla, do you? I don't so much care about the other captives, since everyone on this planet is to die anyway."  
  
"Of course not, sire. But what do we do when Shalila Chloe becomes our prisoner?"  
  
"Hmmm…good question…her surrender is not something that I would expect from her, and that alone makes me suspicious. She has to be planning something; she has to be. See that Flirtius restrains her with that cuffing gun that you allowed him to have."  
  
"He's already done so, sire. Shalila Chloe has been cuffed, so she should be no threat. Should we spare her when she is brought to us, or should we have her killed?"  
  
"Let her live for now. I want to know exactly what she is up to, and as long as she's alive, we'll be able to figure out what she's really planning. I've known that woman, that murderer of my own dear mother, for years, and if she is devious enough to kill my mother, then she is crafty enough to be hatching some scheme to save her family. Make sure she is restrained, and once Calmag is cleared, I want both her and her troublesome granddaughter brought to me the minute you and the others arrive on my ship." Frieza then chuckled wickedly through his scouter. "Zarbon! I just figured out how to control that little girl that the monkeys and Diamonique claim gave them so much trouble!"  
  
"What's that, my sire?"  
  
Frieza laughed cruelly. "When she and her grandmother are brought to me, I will torture and kill the old woman right in front of Princess Tayla! Princess Tayla will then see what I am capable of, and she will submit to me on the spot, too frightened of my great power to ever rebel against me!" Frieza laughed louder than ever.  
  
Zarbon sighed, "Sire, that could prove to be a mistake, for if you did and the little girl were able to grow stronger, she could eventually grow powerful enough to cripple you or even kill you in revenge. Clan of Chloe members do not forgive or forget, you know that, sire, and Astorians can be just as deadly as the Saiyans once were. Better to keep Shalila Chloe as a prisoner for the rest of her life to give her granddaughter an incentive to work for you. It is amazing what children will do to keep their loved ones alive."  
  
Frieza growled, "Zarbon, I will decide how to handle the brat, and I will do it my way! And I don't want Shalila Chloe alive any longer than necessary! I can't wait to torment and humiliate the old woman before I ship her off to the next dimension. The screams of a defeated powerful ruler are always music to my ears! Now do as I say, Zarbon and carry out my orders. Do not give in to the Superior Gran's requests; now that she's restrained, what can she do to any of you?"  
  
"Yes, sire," Zarbon sighed. He decided then to ask about Kaydra and Chestra.  
  
"Kaydra is doing exceptionally well in her training. You will see a great improvement in her fighting techniques once you and Chestra meet with her again. Your Chestra is on the medical cruiser just hovering outside of Calmag; she is well. And as for Kaydra again, she's become like a daughter to me; if she wasn't an Astorie, I could grow to love her. But anyway, it is time for you to get back to work. Farewell, Zarbon, don't fail me."  
  
"I won't, sire. Now that Shalila Chloe and her Namek guardian have been disabled, we will definitely be able to destroy everyone else."  
  
"Good. Signing off now." And Frieza's voice was gone.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The castle conservatory…  
  
Diamonique idly ran a diamond-studded finger down Tayla's smooth, adolescent cheek. "Such firm skin; you have the potential to become a beauty someday, if allowed. I certainly wouldn't call you one now though, my dear. Such a scrawny thing you are, big muddy eyes, no breasts yet to speak of, hardly any curves. Maybe you'll fill out some, but you'll never become as well endowed as myself. You'll never have the hordes of men panting over you the way that they do me. Men prefer women who are nicely shaped such as myself, not sticks like you. But anyway, your fighting skills greatly exceed your looks; it is not every brat that can take me down the way that you did."  
  
Tayla could not respond to her nemesis because of the gag in her mouth, but she gave Diamonique a look of pure fury bordering on hatred. Her expression was deadly enough now to destroy Frieza himself, if possible. Diamonique just bent down and whispered into Tayla's ear, "And once you wind up working for us, little girl, I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me. I can't harm you yet, but you better pray that I am not the one who trains you, for if I am, I will make you suffer. I will make you suffer anyway, and your misery will become one of my greatest pleasures. Any comments, little brat?" And Diamonique pulled the gag out of Tayla's mouth, so Tayla could finally speak.  
  
But Tayla decided to be obstinate and not give Diamonique the satisfaction of hearing her respond. She turned her face away from her captor and stayed silent.  
  
"Well?" Diamonique demanded.  
  
Tayla ignored her entirely; she would not even look at her.  
  
"Aren't you going to speak, or did you lose your voice?"  
  
Tayla did not respond.  
  
"Answer me!"  
  
Tayla refused.  
  
"Are you deaf, mute, or both?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Don't you dare ignore me, brat!"  
  
Again, silence.  
  
"Are you deliberately doing ignoring me?"  
  
Tayla finally allowed herself a small grin; she was fighting back in her own way, and it gave her some pleasure in irritating the annoying Diamonique.  
  
Finally, Diamonique couldn't take Tayla's snubbing her anymore, and she seized the girl by her long, ebony hair and dragged her onto her knees. She shook Tayla hard, hoping to force a response out of her. Tayla just gave her a smug look, and she turned her button nose up at Diamonique ever so slightly.   
  
The Gemstarian warrior then drew her hand back and sharply slapped Tayla across her face! And not only did Diamonique manage to slap Tayla's face, the diamond nail on her index finger raked a long, deep gash along her cheek from the corner of her left eye down to the curve of her pointed chin. The nasty, sharp nail had sliced her face like a switchblade. If the wound were not treated properly, the horrific attack would definitely leave a marring scar on her otherwise clear-skinned face.  
  
Tayla bit her lip hard to keep from screaming, and she squeezed her saucer eyes shut, trying not to cry, not to let Diamonique see how much pain she had caused her. She turned her heart-shaped face away from Diamonique to allow herself the luxury of several tears.  
  
Meanwhile, Raakon, who was still watching in the doorway, clenched his fists in anger. Never before in his life had he felt this strong urge to strike out against a woman like he did now. How dare that diamond-spell-casting woman hit and claw his sister like that, knowing that Tayla could not defend herself now! Diamonique was an adult; Tayla was still a child. The normally even-tempered, calm Prince of Chloe had to restrain himself from going after the cruel Gemstarian beauty and giving her what she deserved.  
  
Remember the plan; remember the plan, Raakon, he told himself. Don't do anything rash. Remember your sister's life and safety are depending on you now.  
  
"Nama," Tayla whispered hoarsely, trying to keep the tears out of her clear voice. "Nama…where are you?" She was too frightened now, too stunned by Diamonique's sudden attack to think rationally. The young girl began to tremble, her courage and spirit slowly fading away.  
  
Diamonique laughed, as Tayla finally cried out bitterly, "You had no right to do that!"  
  
"You should have thought about that before ignoring me, you skinny, puking brat!" Diamonique taunted, her cruel laughter the sound of nails raking along a blackboard.  
  
"You hateful slutzini!" Tayla screamed in pain. "You and that awful Seductia are just alike, both of you! Both of you enjoy either hurting people or killing them? Why? What have we ever done to either of you?"  
  
Diamonique responded by slapping Tayla across her face again, this time raking a smaller cut across the already large gash on Tayla's face. Tayla now had a bloody crisscross under her left eye. Indigo blood flowed copiously from her wounds, dripping down onto her blue fighting gi that Gracina had found for her. Tayla's assailant showed no mercy for Tayla's pain or remorse for her actions.  
  
Diamonique smiled sweetly, but there was a malicious hint to that smile. She added in a cloying voice that made Tayla want to vomit, "Oh, and Tayla? Guess what! Your sweet granny surrendered to us." Tayla's eyes widened as far as they could in horror, as Diamonique continued, "That's right, my dear, she did. Zarbon just told me a few minutes ago. The mighty Shalila Chloe surrendered herself to us on the condition that we free you and all of the other captives, but of course we have no intention of honoring that part of the bargain."  
  
"No…" Tayla whispered, her inner pain causing her wounds to ache worse. Tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks. "Na…ma…why?"  
  
"She did it for you especially, little girl. Funny, you're not even to rule after her, and she sacrificed herself for you, although I don't understand why. Now that we have her, you, and that Namek, Dirkan, in our hands, your people and Calmag's people will definitely perish. The Clan of Chloe here will cease to exist. And we will surely dispose of your precious granny and her darling Namek once we have finished with them. Face it, little girl, you belong to us now, and you'll spend the rest of your pathetic life serving Lord Frieza, like the rest of us. Why, I think that I will suggest to him that he send you to planet Astoria to destroy your own people, and under our training programs, you'll eventually learn how to blow up an entire planet with just one hand. It's so much fun, I can assure you."  
  
"I'll…never…kill…innocent…people…never…none…of you…can make…me." Tayla infused as much fury and defiance in these words as possible.  
  
"Lord Frieza can, darling, trust me on that. You're not the first recruit that we've had to force to do his will. I wouldn't recommend becoming an IVR-that's involuntary recruit, if I were you. IVR's are the scourge of Lord Frieza's forces because IVR's are a nuisance, especially to those who truly wish to serve him and do his bidding willingly. Better to come to him voluntarily, my dear, for it will go much easier on you."  
  
"He'll…have…to…kill me first," Tayla choked out.  
  
"And that," Diamonique said heartlessly, "is something that he would gladly do."  
  
"You…have…enough people…working for…Frieza…that are willing…to do so…so why…must you… force those who don't want to work for him…to do what he wants…why?"  
  
Diamonique laughed. "Because we wouldn't have enough powerful fighters, if we only took volunteers. Two-thirds of those who volunteer to work for Lord Frieza aren't as powerful as some of the captives that we force to work in his army. You've probably met Commander Jaden already, and she was an IVR, and yet she commands more respect in our army than many voluntary soldiers. Anyway, you don't have a choice."  
  
"I…always…have…a…choice…and I shall…never…volunteer…to work…for that demon, that bastard…" Tayla whispered.  
  
Raakon was still standing in the doorway, and his heart was sinking in despair. His beloved grandmother, one of the bravest women that he ever knew of, had willingly turned herself in to Frieza's forces. Why? Raakon fought to keep the tears in his eyes from falling.  
  
"Just when we need you most, Nama," he whispered to himself. "Nama…where are you, now?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the ballroom…  
  
"I'm a hero!" Flirtius sang. He was still holding Shalila Chloe's wrist, and Shalila had her proud, red head hung down, as she stared at the cuffs on her wrist. A heavy brown cloak, lent to her by Lieutenant Balboun engulfed her small, wiry body. "I cuffed Shalila Chloe, and I made her surrender!"  
  
"Oh, shut up!" Baata growled. "You didn't make the old woman surrender! She did it on her own!"  
  
All of the hostages in the ballroom were stunned to see Superior Gran Shalila Chloe of Astoria now the captive of Frieza's forces. Crystalis and Pork were weeping freely, and Steak and his children clung to each other. Among the remaining hostages, some were crying, some were cursing, and two men were trying to prevent a third from shooting himself through his heart.  
  
Only Marya remained calm, as she dared to walk through the hostages straight to her captive grandmother. Her visions had not predicted this. Her silken white caftan swept the marble floor of the ballroom in a hushed, mournful whisper, as she approached the Ginyu Force, who was now dancing Captain Ginyu's awful Dance of Victory. Dodoria and Samsonite were with them, and Samsonite grabbed the High Priestess of Chloe's slender arm. A startled Marya abruptly turned around when he did so, but she tried to regain her composure the best that she could.  
  
"Ah…a pretty thing you are," he slurred. "I've always liked tall redheads. How's about you and me getting better acquainted? I could show you things in bed that no Astorie man ever could!" Samsonite shared Balair's appetite for beautiful young women, and the tall, slender Marya looked ten years younger than she actually was (Marya was now thirty years old). He drooled openly, and Marya tried to disguise her disgust the best that she could.  
  
"How about forgetting it?" Marya asked him calmly, but with a rare contemptuous undertone in her usually kind voice. "I am a Priestess of Chloe, and I've taken a vow of chastity. Do you honestly believe that I would ever allow someone like you to help me break it?"  
  
The entire Ginyu Force heard Marya's words, and they laughed at Samsonite. "Ha, ha, Sammy!" Reccoom boomed. "You share Bali's bad luck with Astorie women!"  
  
"Yeah, and to think you used to brag to us about how you could make any woman succumb to your charms!" Jeice jeered. He didn't like Samsonite any better than he did Balair.  
  
Shalila permitted herself a smile at Marya's snappy response. Even in the gentlest of her grandchildren, the Clan of Chloe strong spirit resided. She even allowed herself a mild chuckle.  
  
Samsonite growled, "I didn't ask any of you fools for your opinion!" He turned to Marya and hissed, "You'll pay for that one wench! You don't start being nicer to me, I'll make you regret every one of your words, woman! How'd you like an early trip to Enma Daiou?"  
  
Marya said sweetly, "I am afraid that you'll be meeting him much sooner than I will. I've already seen a glimpse or two of your future, as well as your past. Your list of crimes is almost as long as your brother, Balair's, so if you trying to emulate him, you've made him proud. He is currently waiting for you in hell, so if you wish to meet him again someday, you are well on your way."  
  
"Wench!" he snarled, raising his gigantic dark green hand to her. He would have succeeded in striking her, but it was Ginyu who grabbed his arm.  
  
"That's enough," Ginyu growled at Samsonite. He shoved Samsonite away from a grateful Marya and asked her evenly, looking down on her, "Exactly what are you doing here among us anyway? You're supposed to be with the other hostages."  
  
"I know that, Captain Ginyu," Marya said calmly. "I have only come to visit one last time with my grandmother. You wouldn't deny a young woman the chance to see her beloved grandmother one last time, would you? It has been a while since I've seen her. Please allow me to visit with her alone for at least thirty minutes; it is not like I can actually help her to escape. I have no powers beyond my psychic visions, I can assure you. I am no threat. Surely a man who was kind enough to stop this other fellow from striking me, a defenseless Priestess, wouldn't deny me a chance to tell my grandmother goodbye, wouldn't you? I would always be grateful to you, if you permitted me this last chance." And Marya looked deeply into Ginyu's eyes and smiled hopefully, putting on her most appealing expression. Ginyu blushed slightly, and then he grinned.  
  
"Sure, why not?" he said happily, flattered by Marya looking at him so appealingly. He bent down and whispered into her ear, "But are you sure that you took a vow of chastity? I wouldn't mind getting to know you better myself."  
  
Marya said as serenely as possible, "Yes, Captain, I have taken a vow of lifelong chastity. Allowing myself to become someone's mate or wife would distract me from my duties as a Priestess. All Priestesses and Priests of Astoria take vows of chastity in order to stay better focused on our true purposes in life. Anyway, thank you, Captain, but may I please see Nama alone now?"  
  
"Sure thing, sweetheart," Captain Ginyu said cheerfully. "Okay, men, Flirtio-"  
  
"That's Flirtius!" Flirtius growled.  
  
"Whatever, Flirt-boy; let's leave these two ladies alone, so we can all go practice the latest steps to my Dance of Victory. Off we go, men! C'mon, Flirt-boy, you've got to learn my smooth moves if you wanna be part of the Ginyu Force!" Ginyu declared. And Flirtius slowly trailed behind the elated Ginyu Force over to the dais in the center of the ballroom.  
  
Samsonite snarled, "I'll get Cap'n Ginny for that! How dare he intervene?  
  
"Quiet, Sams," Dodoria ordered him. "I'm sure you'll eventually get a woman soon enough. I doubt a virgin would be that satisfying anyway." He then hissed to Marya and Shalila, "Thirty minutes, wenches, and not a second more. I'll be back the minute the time is up! Let's go, Samsonite."  
  
"I can't believe we're allowin' this," Samsonite grumbled, but he acquiesced and left with Dodoria.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When the Elite men had left, Marya openly embraced Shalila and whispered, "I am so sorry, Nama, that you were forced to make this decision."  
  
Shalila hugged her back and whispered, "No one forced me to make this decision, but myself. Do not fret yet, Marya, for do you honestly think that I would allow myself to be taken this easily, if I didn't have a plan or two up my sleeve?"  
  
"No, Nama," Marya admitted.  
  
"Listen, Marya," Shalila said in a low voice, just above a whisper. "I want you and Steak to help gather all of the hostages together in one part of the ballroom near an exit, for I guarantee you in less than an hour, the Ginyu Force and all of the other Elites here are about to get theirs."  
  
"But Nama," Marya whispered. "What about the wrist cuffs?" And then a thought occurred to her. "They are fake cuffs, aren't they?"  
  
"Of course," Shalila said with a grin. "They are dummy cuffs, and I am keeping my ki at such a low level that it would barely set off any scouter here. Flirtius has changed sides in order to spare his own life. I had him bring me here, under the guise of him taking me prisoner. Very clever, eh?"  
  
"Very," Marya agreed.  
  
"Okay," Shalila began. "Now have you heard anything about where they are keeping Tayla and Dirkan and Bajal?"  
  
"Yes, Nama," Marya whispered. "Zarbon mentioned something about them being in the conservatory. But, Nama, Dirkan and Bajal are said to be under the spell of some woman named Seductia."  
  
"I know," Shalila told her confidently, holding up seven fingers. "And I promise you, Seven Moons Oath, that dear Seductia will have a date with Enma Daiou by the end of this day. I plan to make her demise especially painful, for what she has done to my family and to a poor CRP soldier named Matias Gauze. Now you must keep mum about everything I have told you, my dear, do not even mention it to any of the other hostages here until this ordeal is over."  
Marya nodded, and she and Shalila continued to still hold each other. Shalila whispered, "Are you all right personally, my dear?"  
  
"Yes, Nama," Marya assured her. "No physical harm has come to me other than Samsonite grabbing my arm."   
  
"Good," Shalila told her. "Now leave me for now, so I can concentrate on what I have to do. You and Steak bring those other hostages together, for once all hell breaks loose here, I don't want any innocent bystanders getting hurt."  
  
"Yes, Nama."  
  
"I am very proud of you, my Marya. It was very brave of you to stay behind to comfort and reassure the others. I know that it was not an easy decision for you to make."  
  
Marya only smiled and nodded shyly. She then explained her plan to have Crystalis help them, and after hearing how Crystalis and Pork wanted to change sides and help the Astorians, Shalila approved.  
  
"Good luck, my dear. And send my good wishes to both Crystalis and Pork."  
  
"I will, Nama."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Twenty minutes later…  
  
Shalila was standing in the middle in the ballroom floor, still with her head hung down and her normal, straight posture slumped. But there was a steely glint in her silvery eyes when Samsonite came back on Dodoria's orders to retrieve her.  
  
"Okay old woman, your time's up. Commander Dodoria wants to talk to you."  
  
"Oh, does he?" Shalila asked calmly.  
  
"Yeah, he sure does. Come along, old hag. Your surrenderin' to us has sure been a surprise."  
  
"Oh, you have that right," Shalila said silkily, and the smoothness of her tone sent a shiver down the Sistrai warrior's back.  
  
Samsonite tried to shake off the worry that was suddenly creeping into him, as he seized the Superior Gran's left wrist. "Let's go, old lady."  
  
"Oh, we'll be going alright," Shalila told him in that same silky tone. "But I am afraid that you'll be going to a different place than I will."  
  
"What the hell do you mean?"  
  
He found out soon enough, for at that moment, Shalila used her free hand to form a fist. With the quickness of light-speed, she thrust her fist into the air and sent it crashing into a shocked Samsonite's throat, fracturing his windpipe. Before Samsonite could react, Shalila punched his throat a second time, and the Sistrai warrior choked for air, as he was forced to release her left wrist. He could barely breathe, as he tried to throw his weight against Shalila.  
  
But the crippled Sistrai did not succeed, for before he could shove Shalila to the ground, Shalila punched his ribs hard, cracking two of them. Quickly, she opened her fist into a palm and sent a strong blast of ki energy combined with electricity through her hand that shot from her palm and into Samsonite's body. Unlike Balair, Samsonite had not built up any immunity or resistance to electricity at all, and he screamed in terror, as electric waves shot throughout his reptilian body.  
  
He continued to scream, as electric currents and ki shafts shot out from his body in a blinding flash of light that engulfed the entire room. He could feel his body disintegrating into thin air, as he took his last breath, screamed his last scream.  
  
When the light faded, Samsonite was lying in a charred heap, made of skin, bones and ashes at Shalila's feet. Shalila spat upon the corpse and said contemptuously:  
  
"And to think Flirtius told me that you were the strongest one of the Mid-Elites that were sent after us."  
  
Another event had occurred during Shalila's destroying Samsonite: the sudden disappearance of almost all of the hostages! All of them had fled through a trap door behind a drinking bar that had been on the right hand side of the ballroom. It had been a new passageway that Caline had suddenly remembered just before Shalila had wished her family farewell. Shalila had been grateful for that last bit of knowledge from Caline.  
  
The last hostage had scurried down behind the bar before any of the Elite men could prevent him from fleeing. Now the Elites had no more bargaining chips in the ballroom; all of the hostages, Calmagian and Astorian were gone. Only Steak, Ham, Pork and Crystalis had remained behind to help Shalila.  
  
Dodoria's fat jaws were hanging open as he viewed with horror the scorched body of Samsonite. He finally recovered long enough to shout, "Get her! Destroy her!"  
  
"Men, after her!" Ginyu ordered.  
  
Shalila smirked, as she threw off her heavy brown cloak and presented her Sword of Chloe that flashed in the gleaming lights of the ballroom. The Ginyu Force flew after her, and Shalila called out:  
  
"Who's next?"  
  
________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, I wasn't planning until now to kill off Samsonite so soon, but I did. Anyway, Balair and Samsonite have two other brothers that are still alive to cause trouble, although it is unlikely that they will appear in this story.  
  
Sorry that it is taking me so long with the last Chestra chapter, but I am still undecided as to how I will end that story. Sometimes it seems it's just as hard to know when or how to end a story as it is to begin one. Once I come with a plan, and I will try to make it soon, you will definitely see the end of the Chestra story.  
  
I think that I will mainly work on "Tayla" after I end Chestra, so it might be a while before I put up any more chapters of "Be Careful For What You Wish For" and "Dragonspaceballs". I have not given up those stories altogether; it is just that "Tayla" is my main focus right now.  
  
There will definitely be a sequel after "Tayla" tentatively titled "Hope Never Dies" and I have several other story ideas that I am thinking of writing. Some of these ideas include a Supreme Kai romance, a story about how Androids 18 and 17 became what they are now, and some more side stories about the DBZ villains and their comrades. Oh, and there is also a neat idea that I have about Vegeta having a head injury and becoming the total opposite of what he is normally like.  
  
Well, anyway, review and let me know what you think! Gooden boden fro noy! 


	92. Hell Begins To Break Loose

Chapter Ninety-Two: Hell Starts To Break Loose  
  
Down in the labyrinths…  
  
Marya had been hurrying hostages along the corridors, and she was thankful to see Caline again. Caline had beckoned the newly freed hostages to follow her, and everyone followed the little girl through the corridors, fleeing as fast as they could.  
  
Queen Kildara was in the front of the fleeing hostages, and she swept up Caline into her arms and kissed her fervently on her forehead. "You are a brave child! You have helped to save so many of us! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!" Caline blushed and shyly nodded.  
  
King Kitchator was amazed that it took little Caline, a child that he had never paid much attention to, to help free his people. Perhaps he had underestimated the girl, after all. He then briefly touched Caline's cheek, as he guided his wife past the child. "Your parents would be proud of you, Caline, especially your father."  
  
*My mother would be proud*, Caline thought. *But Father would not care. He would merely nod and then plan my wedding to Filcor, had he been alive. *   
  
"Caline," Kildara told her step-granddaughter, "your mother would be so especially proud of you. She has told me many a time that you were her favorite."  
  
*Oh, Mother, I miss you so much! You have been looking after me, after all, haven't you? You never forgot me after all, just like you promised! For a long time, I had wanted you to take me with you to heaven, and you kept saying before you died that I could not come with you there! After Father turned nastier and made Ridikar become like him, I did want to die! Many nights I had prayed for you to take me away, but now I see why you didn't! You had always thought that I was special, but I never truly believed it until this war started. Thank you, mother, for it must have been you who sent the Astorians to come help our people! They had to have come for a reason, and I believe that you are it! You said that before you died, that you would see even in heaven that I would be taken care of! You knew that Father never wanted me, and you shielded me from him as much as you could. You fought for me and kept me safe while you were alive. I am so sorry that you had died from that terminal illness; I wish that I could have saved you.  
  
It was Julien, my bastard brother (Mother, I am sorry for that awful word; I supposed that I learned it from Tayla, who uses it occasionally from time to time. But you and Carie would still like Tayla, really you would. She saved my life, and I love her.)…anyway, it was Julien who had told me that Father had wanted you, Mother, to abort me, but you stood your ground and refused. I loved you for that alone, Mother, for you could have given in to Father and did what he wanted.  
  
But you refused to obey him, and because of you, I am alive. I only wish that I could say the same for my best friend, Carie. You would have liked Carie, I know you would have, Mother.  
  
I remember that when you were dying, I had asked you what I could do to make things better for you. You told me to help others as you have helped me, and I promised to do so. I hope that I have kept that promise, Mother. For a long time, I thought that I had failed to do so.  
  
I remember when I had hid my best friend, Carie, from that awful Filcor Sedemeyer, that same Filcor that Father was going to force me to marry. I had hidden her for three months until Julien had discovered her. And then Filcor came and took my best friend away, and I never saw her again. I had truly begun to hate myself then, and I wondered what good was I, especially after she drowned herself on purpose.  
  
But I know now what you would have said to me: you would have wanted me to go on and honor Carie's memory by still helping more like her. For a long time, I gave up, Mother, yes, I did, 'cause I figured that I would just make things worse for other people instead of better. Now I know that I was wrong. I hope that what I did to help my people will fulfill my promise to you, but even if it does, I still intend to go on, like you would have wanted me to. I hope that I had made you proud, Mother, and I hope that wherever you are in heaven, that you are happy. I love you so much.  
  
One last thing: if you ever meet Carie there, will you let her know that I love her, and I am sorry for not being able to do more for her while she was alive?  
  
Thank you, Mother. *  
  
Caline's thoughts then turned to Carie, as she continued to guide her people through the corridors…  
  
*Carie, if you are in heaven, and I know that you are, please forgive me for not being able to do more for you. I loved you more than I did my own sisters; you were always there for me, like an older sister. My heart broke for both of us when Filcor took you away and forbade you ever to see me again. I cried more for your unhappiness than for the beating that my father gave me for hiding you. I know why you felt you had to throw yourself off of that cliff, knowing that your body would hit the rapids before it would hit the water, but I wish you hadn't done it. I wish that you had been able to have a reason to live, to fight.  
  
But I understand how you feel, 'cause for a long time, I felt like you did, wanting nothing more than death, especially after I had been brought home to Father after I had run away from home to get out of marrying Alberm. I don't know if you know this, but Father beat me almost to the point of death. I had begged him that day to kill me rather than force me to marry Alberm, but you know what he said? He told me that he wasn't going to give me the pleasure of dying, and he also said that my marriage to Alberm would serve as proper punishment for being such a burden and nuisance to him. What did I ever do to my father to deserve his abuse other than being born?  
  
Anyway, Carie, I wish you happiness wherever you are, and I hope that life is good for you in the other world. I know that one day we will meet again and be together forever. I promise after this war is over to start writing my memoirs, so I can tell you everything when I get there. But I won't be seeing you for a long time yet, for I plan to live for many, many years. I want to live.  
  
And don't worry, Carie, I am not alone now. I have Tayla, or I will soon, I hope. I love her more than any other girl with the exception of you. You will always be my first best friend, the first girl that I could ever consider a real sister to me. I think you would have liked Tayla, Carie, I really think that you would, although you might have been shocked by the things she sometimes says and does. She surprised me at first when I had first learned about her; I had never met a girl who was a warrior before. She's really special, Carie; I hope that she's okay.  
  
I hope that you don't mind if I ask you and Mother for a small favor. If you two are looking down from heaven, could you watch over Tayla until she's safe with her family again? If she comes back to us safely, then I will know that you are still watching, and I believe that she will come back.  
  
In fact, I don't believe she will…I know she will… *  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the conservatory…  
  
Zarbon had finally arrived, and Raakon had been forced to hide behind a giant potted plant, as he masked his ki from Zarbon's scouter. Zarbon entered the conservatory, and his jaw dropped when he saw the nasty gash on the Princess Tayla's face. He glared darkly at Diamonique and frowned.  
  
"Diamonique," he said edgily. "You know that Lord Frieza said that the girl was not to be harmed. I know that you clawed her like that; why did you do it?"  
  
"She deserved it," Diamonique snarled. "The brat shouldn't have ignored me."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Zarbon told her in a steely tone. "Lord Frieza said that the girl was to be brought to be him unharmed. He is not going to be pleased when he sees that mark on her face. We have to get it treated before he sees it…speaking of treatment, Diamonique, I've noticed that you appear to be unusually healthy, why is that?"  
  
Diamonique smiled. "I met an old herbalist on the way here, and I forced him to treat me. He treated my wounds with some strange tonic made of some strange flowers. That tonic healed me instantly, completely."  
  
"Do you have any more of it? We will need to use some on the girl's gashes. Lord Frieza will have you beaten, if he finds out that you marked her like that."  
  
"I did, but I used the last bit of what the old man gave me on the way here."  
  
"You didn't think of anyone else, Diamonique? Why didn't you bring enough for all of us to use? Don't you ever think of anyone besides yourself?"  
  
"Of course I do, darling," Diamonique purred. "It's just I was in such a hurry to get here that I didn't think. I wish that I had at least brought enough for you, my dear."  
  
"Did the herbalist tell you what that tonic was made out of?" Zarbon asked her evenly, ignoring Diamonique's sentiments. He had despised her ever since she had tried twice to kill Chestra over him, and these days he only tolerated her. He knew that if he gave her the slightest kindness or encouragement, she would fall all over him, and he did not want that. Despite Diamonique's brief affairs with men such as Vegeta or Bhodie, deep down a part of her still wanted Zarbon, and Zarbon knew it.  
  
He had no intention of indulging her. Chestra was the only one for him.  
"Oh some sort of flower, either a rose or something…but anyway, Zarbon, how have you been?"  
  
Zarbon sighed. "Diamonique, just find some ointments or something to treat the girl's injuries. And do not mark her again, no matter what she does."  
  
"Why don't you come with me?" Diamonique purred.  
  
"No, I will stay with the child until you return. Wake up Seductia."  
  
Seductia was sleeping peacefully on a divan behind Diamonique, with Dirkan and Bajal standing nearby. They had standing orders to kill anyone who tried to attack their mistress.  
  
"Seductia, WAKE UP!" Diamonique screamed.  
  
Seductia murmured in her sleep, "Oh, Dirkan, Diamonique was wrong about Nameks…you certainly know how to please a woman…oh, do that again! Ride me, lover!"  
  
Tayla nearly gagged at Seductia's words, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. Zarbon saw her disgusted expression, and he couldn't help but agree with her.  
  
"SEDUCTIA!" Zarbon growled. "Wake up!"  
  
Finally, an irritated Seductia awoke. "Yes?" she grumbled.  
  
"Seductia, you are to come downstairs and help guard the hostages. Take those two that you have under your spell with you; they will make excellent guards. And also…wait a minute, let me answer my scouter. Dodoria, what is this about? WHAT? Shalila Chloe WAS FAKING HER CAPTURE THE ENTIRE TIME? But Flirtius told me that she had cuffs on her wrists! What the hell happened? Yes, I want you and the others to stop her! If you can avoid killing her, do so; Lord Frieza wants her taken alive. Yes, I know that you would rather see her burned to a crisp, Dodoria, but the order is to cripple her, not kill her! Stop her before she helps the hostages escape! WHAT? THE HOSTAGES HAVE ALREADY ESCAPED? Send some of the Ginyu Force down into the labyrinths after them, along with Samsonite! WHAT? She killed Samsonite? Oh, fine, you deal with Shalila and send the entire Ginyu Force down after those hostages. Have them kill as many people underground as they can; we are no longer sparing anyone but Princess Tayla. I am sending Seductia and a couple of unexpected allies downstairs now. Diamonique will be with them. We have got to stop Shalila Chloe before she comes upstairs! I will be there as soon as I can, but first, I am going to secure Princess Tayla. I will take the girl out of here with me, and then I will be back. We've got what we came for. Don't fail, Dodoria."  
  
Tayla's soft brown eyes were glowing with hope, and a relieved, happy expression settled onto her scarred face. Nama had been faking her capture the entire time!  
  
"I knew Nama wouldn't let us down!" she screamed out joyously before she thought.  
  
"Shut up, brat!" Diamonique hissed.  
  
"You're going to be sorry," Tayla told her defiantly. "'Cause when she sees what you did to my face, your heart's going to meet her blade!"  
  
"Great, just great," Zarbon muttered. "I should have known that Shalila Chloe would pull something like this! Seductia, take Bajal and Dirkan downstairs with you immediately."  
  
"Yes, Commander," Seductia told him serenely. "Dirkan, my love, and Bajal, my darling, come with me at once."  
  
"Whatever you say, my heart!" Dirkan enthused. "I would allow myself to be torn apart by Frieza for you, my sweet cherry!"  
  
"Your wish is my command, my strawberry!" Bajal gushed. "I would dance on the sun for you!"  
  
Tayla felt another sudden urge to vomit. She felt sorry for Bajal and Dirkan, and she was thankful that no one was recording their voices. If Bajal and Dirkan knew what they were truly saying, they both would volunteer to send themselves to Enma Daiou! The Bajal and Dirkan she knew would never say those things, not even to their own wives.  
  
*Nama, she thought. Please come soon. I need you. Bajal and Dirkan need you. We all need you.*  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later…  
  
Diamonique herself felt ill, and she decided to step out into the hallway briefly for fresh air before she left to help stop Shalila Chloe. Seductia had already taken teleported Bajal and Dirkan downstairs with her. She wiped her peachy-blue brow, as she looked around the hallway.  
  
She looked at a gigantic, ferny potted plant briefly before turning away. Two minutes later, a large fist crashed into the back of her silvery-blue head. Her black gem eyes wide and her pouty mouth open, Diamonique fell down face forward into the carpeted floor of the hallway. Her head turned to the left, as her eyes fell shut…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Zarbon felt his scouter go off, and he dashed into the hallway where a familiar Astorian that he fought against many years ago held a sword in front of to Zarbon's chest.  
  
Zarbon gasped, as he recognized the opponent, "Raa…kon…Chloe?"  
  
Raakon said boldly, "That's right, Zarbon. Nice meeting you again. Now, I am going to give you only one warning one time: let my sister go, or suffer the fate of your friend, Diamonique."  
  
"Tayla Chloe is your…sister?" Zarbon asked, trying to conceal how much this Prince of Chloe unnerved him after all these years. His pale green face faded to white, for he had remembered the young Astorian's power all those years ago. He had seen Raakon's Awakening himself, not knowing the astonishing transformation that the Prince of Chloe had been going through. Raakon had not been able to defeat Zarbon (in fact, it had been Dirkan who had defeated Zarbon after Raakon had put up a good fight), but Zarbon had never forgotten how much damage Raakon had been able to cause him.  
  
"That's right," Raakon said coldly. "Release my sister immediately."  
  
"You heard him!" Tayla shouted. "Let me go!"  
  
"Quiet, girl!" Zarbon hissed at her. Zarbon then allowed himself to smile briefly, as he stepped back away from Raakon. He inched closer to Tayla and threw the girl upon his shoulders. He then also placed a hand to Tayla's slender back, and said coolly to Raakon:  
  
"Take another step closer, and she dies."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the ballroom…  
  
"Gained about another ton since the last time we met, eh, Dodo?"  
  
"Don't you dare that call me that, wench!"  
  
"Whatever you say…Dodo," Shalila told the fat, puffy minion sweetly. "Shall we continue, or is hauling your extra tonnage around getting to be too much for you? You can end this anytime you like."  
  
"You've got that right, Astorie!" Dodoria opened his mouth to fire a mouth blast at Shalila, but Shalila was ready for him. She crossed her arms in proper Mirror Shield position and cried out, "MIRROR SHIELD!"  
  
Dodoria's mouth blast backfired onto him, sending him crashing into a closet. The ceiling above him collapsed around him, the rubble of the wall and the ceiling falling down upon him. Dodoria finally climbed out of the wreckage in no time and growled:  
  
"That's the last freebie I'm giving you, old hag! This time, I won't be playing!"  
  
"I've stopped playing a long time ago, Dodoria, but if you wish to up the ante, I will be more than glad to oblige you," Shalila said coolly.  
  
"Fine with me!" And Dodoria lunged at her with his fist flying out in front of him.  
Shalila raised her sword, and her blade sliced through Dodoria's wrist that held his fist, cutting it off. A stunned Dodoria looked at his bleeding stump in horror; he knew that the doctors in Frieza's forces could easily use artificial regeneration to make the hand grow back, but until then, he only had one hand to fight Shalila with. He listened as his maimed fist fell to the floor with a sickening plunk.  
  
Shalila told him coldly, "Now, do you wish to lose your other hand, Dodoria, or have you considered the wisdom of leaving Calmag at once?"  
  
Dodoria wheezed, "You're going to lose your head before this war is over, woman! I'll see to it personally!"  
  
"Just try it, you walking sack of lard!" Shalila declared. "I take your reply to mean that we should continue." And this time she raised her hand, intending to use a Rings of Saturn Attack to drain Dodoria of all of his energy, but before she could do so, she felt the presence of Dirkan and Bajal. She shivered, as she began to launch her ki-draining attack on Dodoria. She could feel the new evil in each of their ki levels, but she would not pay them any mind now.  
Or should she?  
  
Seductia, who had emerged from behind Dirkan and Bajal, was now standing beside Bajal. "Bajal, Dirkan, go attack Shalila Chloe and destroy her at once!"  
  
"Yes, my queen of hearts!"  
  
"Whatever you say, sweet melon of my dreams!"  
  
Shalila knew then that she had to forget about draining Dodoria of his ki for now. She abruptly halted her Rings of Saturn attack before she had a chance to capture Dodoria in it. She then launched a ki blast into the air, blowing a large hole in the ceiling of the ballroom. She blasted herself into the air like a rocket and left the ballroom through the hole in the ceiling.  
  
"After her!" Seductia ordered.  
  
After they themselves blew holes in the ceiling, Bajal and Dirkan followed through the ceiling after Shalila with lightening speed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the labyrinths…  
  
Meanwhile, while the escaping hostages were following Caline, the Astorian and Calmagian fighters were pushing past the escapees through the corridors in order to get to the surface of the ballroom. Gorna led the charge, with her family members and the remaining CRP officers behind her. Only Sergeant Baraki had remained behind to guard General Norbrook, whose scouter had been taken as evidence of Norbrook's crimes.  
  
They were nearing the entrance to the drinking bar of the ballroom when suddenly the Ginyu Force confronted them. All of the Astorians drew their swords, and the CRP officers whipped out their laser guns. Gorna was at the first, with Cletos, Gracina, Bendros, and Lektron nearby her. Arlon and Lukan stood behind them, accompanied by Riccan. Rojal, Dedron, Julien and Ridikar were behind Arlon, and the CRP officers were behind the two Calmagian princes.  
  
Captain Ginyu grinned when he saw Gorna. The cocky captain knew that it had been Gorna who had defeated him all of those years ago in the Battle of Chloe, but he had become stronger since then.  
  
Gorna told Ginyu coolly, "I'll tell you what, Ginyu." (She refused to address him as captain, ever.) "Why don't you and I fight alone above ground? Perhaps you would like a chance for a rematch, not you'll win, but I would rather not risk the lives of my family and friends any more than necessary. Also, my grandmother is up there fighting now."   
  
(Shalila had finally apprised her family and allies of her true intentions just before Flirtius had taken her above ground.)  
  
Ginyu grinned again. "Fine with me. You and me on the roof in ten minutes."  
  
"Cap'n, are you sure that's a good idea?" Baata wanted to know. "She's pretty fierce."  
  
"I can more than handle an Astorie woman, Baata. Now you and the others take care of the others down here while this old dame and I go duke it out! But before we go, battle poses, men!"  
  
"Oh, not that again!" Gorna grumbled. "Your men can do their clown acts now, Ginyu, but I don't care to waste time seeing you do it here! When we get to the roof, then you can do your ridiculous display up there!"  
  
Ginyu grunted. "Fine then. Men, show 'em what ya got!"  
  
"Yes, Cap'n!" the Ginyu Force chorused.  
  
"Let's just go," Gorna muttered.  
  
Rojal pushed past his other family members to whisper urgently to his mother, "Mother, are you sure that you know what you're doing?"  
  
Gorna growled under her breath, "Of course I do, son. Now you get ready to fight the rest of Ginyu's clowns. I've got a score to settle with Ginny."  
  
"Jeicey, you're in charge 'til I get back!" Ginyu ordered.  
  
Reccoom complained, "Why does he always get to be in charge?"  
  
"Yeah," Guido declared. "I'd like to be in charge once in a while."  
  
Baata was debating whether to support Jeice and Ginyu or moan with the others. Finally, he just chose to remain silent.  
  
Captain Ginyu then did an elaborate goodbye pose before leaving the labyrinths again for the ballroom. Gorna followed after him.  
  
Jeice called out, "Okay, men, let's show 'em what we got!" He then did his elaborate spread-eagle pose and cried, "Jeice!"  
  
"BAATA!"  
  
"RECCOOM!"  
  
"GUIDO!"  
  
"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE!"  
  
"Sweet Kami, help us," Cletos mumbled. "I think at this point, I'd sooner go with Gorna and deal with Ginyu."  
  
"I just hope that Gorna remembers that Ginyu's capable of switching bodies," Gracina said worriedly.  
  
"Okay, men, let's split who we're going to fight, using rock, paper, and scissors," Jeice ordered.  
  
Lektron whispered to the others, "While they're doing their circus show, why don't we attack them then right away?"  
  
"Good idea," Gracina agreed. "If I have to live through another of their performances, I'll ship myself off to Enma Daiou before they have the chance to try to do so." 


	93. Obsessed And Possessed

Chapter Ninety-Three: Obsessed And Possessed  
  
In the conservatory upstairs…  
  
"Let her go, Zarbon," Raakon said as steadily as possible.  
  
"Not a chance; if you want her to die today, go ahead and attack me," Zarbon sneered.  
  
"Would it make Frieza happy, if you were to kill me?" Tayla asked sharply. "Aren't I the main reason that you bullies came?"  
  
Zarbon glared at the outspoken princess on his shoulder. "You are the main reason, but not the only reason. We were also sent to clear this planet and take out your family."  
  
"Why?" Tayla demanded angrily, raising her dark head up as high as she could. "What has my family ever done to you except defeat you in battle? Why can't you leave us alone?"  
  
"Enough questions," Zarbon told her icily. He turned away from her to look at Raakon. "Well, Astorian Prince, what is your decision?"  
  
"I am not letting you take her away to Frieza," Raakon told him, trying to remain calm. He took a deep breath, deciding with his diplomat's instinct to try to reason with Frieza's Head Commander. "Why do you wish to be loyal to such a creature like Frieza? Why do you want to recruit innocent children to work for him? What makes Frieza so great that you would commit such heinous crimes in his name? Would you want your child or younger sibling to work for a beast like Frieza?"  
  
"There is a generous reward waiting for the capture of your sister," Zarbon told him coolly. "And I intend to collect it. Whether or not I approve of Frieza's activities does not matter."  
  
"It should always matter. How will you explain your actions to Enma Daiou on the day of your death, Zarbon? You will not be able to make such excuses or explanations when you face him in the other dimension. He will hold you accountable for your own actions, Zarbon, not Frieza. Is Frieza so wonderful to you that he is worth spending eternity in hell?"  
  
Zarbon was trying to think quickly on how to counteract Raakon's argument, and while he was thinking, Tayla lifted her bound ankles in the air just above his abdomen. She wasn't sure how much damage she could still inflict now that her wrists were tied up, but she intended to try.  
  
She was not going with Zarbon to Frieza.  
  
She closed her eyes and concentrated, summoning her life force as a backup battery. At least no binding of her wrists could hold back her life force.  
  
Zarbon finally spoke, not paying any attention to Tayla's raised feet, "Frieza will eventually own the entire Rosetta Galaxy, and there will only be two races then: those who serve Frieza and those who oppose him. Those who oppose Frieza will be the first to see Enma Daiou-OW! What the hell-"  
  
He cried out in pain, as Tayla's swift feet rammed into Zarbon's pelvic armor flank for a second time, crushing the metal and jabbing the hard metal into Zarbon's stomach. Before Zarbon could grab her feet, Tayla kicked him in his stomach again, using her life force to help make her feet as effective a weapon as a battering ram. Zarbon couldn't prevent himself from screaming.  
  
Without thinking, Zarbon flung his captive away from him, as he fell to his knees. He had the best armor on him possible, and a child managed to damage him! A child managed to deliver serious harm to him that not even grown warriors at their full potential had been able to accomplish.  
  
Taking advantage of Zarbon's misery, Raakon swiftly pushed past Frieza's Head Commander in order to reach Tayla. With a speed faster than a comet's, he seized his little sister by her waist and yanked her off of the couch, where she had fallen. Raakon hastily pulled her away from a crippled Zarbon and used a tiny ki blast to cut through the ropes binding Tayla's wrists. Tayla nearly toppled over, as all of her ki hit her in full force; she now felt as if a massive energy wave had been shoved down into her and expanded within her petite body. With ease, she yanked her ankles apart, ripping the ropes binding them, as if the ropes were no more than gossamer thread.  
  
"Thanks, Raakon!" she gasped breathlessly, getting readjusted to her full strength.  
  
"No problem," Raakon panted, sweat dabbling on his wide brow. "You did most of the work. Most grown adults of most races couldn't damage Zarbon like you did."  
  
Zarbon finally recovered enough to jump up after Tayla and Raakon, but when he did, his scouter fell off of his head. Before Zarbon could retrieve it, Tayla fired a small ki blast at it, disintegrating it into ashes.   
  
Zarbon growled, "How dare you? Do you know how expensive those things are?"  
  
Tayla ignored him and turned to Raakon. "Do you think that we could take him, or should we go for help?"  
  
"He is a difficult opponent," Raakon told her. "But I think that with the two of us together-OUCH!"  
  
"RAAKON!" Tayla screamed, and her next scream grew louder when she saw what hit her older brother-a red, spiky ball-the same ball that Seductia had implanted into the necks of Bajal and Dirkan. Raakon now had that same horrible scarlet orb embedded in the nape of his neck. His eyes went blank, and a slack, drugged smile formed onto his handsome face.  
  
"No!" Tayla choked out. "Not you too!"  
  
Raakon suddenly cried out happily, "Where is my true love-the woman of my dreams?"  
  
He was not talking about Natala.  
  
"Hahahahaha!" Seductia laughed triumphantly, as she appeared behind Raakon. To Tayla's further horror, Diamonique had joined Seductia, and the Gemstarian fighter was furious.  
  
"Your brother is going to pay for what he did to me, and I know that he knocked me out!" Diamonique fumed. She turned to Seductia, "Seductia, I want you to order that man to kill himself."  
  
"Not yet," Seductia said defiantly. "I want to have some fun with him first."  
  
"This isn't the time for games!" Diamonique hissed. "Make him self-destruct or something! I want him dead!"  
  
"He could be useful to us, Diamonique," Seductia told her former trainer calmly. "We now have three powerful Clan of Chloe fighters on our side. Do you really want me to kill off someone who would be useful just because he knocked you out for a bit? You've suffered no permanent damage."  
  
Diamonique was about to snap at Seductia, but then thankfully, logic set in, and she was forced to see that Seductia was right. "Oh, fine; the Astorie can live for now. At least make him get Tayla or something."  
  
"Now that I will do," Seductia purred. She leaned over and whispered into Raakon's ear in a caressing tone, "What is your name, darling?"  
  
"Prince Raakon Chloe, my sweet dream!"  
  
"Raakon, darling, I want you to recapture Princess Tayla immediately."  
  
"Whatever you say, my sugar-love!"  
  
Tayla knew then that she had to flee. Even she didn't stand much of a chance against three powerful Elite officers and a possessed brother who had received his Awakening long before she had been born.  
Tayla had to decide quickly as to what she would do. Should she try to flee upstairs or downstairs? Upstairs, she could sense her Nama's ki, but she could also sense the ki signatures of Bajal and Dirkan. She could also sense Gorna's ki, and a strange powerful ki that was unfamiliar to her. Downstairs, she might have some help, but she could not sense any ki signatures of her family or friends at the moment-at least no one who was above the labyrinths.  
  
She decided then to take her chances upstairs. Nama and Gorna might need her help.   
  
She quickly used a ki blast to blow a hole through the ceiling, and she soared up into it before Zarbon or Raakon could grab her.  
  
"After her!" Zarbon ordered the other three, and Seductia sent Raakon up the hole after Tayla.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the rooftop of the castle…  
  
Gorna and Captain Ginyu were facing off against each other with punches and kicks. Ginyu had thought about switching bodies with her, but he had already decided that he did not want to be trapped in the body of an ugly woman like Gorna Chloe. Plus, being in a woman's body would ruin his sex life, what little sex life that Ginyu had.  
  
Ginyu socked Gorna hard in her right cheek, but Gorna managed to stab Ginyu's thigh with her sword. Ginyu then used his horns to ram Gorna, and she fell backwards, with her sword pulling out of Ginyu's injured thigh. While she was stumbling, Ginyu fired a minor ki blast at her hand, forcing her sword out of her fist. Before Gorna could retrieve her sword, Ginyu rammed her again, this time with one of his horns stabbing Gorna's broad shoulder. Gorna screamed out in pain, as aqua blood burst forth from his shoulder, spraying Ginyu's face.   
  
Ginyu was now showing no mercy, especially after Gorna had called him the "worst dancer that she had ever seen" and claiming that she had seen small children with more grace and style. Ginyu didn't like having anyone insult his poses, whether friend or foe.  
  
The body-changing captain then fired a powerful ki blast at Gorna, a blast powerful enough to knock her off of her large feet, shoving her into the wall of a castle turret. Gorna cried out, as her body crashed into the turret, and the wall of the turret suddenly collapsed around her. Dust and debris and rocks and bricks rained down upon the hapless Astorian princess. Before Gorna could escape, a giant brick hit her on her head, knocking her out. She fell into blackness, unconscious, knowing no more. Her eyes fell shut, and her head slumped over.  
  
"Sweet dreams!" Ginyu shouted at her. He did his elaborate Dance of Victory, twirling and pirouetting like a prima ballerina. His ridiculous victory dance also included walking upside down onto his hands and using his hands to dance along the stones of the roof. While he was dancing, he was debating as to whether to finish Gorna off once and for all while she was helpless. Before he could decide, however, a huge ki blast shot out through the roof behind him, and Shalila Chloe emerged, followed by Dirkan and Bajal in hot pursuit.  
  
"Come back here!" Dirkan growled at her. "My sweet Seductia insists that I kill you to please her, and that's what I'm going to do! Stop!"  
  
"That's right! Seductia wants us to kill you! Now stop, so that we can please our ladylove!" Bajal ordered his grandmother.   
  
Once all three of them were on the rooftop, Dirkan and Shalila began to swordfight, with Dirkan trying to stab Shalila every chance that he had. Shalila leapt up and down and back-flipped repeatedly in order to prevent Dirkan from stabbing her. She was thankful that she knew all of Dirkan's moves, but while that knowledge helped, it did not help to know that Dirkan had always been as fast with a sword as she was. She and Dirkan were evenly matched when it came to sword fighting.  
  
Shalila back-flipped again away from her persistent opponent/husband, and her small body crashed into Ginyu, who was annoyed at having his long Dance of Victory interrupted. "Hey!" he growled. "You two take that somewhere else! I just won a battle 'gainst some Astorie woman, and I'm celebratin'! Go away!"  
  
Shalila paled, as she ducked away from Ginyu, and she hoped that whichever "Astorie woman" was involved was not dead. She paled worse than ever when she felt the faint signal of Gorna's ki.  
  
*Sweet Kami* she thought. *Gorna, I hope that you are okay. Hang on; don't give up. *  
  
Dirkan then roared, "I'm through playing with you, Shalila Chloe! I'm going to blast you into oblivion! Seductia will be obeyed!" And with that, he fired up for his Tri-Force attack to aim at his wife.  
  
"TRI-FORCE!" he cried out, aiming the deadly attack in Shalila's direction.  
  
Shalila's eyes widened in genuine fear, for although she could have dodged Dirkan's Tri-Force attack, Dirkan could also telekinetically maneuver that particular ki attack in any direction he wanted, as long as the ki blast did not hit a target. Dirkan could have his Tri-Force attack chase her about indefinitely, and the Superior Gran took a quick glance in Ginyu's direction.  
  
Perhaps Dirkan could still help her after all, although he didn't know it yet.  
  
She flew in the air towards a puzzled Ginyu, as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack changed directions in order to chase her. She then leapt at the dismayed captain and seized him by both shoulders. In a move similar to one used in leapfrog, she flipped over Ginyu's shoulders, as if she were an experienced gymnast on a vault. She landed gracefully onto the ground, but then she flipped again off of the roof and over the castle wall.  
  
Having no chance to escape, Ginyu screamed as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack shot at him and smashed into his body. The ki blast shoved Ginyu backwards off of the rooftop and into the air. Ginyu felt his body burning and charring, as the Tri-Force attack sent him soaring through the air and crashing into a chalky cliff near the castle.   
  
Ginyu's roasted body slid down the white, dusty side of the cliff until it fell into a stream filled with rapids. He fell against two of the rapids, and his head hit one of the rapids while his back crashed against another. Ginyu fell unconscious, as his body toppled off of the first two rapids that he had fallen onto and into the rushing water of the stream.  
  
His body continued to ride against the speedy currents of the rapid filled stream until it finally washed upon the banks beneath the same cliff where Dirkan had sent the body-changing captain to his near-demise. Ginyu was now barely alive and out of the war. He lay facedown upon the muddy banks and did not emit so much as a groan.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the castle, Shalila was now hovering near an open window, hoping that Dirkan and Bajal would not find her for a few minutes. Through the window, she cried out when she saw Raakon pouncing upon Tayla before Tayla was able to escape to the next floor above.   
  
Shalila noticed the red sphere in Raakon's neck from afar, and she realized that he was now also under Seductia's spell. Raakon had seized Tayla by her left wrist, and he was trying to grab her right one. Tayla kept moving and struggling away from Raakon to keep him from grabbing her free wrist.  
  
Shalila wasted no time in breaking the window open with her swift foot and dashing inside after Raakon. Tayla was now kicking at Raakon's legs to make him free her.  
  
"Let me go, Raakon; you don't know what you're doing!" Tayla cried out.  
  
"Let her GO!" Shalila ordered her possessed grandson, as she flipped through the room several times and then flew into the air. She landed a punch onto Raakon's ear, and a surprised Raakon quickly released Tayla.  
  
Raakon merely fell backwards, but he made no effort to attack Shalila, since Seductia had not ordered him to do so. He just tried to steady himself, and when he did, he made another attempt to pursue Tayla and capture her for Seductia.  
  
Shalila then flew at Raakon and punched him hard in the back of his head. Raakon fell to the floor facedown; Shalila was sorry that she had to hit him, but she had no choice now but to knock him out.   
  
When Raakon's body hit the floor, his head fell to one side, and Shalila quickly looked him over, making sure that she had done him no permanent damage. She hadn't, so she just let him lay there for now. Raakon was now unconscious, along with Gorna and Ginyu.  
  
A shaky Tayla dashed into her Nama's open arms, and Shalila pulled her close into a tight embrace. Tayla trembled and shook while she tried not to cry too much, as her grandmother checked her over, feeling her for broken bones or sore areas. Tayla had no broken bones, although Shalila was sure that she had plenty of bruises.   
  
Finally, Tayla reluctantly looked up at her grandmother, and Shalila cried out when she saw Tayla's scarred face. Trying to remain calm, she drew her finger lightly along Tayla's bloody, jagged scar. "Who did this to you, child?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"Di-Diamonique," Tayla whispered hoarsely. "She slapped and clawed me twice when I refused to speak to her. I thought that she was going to rip my whole face apart. I was tied up, Nama, and I couldn't stop her."  
  
Shalila kissed Tayla's forehead fiercely, trying to keep her anger at this unmet Diamonique under control. When Tayla further told her grandmother about Diamonique's hideous words, Shalila wanted to break the Gemstarian beauty's neck. She and Tayla found a bathroom, where Shalila wetted a washcloth and began to clean Tayla's face.  
  
"She'll pay for this, dandelion, I promise you Seven Moons Oath," Shalila vowed, as she tenderly tended to Tayla's facial wounds. "And don't worry about this scar, dandelion, for it will not last forever. In fact, I have a few little friends here in my pocket that will make that nasty mark fade away into nothing."  
  
"Caline's roses," Tayla whispered.  
  
Shalila smiled, as she sat on a vanity stool, having Tayla stand up. The Superior Gran pulled out the head of a blue Calmagian rose from her pocket, and she tore off several of its petals. She lightly dabbed the oily rose petals along Tayla's scar, and within ten minutes, Tayla's scar began to fade away, and within twenty minutes, she had a perfectly smooth face again with no scars or marks whatsoever.  
  
"Thank you, Nama," she whispered.  
  
"Thank Caline and her roses," Shalila said softly, standing up. She and Tayla embraced each other again, as if they never wanted to let each other go again.  
  
"I was afraid that you had turned yourself in to Frieza for real," Tayla confessed tearfully. A few salty drops slid down her now perfectly smooth face.  
  
Shalila smiled, drying Tayla's tears away with her thumb. "Now you know better than that, dandelion, although the others thought for a while that was what I was doing as well. I am so glad that you are safe, my dear. You know that I would never abandon you, no matter what."  
  
"I-I know, Nama. Nama will you promise me something else?"  
  
"What would you like, my dear?"  
  
"Promise me Seven Moons Oath that you'll live forever."  
  
Shalila laughed softly. "Tayla, you know that no one can make that sort of a promise."  
  
"Okay, well at least promise that you'll live long enough for me to become a Great-Nama."  
  
Shalila laughed again. "How about until you are just a Nama? That I can realistically promise, child; you know that I am not that far away from being a hundred years old."  
  
"That I can agree to," Tayla told her, and Shalila made her promise to her.  
  
Shalila then became somber, as she drew Tayla onto her lap. She then whispered into her granddaughter's ear, as Tayla settled herself down onto Shalila's lap, "Maybe I can keep that first promise to you after all, dandelion."  
  
"How? Do you know someone that can grant you immortality?"  
  
Shalila chuckled. "I wish, my dear. No, I don't, and I won't live forever in this dimension, but I can live forever in your heart if not in this life. You've had some training in sorcery while at Kami Orchida's, right?"  
  
"Yes, Nama."  
  
"And anyone who's had sorcery lessons knows that just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So this is what I can do: if you will swear Seven Moons to keep me in your heart forever, then I'll swear Seven Moons to stay with you forever, even after I pass on to the next dimension. How does that sound?"  
  
"I can do that," Tayla said solemnly.  
  
Shalila kissed her forehead again, and they both made their vows.   
  
Just as they were about to rise again, they felt the haunting ki signatures of two men that they had once been able to trust and rely on, but now had to avoid.  
  
"Dirkan and Bajal are here," Tayla whispered in fear. "They are in the same room now as Raakon."  
  
Shalila reached for her sword and pulled Tayla behind her. "Tayla, get ready."  
  
Tayla nodded quickly. She did not relish having to fight against her brother and beloved guardian, but she was wise enough to know that she had no choice. Survival and freedom took place over past loyalties. 


	94. Turn For The Worst

A/N: Chestra chapter should be coming this week...I hope.  
  
Until then...another Tayla chapter! =)  
  
  
Chapter Ninety-Four: Turn For The Worst  
  
At the same time in the ballroom downstairs…  
  
Chaos had broken throughout the ballroom, with the Astorians and the CRP officers now fighting the Ginyu Force and Dodoria on the surface in the large room. Dodoria had managed to kill two of the CRP officers with his mouth blasts, but when he had tried to kill Lieutenant Balboun, Cletos had jumped in front of Balboun and deflected Dodoria's attack back onto the fat warrior. A furious Dodoria was now trying to kill Cletos, but Cletos now had Lektron and Gracina helping him.   
  
Unfortunately the three well-intentioned Astorian fighters did not hold up against Dodoria for long, for Dodoria had managed to slam his fist into Gracina's face before anyone could prevent it. He had hit Gracina so hard that Gracina was now disoriented, and her next fighting moves were now clumsy and weak. Gracina had used her Fireworks Ball on Dodoria, but Dodoria dodged her attack, and while the dazed Princess of Chloe was trying to regain her wits, Dodoria shot her with a hand blast that sent her crashing into a wall. Gracina was not even able to stand up now, and she passed out.  
  
A furious Lektron charged after Dodoria with his sword, but Dodoria kept firing small, but powerful hand blasts at him that kept Lektron at bay. Cletos tried to attack Dodoria from behind, but Dodoria heard him coming, and the corpulent minion of Frieza's swiftly turned around and belted Cletos hard in his jaw, knocking him to the ground.  
  
Cletos had hit his head on the solid marble floor, and he was now as disoriented as Gracina had been before she was defeated. Dodoria forgot about Lektron for the moment, and he stood over the stunned Astorian prince and grinned. Cletos had broken his leg when he had fallen, and he tried unsuccessfully to rise. He finally collapsed onto the floor once more.  
  
"How would you like to be cooked, Astorie? Baked, roasted, or fried?" Dodoria asked menacingly. Cletos only moaned as Dodoria opened his mouth to fire a powerful mouth blast that would charbroil him.  
  
But before Dodoria could blast Cletos to the next dimension, Lektron flew up behind Dodoria and slammed his fist in the back of Dodoria's head. Dodoria whipped around, distracted from Cletos, who was now being carried away by Arlon. Dodoria and Lektron began to fight each other fiercely, punching, kicking and chopping at each other every chance that they got. Lektron was now considerably stronger than Gracina or Cletos, and he still managed to hold his own against the fat, pink fighter. He was thankful that he too, like Raakon, had received his Awakening during the Battle of Chloe.  
  
While Lektron was battling Dodoria, Lukan and Jeice were fighting each other, with Lukan deflecting several of Jeice's Red Comet Attacks right onto him. Julien and Filcor Sedemeyer were chasing down a badly wounded Guido, who had just lost a nasty battle with Rojal and Dedron. Dedron was now fighting against Baata with Rojal's help, but the two boys were barely holding their own with the large, blue Ginyu Force member.   
  
Reccoom had just killed a CRP officer before Arlon could stop him, and Reccoom was now fighting Arlon and winning. Arlon wasn't sure how much longer he could last against the tough Frankenstein-like fighter. Reccoom was mercilessly pounding and punching at Arlon, and Arlon could barely block his punches. Steak then joined the fight to help Arlon, but he wasn't faring much better against Reccoom than Arlon was. Alora was on her way to help.  
  
With the melee going on, Ridikar's main concern now was Tayla; he had just escaped one of Dodoria's mouth blasts, and he was now slipping through the door exiting the ballroom in order to go find his intended. Now that he could fly, Ridikar could move much faster up the stairs, deciding that flying upstairs would be safer than taking the elevators.  
  
*I'm coming, Tayla *, Ridikar thought. *I'm coming to save you; don't worry. I won't let them take you away. *  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Just as Ridikar was reaching the fourth floor, he saw a giant ki blast burst through the ceiling and crash down in front of him. Ridikar nearly shrieked, falling back, where he bumped into-Bendros?  
  
"Bendros?" Ridikar asked, gasping. "What ha-happened, and what are you doing here?"  
"I'm coming with you," Bendros told Ridikar firmly. "I've heard that Zarbon and Diamonique are upstairs, and Dirkan and Bajal are under that Seductia's spell. You're going to need some help, and Tayla needs both of us."  
  
Ridikar didn't really want Bendros coming along; he suspected that Tayla had feelings for Bendros, and that idea didn't sit well with the Calmagian heir to the throne. He didn't like that Bendros had proven to be stronger than him either. Ridikar knew that he needed Bendros's help, but how was he supposed to prove himself to Tayla, if someone stole the glory and heroism that was meant to be his? Ridikar still had a lot of his pride left, and he wanted to be Tayla's hero.  
  
"I'll be okay, really," Ridikar tried to convince Bendros as confidently as possible.   
"Your family needs you right now more than I do. I can go save Tayla."  
  
"Ridikar, do you how dangerous Zarbon and Diamonique are said to be?" Bendros asked incredulously. "Even Superior Granden Dirkan and Superior Gran Shalila had a hard time defeating Zarbon, and Diamonique can turn people into diamonds. We need to work together. I know that you want to help Tayla, and so do I. Not even I could take those two on alone, and Seductia had Dirkan and Bajal under her spell."  
  
Ridikar was not happy to have to share rescuing Tayla with Bendros, whom he pegged as a rival, but thankfully common sense took over, and he grudgingly agreed. He just had a question to ask Bendros before they left:  
  
"What are your feelings towards Tayla?"  
  
Bendros grew uncomfortable. "What do you mean?"  
  
Ridikar decided not to beat around the bush any longer. "I mean, how do you like her? Do you like her as a potential mate, or like a little sister, or just a good friend?"  
  
"Ridikar, now is not the time…" Bendros said, trying to delay him.  
"I want to know!" Ridikar suddenly cried out in anguish. "Are you a potential rival for her affections? I saw how she looked at you last night! I have a bad feeling that she-she's in-in love with you! If you think of her the same way, I'm not going to have a chance, even if I am to rule Calmag! I have the right to know-are you a threat?"  
  
Bendros suddenly pitied the Calmagian prince. "You really do care for Tayla, don't you?" he asked softly.  
  
"Yes, I do!" Ridikar couldn't restrain himself from shouting. "I love her! And it's not right for you to come along, just when I'm finally starting to get her to like me again! She'll surely pick you over me 'cause you're stronger and braver than I am! And you didn't try to force her like I did! Just when I thought I was getting back into her heart, you have to come along! Why? I'm sure there are plenty of girls among your own people that you could have! Why her? Why?"  
  
"Ridikar…"  
  
"I want to know!"  
  
Bendros sighed. He finally decided to tell him the truth. "Ridikar…I know that it's going to hurt when I tell you this, but Tayla has had a crush on me since she was a child, just barely eight years old. I don't know whether she's told you that before or not. When I first met her at that age, I liked her immediately, but it was as an older brother loving a little sister."  
  
"I've suspected for years that she had a crush on me, but my suspicions weren't confirmed until she saw me kissing another girl close to my age a year ago. It took me a few days to find out the reason for her tears when she had seen me do that, and it was Superior Granden Dirkan himself who finally told me the truth about Tayla's affection for me. I was flattered, very flattered, but I didn't take her that seriously at the time because she had just turned eleven. Her affection for me must have been stronger than I thought because she avoided me whenever possible the entire time I was seeing that girl that she had caught me kissing. That time period was six months, and the girl that I had been seeing had been one that I thought that I would marry. Unfortunately, she eventually left me for another man, and I have not had another serious sweetheart since. Tayla and I just rekindled our friendship again, and it's remained fairly strong, and I hope that it will be so."  
  
"Are you in love with her?" Ridikar wanted to know.  
  
Bendros sighed again. "Ridikar…do you want the truth?"  
  
"Hell yes! I want to know what are my chances with Tayla are, if you want her as well!"  
  
Bendros emitted another long sigh. "Ridikar, I'm not going to lie to you. I care very much for her, and I want to see her happy, no matter whom she chooses. There's something else that I need to say: Ridikar, I did not like you for a very long time because you had tried to rape Tayla those weeks ago. When I first found out about it, like her family, I wanted to tear you apart. I am still somewhat wary about you, but I am beginning to believe that you are doing everything that you can to redeem yourself. I suspect that you did it mostly for Tayla, but there is nothing wrong with that part."  
  
"Ridikar, I agree with Tayla's family that Tayla is not ready to marry anyone, let alone you. She's only twelve, not really old enough for courting. I understand that you are becoming a better person, but the Superior Gran and Granden are still uncomfortable with you seeing Tayla. They would have preferred it, if you two had just broken things off completely. I understand how you feel about Tayla, and I believe that your feelings are genuine, but I also agree with her grandmother and guardian that you two do not need to be seeing each other in that way right now."  
  
"Tayla, like I said, is only twelve. She's grown up a lot since she's come here, but I think that she doesn't completely know yet what she wants in a suitor. Her heart, I think, is confused, and if you try to put the pressure on her, it will not help her any-"  
  
"Stop with the long speech!" Ridikar cried. He sighed, "Look, I'm sorry to be shouting, but you keep avoiding my question: are you in love with Tayla or not?"  
  
The future Granden of Sahara thought about Ridikar's question for a few minutes. He then reflected back on how it had been Tayla who had been able to reach him in Oozaru form. Tayla had been willing to risk being devoured by him before she would allow herself or anyone else to harm him. It had been because of her trust that Bendros had been able to finally recognize Tayla when he had been in Oozaru form. It had been because of her that he had been able to gain control of himself in Oozaru form. She was only twelve years old, and yet she was one of the bravest females that the Sastorian warrior had ever met or known. She was mature beyond her years despite her occasional bouts of temper (which could sometimes be funny to watch and listen to) and an extremely good heart, a kind heart. Thinking on these things, Bendros chose his words carefully, to ease the blow on the Calmagian prince. Finally, he said, "Yes."  
  
Ridikar's face drained of color. "No," he whispered.  
  
"But," Bendros continued. "She is only twelve, and I will wait a few years for her to grow up. However, if she truly cares for you, Ridikar, in the way that you want her to, then I will not stand in the way. It is her happiness that I want, and if you make her happy, then I will be satisfied and move on. If your feelings for each other are still mutual, I will do everything that I can to see that you two can be together in peace and happiness-when she's older, that is. She doesn't need to be marrying you at age twelve; if you two are truly meant to be, then you both can wait."  
  
Ridikar was stunned speechless; he never expected his rival for Tayla's affections to say what he had just said. He knew personally that he couldn't have been that generous. No wonder Tayla liked him. The young prince knew that he could give Tayla everything if Calmag was still left standing, but could he give her happiness?  
  
"If…you…mean…what you say…do you think that I could ever make her happy?" Ridikar asked hesitantly.  
  
Bendros was thoughtful, and then he gave Ridikar a quick, encouraging smile. "You seem to be on your way to doing so," he told him honestly.  
  
"Th-thanks," Ridikar stammered.  
  
"Now let's go find Tayla before it's-" Bendros began, but he was interrupted by a silvery ki blast flying through the air behind him. Bendros just barely managed to dodge it.  
  
A second similar ki blast flew down from above-right at Ridikar! Ridikar's eyes widened as he saw the ki blast coming. Bendros then threw himself at Ridikar and shoved him out of the way of the ki blast. Both young men fell to the ground, as the ki blast hit a stone statue of the Queen Kildara of Calmag in the hallway and-turned it into diamond form.  
  
"Diamonique," Bendros whispered.  
  
"You saved my life," Ridikar gasped. "Thanks." Sweat was pearling on his wide brow, as he lay under Bendros.   
  
"Don't thank me yet," Bendros told him. "It's not over yet."  
  
Before Bendros could help Ridikar to his feet, they heard a sickening sweet womanly laughter that also was scraping and harsh at the same time. Then they heard another feminine laugh that was also cloying, but without the nails-on-a-chalkboard screeching tone.  
  
When Bendros and Ridikar looked up, they saw Seductia standing near them with a woman with silvery-blue hair, peaches-and-blueberries skin and black gem eyes. Both young men than briefly remembered Tayla's description of Diamonique, and they knew immediately that this second female was the deadly beauty who could turn people into diamond statues.  
  
"Hello, gentlemen," Diamonique told them sweetly. "I don't believe we've met. I am Lady Diamonique of the Diamondian Tribe of planet Gemstar. Let me guess: you two little boys are here to rescue Tayla, am I correct?"  
  
"Where is she?" Bendros demanded to know.  
  
"You and that wench beside you better not have harmed her!" Ridikar growled.  
  
Diamonique laughed contemptuously, and her laughter strained the eardrums of both young men. "Oh, she's still alive, don't worry. However, I have left a nice disfiguring mark on her little face; that's what she got for ignoring me. I would rather kill her myself, but Lord Frieza would never allow it. If you both are panting after her, and I suspect that you two are, you both have poor taste in females. I can understand that young men must satisfy their sexual appetites, but I'm sure two handsome boys can do much better than a scrawny, big-eyed girl with a chest flatter than a sheet of paper! If either of you two ever tried to bed her, it would be like sleeping with a toothpick!"  
  
"Really?" Bendros asked her calmly, although he was bristling at her insults about Tayla. "Well, how many toothpicks can say that they almost killed you?"  
  
Diamonique growled. She clenched her fists, as Ridikar also took up Tayla's defense. He said edgily, "How dare you say those things about Tayla? She's everything that you're not-kind, loving, and loyal! All you want to do is hurt people; she wants to help them! You take back those things that you said about her!"  
  
Diamonique turned up her tiny nose and emitted an unladylike snort. She turned to Seductia and said, "Seductia, take care of these impertinent, disrespectful young men for me!"  
  
Seductia smiled wickedly. "With pleasure, Commander." She then created one of her red ki balls and threw one at Bendros, whom she had already become attracted to. Bendros threw a small ki ball that crashed into hers, and his attack decimated Seductia's ki ball. Seductia tried to throw a second ki ball at Bendros, but Bendros destroyed that one as well.  
  
"Ridikar," Bendros told him. "I am going to hold them off; you get out of here and find Tayla!"  
  
"Are you sure that you're going to be able to handle those two?" Ridikar asked him shakily.  
  
"One of us has to," Bendros replied. "Go! Now!"  
  
Ridikar took one last look at the two dangerous women, and finally he flew upstairs through the hole in the basement that one of the ki blasts had created.  
  
Seductia then threw some more of her red ki packets at Bendros, but the Sastorian warrior either destroyed or dodged every one. Finally a furious Seductia's face purpled, as she brought her palm to her lips and blew Bendros a kiss.  
  
"My Kiss of Death attack should take care of him," she whispered.  
  
The kiss was visible, a ki blast in the shape of a pair of huge, smacking lips that flew straight at Bendros. Bendros threw himself out of the way of that attack, and Seductia's Kiss of Death Attack crashed into a painting of Prince Amitar on the wall behind Bendros. When the attack hit the painting, the entire painting, paint, canvas, frame and all melted quickly into one huge, colorful glob of gook. The melted painting slid to the floor, while the wall behind the painting collapsed, as it melted away. Within minutes, much of that wall was gone, melted away, as steam rose from the remains. Needless to say, the Sastorian warrior was horrified. His Saiyan tail trembled, and his knees shook, as he surveyed the damage that Seductia's little attack had caused.  
  
As worried as he was though, Bendros knew that he had to destroy Seductia once and for all. Knowing what he knew and seen of her, she was likely to bewitch him and all of the Astorian and Calmagian men to make them work for her.  
  
Bendros rose to his feet, clutching his sword. "I've seen what you can do, Seductia," he said coolly. "Now it's time for you to see what I can do."  
  
But before Bendros could act, another ki blast fell through the ceiling, and Shalila, holding Tayla's hand, jumped down through the hole, accompanied by her granddaughter. They would have fled to the next floor above instead of down, but Dirkan and Bajal, who were now jumping down behind them, had prevented them from doing so. Every time that the two Astorian females had tried to flee upstairs, both possessed men would block their paths. Now Dirkan and Bajal landed next to Seductia.  
  
"Where is Raakon?" Seductia demanded to know, as Tayla and Shalila went to join Bendros in his standoff against Diamonique and her former protégé.   
  
"Raakon is sleeping, my queen of the sunset," Dirkan replied.  
  
"Would you like us to rouse him, my honey lover?" Bajal asked.  
  
Seductia hissed, "Not now! Just both of you kill Shalila Chloe and that handsome, yet annoying young man with a tail!"  
  
"Yes, my mauve-haired goddess of the loveliest twinkling stars!" Dirkan gushed.  
  
"Anything to please you, my dab of pink pearl cream!" Bajal enthused.  
  
"Get ready," Shalila ordered both Bendros and Tayla.  
  
"Right!" they both told her.  
  
Dirkan and Bajal flew at the three fighters, and Shalila quickly confronted Dirkan, who wasted no time in punching her in her face. Bajal started off his fight against Bendros by punching Bendros in his stomach. Tayla debated whether to go to her grandmother first or to Bendros, but then she quickly decided on Shalila when Dirkan caught his wife in a stranglehold. His large emerald hands were wrapped tightly around Shalila's throat, choking her. Shalila kicked and batted at him in order to prevent him from cutting off her air, but it was to no avail.   
  
"No!" Tayla screamed. "Let her go!"  
  
She ran around them until she was behind Dirkan, and she jumped into the air. When she came down again, her feet rammed into Dirkan's kidneys, and the stunned Namek screamed in pain. He was forced to free Shalila's neck, and a woozy Shalila backed away quickly, as Dirkan swiftly turned around to confront his ward.   
  
With a look of pure fury, he began to take his anger out on Tayla, landing a giant fist into her eye before Tayla could dodge it. Tayla turned her face away, crying out, as Dirkan punched her in her jaw. She was forced to fight him back in order to save herself, and she kneed him in his crotch.   
  
Dirkan then seized Tayla by her hair, just as Shalila attacked him from behind, landing a hard kick to his lower back. Dirkan screamed again in pain, but he did not release Tayla's hair. Instead, he turned around and punched Shalila hard in her face. Shalila fell back, and as she did, Bajal, who escaped from one of Bendros's punches, came up behind her and smashed his ham-sized fist into the back of her red head. Before his grandmother could react, Bajal hit her hard again, and this time, Shalila fell facedown into the hallway floor. Her head turned to the side, her gray eyes closed, and she slipped into unconsciousness, as she lay on her stomach.   
  
"Nama!" Tayla screamed, as the tears flew from her brown eyes. "No, not Nama! Nama!"  
  
"Superior Gran!" Bendros cried out.  
  
Tayla kicked and punched at Dirkan to force him to release her, but Dirkan socked her in her stomach, as he held her hair. She then used her free fist to try to punch Dirkan in his face, but Dirkan blocked her attack and grabbed her wrist.  
  
"Let her go!" Bendros commanded, rushing at Dirkan. He would have reached the Namek warrior, had not Bajal unexpectedly blocked his path. Bajal began to land a series of swift, hard kicks and punches, and Bendros was once again forced to fight his uncle-by-marriage.   
  
Seductia ordered, "Dirkan, darling-love, capture Tayla Chloe!"  
  
"Yes, my precious strawberry!" The Namek managed to look at his mistress briefly before turning his full attention on Tayla again.  
  
"Seize her by her other wrist! I've heard that Astories are weakened if both their wrists are restrained! Capture her once and for all, my handsome green hunk!"  
  
"You can count on me, my rose-haired fairy princess!"  
  
Diamonique smiled cruelly. "I am loving this!" she declared. "Those three are getting defeated, and we didn't even have to get ourselves dirty! You truly are a genius, Seductia."  
  
"Why thank you, Commander. You are wonderful yourself."  
  
"I know! Thank you for reaffirming that!"  
  
While Bajal and Bendros were fighting, Tayla was struggling with Dirkan, trying to prevent him from grabbing her other wrist. Dirkan freed Tayla's hair finally after Tayla had hit him in his chest, but it was only so that he could try to grab her other wrist. Tayla kept moving her free wrist, which was her right one, around, so that Dirkan could not seize it.  
She then heard a voice, familiar and masculine echo from above:  
  
"Hey greenie! You want to bully someone, come after me!"  
  
Both Dirkan and Tayla turned around to find that Ridikar had jumped down from the same hole that Shalila and Tayla had escaped through earlier. Ridikar's feet landed on the floor, and before Seductia or Diamonique could intervene, Ridikar ran towards Dirkan and Tayla. Dirkan responded to Ridikar's brave action by firing his eye lasers at him, with the lasers just barely missing Tayla. Ridikar just barely dodged the rapidly firing lasers, as he danced around them.   
Tayla knew that she had to do something quickly. Using her life force as a backup source once more, she summoned all of her strength, drew her right foot back and kicked it high enough to land into Dirkan's crotch. The kick was hard enough to cause Dirkan severe pain, and he was finally forced to release his captive. Tayla wasted no time in escaping him.  
  
"After her! Recapture her!" Seductia ordered.  
  
"It's as good as done, my sweet cherry!" And Dirkan hurried after Tayla to follow Seductia's orders, but Ridikar blocked his path.  
  
"You'll have to get past me, if you want her," Ridikar told Dirkan as bravely as possible.  
  
Dirkan responded to that challenge by punching Ridikar hard in his face. Ridikar fell back, as Dirkan slammed his entire weight into Ridikar's body. Ridikar nearly toppled over, but he then foolishly tried to come after the Namek again. He quickly realized his mistake when Dirkan landed two more blows on him. He shoved Ridikar to the ground and kicked the boy hard in his stomach before Ridikar could rise. Tayla saw Dirkan attacking her suitor, and then she looked over to where Bendros and Bajal were fighting, as she ran back to help Ridikar.   
  
The fight between Bendros and Bajal was evenly matched, and both men were able to match each other blow for blow and kick for kick. It might have remained that way, if Bajal had not suddenly seized Bendros's tail. Bendros screamed out in extreme pain, as he fell to his knees.   
  
"LET ME GO!" he cried out in terror, as Bajal squeezed his tail harder. He then cruelly twisted Bendros's tail around his fist. Bendros beat his fists at Bajal, but he was in too much pain to put up a fight.  
  
"LET HIM GO!" Tayla screamed at Bajal, but Bajal ignored her. She was unsure as to what to do: go to Dirkan, who was beating Ridikar to death, or go to Bendros, who would surely go insane from the pain that Bajal was inflicting on him. Tayla had heard of insanity resulting from such prolonged tail squeezing, and that insanity usually drove the victims to suicide.  
  
But if she went to Bendros first, Dirkan could easily kill Ridikar within seconds. Her guardian could destroy Ridikar with one ki blast. Neither male could hold his own at the moment, so what was she to do?  
  
Finally, Tayla took a deep breath, as the tears dangled on her lashes. She then looked over at Bajal and whispered, "Bajal, I'm sorry for what I have to do, please forgive me."  
  
And with the tears streaming down her cheeks, Tayla fired a medium-sized ki blast at Bajal's head. The bolt of lavender light from her hands zipped through the air and shot Bajal in the back of his head. Tayla prayed that it wouldn't be enough to kill her brother, only cripple him.  
  
And it worked! Bajal opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out, as he slowly released Bendros's tail and fell down to the side. His eyes shut closed, and he too was now unconscious. Bendros was gasping for air, tears of relief flowing down his cheeks.  
A relieved Tayla wanted to go comfort him, but Ridikar needed her right now. She then fired a similar ki blast at Dirkan's head, but Dirkan saw it coming and dodged it. He fired his eye lasers at Tayla, and while his attention was focused on her, Ridikar quickly began to crawl away from his attacker. Dirkan noticed Ridikar trying to escape, and he tried to grab the boy. He would have succeeded, had Tayla not fired a smaller ki blast at Dirkan's hand, piercing a smoking hole in the back of Dirkan's green hand. Ridikar scurried to his feet and scuttled away to Tayla.  
  
"Thanks," he whispered gruffly. "I really appreciate that-"  
  
He did not get to finish his sentence, for at that moment Diamonique's feet kicked him away from Tayla. Her feet crashed into his stomach, and then Ridikar fell to the ground backwards.   
  
Tayla realized to her horror that she had not noticed Diamonique's ki coming near her in time, and this mistake would prove to be costly. Before she could help Ridikar, Diamonique suddenly seized Tayla from behind and wrapped her left arm around the girl's waist. Using her right hand, she then placed the sharpest of her deadly nails at Tayla's throat. Tayla gasped.  
  
A recovering Bendros wasted no time in flying over to Tayla's aid, but Dirkan came up from behind the Sastorian fighter, and he seized Bendros by his tail. Bendros screamed in terror as pain, as he was once again forced to his knees. Dirkan kicked him in his kidneys with one foot, as he continued to squeeze and twist Bendros's tail harder.  
  
"Listen, little girl," Diamonique said frostily. "I know that the poison in my nails cannot kill you because you are Astorian, but I can cut your throat with my nails within two seconds. If you want yourself and your family members here to live, I suggest that you surrender now. If not, I will have Seductia order Dirkan and Bajal to kill themselves, and we can easily destroy your unconscious granny and your two boyfriends. All Seductia has to do is bewitch them with her Fatal Attraction Attack, you know that attack involving those cute little red balls she throws? Then she can order them to kill themselves as well. Or I can turn them into diamond statues. And if I decide to kill you, then there will be no chance for them."  
  
The color drained from Tayla's face. What was she going to do now?  
  
"You're not a stupid girl, Princess Tayla. Even a stubborn Astorie brat like you knows when to admit defeat. What's your choice?"  
  
Tayla's brown eyes clouded with tears, as she saw the suffering of her friends and family members. She saw her beloved Nama lying on the floor, unaware that Tayla was once again a captive. She saw her Namek guardian squeezing the tail of a pain-ridden Bendros, and she saw Ridikar lying on the ground. The tears flowed freely down her face, as she whispered, deeply ashamed:  
  
"You win this one. I surrender." 


	95. Face Off Against Diamonique

Chapter Ninety-Five: Face-Off Against Diamonique  
  
Diamonique purred, "Good, it's about time you gave up, brat. Lord Frieza will be most pleased."  
  
Tayla hung her dark head down in defeat, more ashamed of herself than ever. What would Nama and Dirkan think if they knew that she was giving up like this? Would they understand? Tayla looked back at Dirkan squeezing Bendros's tail.  
  
"Make him stop hurting Bendros!" she ordered Diamonique. "You have me now, so there's no more need to hurt anyone else!"  
  
Diamonique said in a bored tone, "Oh, very well, I suppose I can grant this petty request. Seductia, order Dirkan to release the monkey boy."  
  
Seductia cooed to Dirkan, "Dirkan, my handsome green darling, you can release the man with the monkey's tail now."  
  
"Yes, my precious starlight mint!" And Dirkan released Bendros, and the shaken Sastorian warrior fell further to the ground, tears streaming down his chiseled cheeks. He looked worriedly at Tayla, and Tayla looked back at him with the tears and shame in her dark eyes. She then looked down, as the tears continued to flow.  
  
"Tayla, no," Bendros whispered.  
  
"She did it for you and that little weakling nearby," Diamonique said silkily. "You should be thankful that she surrendered just now, for I would have then had Seductia order Dirkan to kill you and that Calmagian brat. Then I would have had her order Dirkan and that big Astorian to kill themselves. Young love is so touching, don't you think?"  
  
She kept her sharp nails at Tayla's throat, as Tayla kept her head hung down. Tayla's look of despair and defeat on her young face broke Bendros's heart and infuriated Ridikar. The Calmagian prince wished that he had just enough strength to break Diamonique's neck. Tayla deserved much better than a life as Frieza's slave.  
  
"Slut," he hissed under his breath, meaning Diamonique.  
  
Bendros was still recovering from his trauma, but he managed to clench his fists and growl, "You let her go! Who do you think you are, blackmailing an innocent young girl into surrendering to you and your kind?" He would have attacked Diamonique, but Diamonique could easily cut Tayla's throat before he reached them.  
  
Diamonique snorted. "I am Lord Frieza's best Top Elite officer, and when I take her to him, I will be richly rewarded. He will give me all the credit for Princess Tayla's capture. After all the grief that this scrawny brat has given me, I deserve everything that I get."  
  
"Oh, you have that right!" Tayla cried out, despite Diamonique's nails. "I should tell him what you did to my face before Nama healed it!"  
  
Diamonique then suddenly remembered what she had done to Tayla's face, and she slowly felt along the cheek where Tayla's scar had once been. Smooth skin met her long finger, and her eyes widened in disbelief. "How-how did that sca-scar disappear? How did your grandmother heal it?"  
  
"She just did," Tayla retorted, determined not to tell this "slutzini" anymore than necessary. "My Nama can do anything."  
  
"Really? If that was so, your granny wouldn't be lying on the floor now," Diamonique snapped. "Now, how did she heal you?"  
  
"She just did," Tayla repeated stubbornly.  
  
Diamonique grew thoughtful then, and then she remembered the tonic that the old man had given her to heal herself. She then remembered what the man said that the tonic had been made out of-the famous blue or green Calmagian roses. Bright Healers, the roses were called, he said. She smiled then.  
  
"She healed you with the Bright Healer roses, didn't she?" Diamonique asked her. Tayla's silence only confirmed Diamonique's suspicions. "Your granny has some on her, doesn't she?"  
  
"Why would she carry flowers around?" Tayla asked her. "My grandmother's a warrior, and warriors just don't carry around flowers."  
  
Diamonique was not convinced. She said to Seductia, "Seductia, have Dirkan look for any kind of flowers on Shalila Chloe."  
  
Seductia gave the order to Dirkan, with Dirkan replying, "Anything for you, my ripest of all berries", and Dirkan left to go over to Shalila's unconscious form. He felt over his wife, searching under her clothes and through her pockets. Finally, he produced two rose heads and held them up for Seductia to see.  
  
"I found two rose heads, my strawberry muffin," he said proudly.  
  
"Bring them to me, my darling," Seductia ordered sweetly.  
  
"Yes, my sweetest of all lollipops!" Dirkan obeyed her request and he lightly tossed the rose heads to Seductia before he arrived. Seductia caught them easily.  
  
Tayla, Bendros, and Ridikar had to keep themselves from vomiting. The sickening, mushy words that Dirkan and the others trapped under Seductia's spell made them want to throw up. Tayla pitied Dirkan then, for on the slim chance that Dirkan was ever free from Seductia's spell, he'd be too ashamed to show his face ever again, just for saying all those ridiculous sentiments alone. Bendros would have laughed at Dirkan's silly words under normal circumstances, but right now, he was too worried and still too much in pain to even look at his Namek attacker.  
  
Seductia strolled casually over to Dirkan and openly caressed his chest through his torn shirt. "I like you, my handsome emerald hunk. Why don't we go upstairs and I'll let you make sweet, passionate love to me? How about it?"  
  
"I would love to ravish your heavenly body, my mistress of the moonlight!"  
  
"Good. I thought that you would. C'mon, let's go."  
  
"Hold it, Seductia," Diamonique told her former trainee. "You don't have time right now to play with your Namek. We still have a mess here to clean up. Oh, look, who's this handsome fellow jumping down through the ceiling? Why, I believe that it's Tayla's brother!"  
  
Raakon Chloe, still under Seductia's spell had now arrived. He landed gracefully onto the floor and ran eagerly to Seductia. "Seductia, my love! How may I serve you, my queen of the brightest, prettiest stars?"  
  
Seductia laughed. "It's about time you arrived…Raakon. Just stand there for now, my dear."  
  
"Yes, my sweet apple!"  
  
"Seductia," Diamonique told her. "Have Dirkan and Raakon kill the others off."  
  
"No!" Tayla screamed. She said desperately to Diamonique, not able to turn around and confront her directly. "You said that if I surrendered, that they would live!"  
  
"I did, didn't I?" Diamonique asked her sweetly. "Well, guess what, little girl, I've changed my mind. It's not as if you can stop us now anyway. Even if you were to take back your surrender, I could still slash your little throat, and a dead girl would be of no use to anyone. You just better be thankful that I chose to spare you." She then called out to Seductia, "Seductia, have your men kill them now!"  
  
"Wait!" Ridikar cried aloud.  
  
"Oh, what now?" Diamonique asked impatiently.  
  
Ridikar knew that this was the last chance for him and everyone else to live. He pulled himself to his feet and walked as bravely as possible over to Seductia, knowing that Seductia could put him under her spell at any time. "Seductia, listen to Diamonique's words before you attack us. She just went back on her word to Tayla not to have us killed."  
  
"Yes?" Seductia asked. "So?"  
  
"Does Diamonique plan to share any of that big reward that she claims Frieza is giving her with you? After all, you are the one who really is responsible for Tayla's capture. If it weren't for you, Tayla would not have been brought here. You're the one who should receive the reward."  
  
"That's right," Bendros added, going along with Ridikar. "It was your brilliant idea that got Tayla captured. Why should Diamonique have any of the credit? All she did was recapture her, but it was her and Zarbon's fault that Tayla escaped in the first place. How do you know that Diamonique would share any of the reward with you?"  
  
Seductia pondered the young men's words for a few moments, and then she looked away from Ridikar over to Diamonique, who was still holding Tayla captive with her nails. "Yes, Commander, do you intend to split the reward with me? Did you ever intend to?"  
  
Diamonique flushed uncomfortably. "You'll get…something for your trouble. It was mainly the Top Elite officers that Lord Frieza wanted to capture Princess Tayla. You did a good job, Seductia, you did, but you have to understand that it was I who caught Princess Tayla again and convinced her to surrender."  
  
"But I had her captured first," Seductia told Diamonique stubbornly. "How much of that reward am I getting?"  
  
"Um…we'll have to discuss the terms later, my dear," Diamonique told her as smoothly as possible. The Gemstarian warrior had intended to take the full credit, with a token reward for her former student. "Now just have your men kill Shalila Chloe and those two annoying boyfriends of Princess Tayla's. Do it now."  
  
"Don't do it, Seductia!" Tayla cried, immediately realizing that Bendros and Ridikar were trying to turn Seductia against Diamonique. "If I were you, I would negotiate with Diamonique on that reward before you obeyed any more of her orders. She went back on her word with me; how do you know that she wouldn't do the same with you? You might not get anything, if it's up to her."  
  
Seductia looked at Diamonique thoughtfully, and then she said, "You know, Commander Diamonique, the girl and her lovers have a valid point. I know that you would do anything to take all the credit. How do I know that you wouldn't cheat me out of what is rightfully mine? I want to know now exactly how much of that reward I am getting."  
  
"Now is not the time for this, Seductia," Diamonique told her sharply, evading the subject. "Have your men kill the others immediately."  
  
"Don't let her order you about, Seductia!" Tayla shouted.  
  
"That's right," Ridikar added. "If she's avoiding the subject, that means that she wasn't planning to give you much. If I were you, I would stop following her orders altogether until you and her worked out a fair settlement. Don't let her cheat you out of what's coming to you."  
  
Seductia crossed her arms then and leaned back against Dirkan's muscular chest. She then smiled smugly at Diamonique. "You know what, I think I am going to take their advice, Commander. I am not doing another thing for you until you tell me how much of that reward is mine."  
  
"You won't get a thing if you don't have your men kill the others now," Diamonique snarled. "Now have them kill Shalila Chloe and the boys!"  
  
"No," Seductia told her impertinently. "Negotiations first, Commander."  
  
"Tell her, Seductia!" Tayla declared.  
  
"Shut up, brat!" Diamonique roared. She looked daggers at Seductia. "Seductia, I am warning you, disobeying a Top Elite Officer's orders could get you removed from the Elite. I will report you directly to Lord Frieza."  
  
"Let her report you," Ridikar told Seductia. "Even if she does tell Frieza right away, what can Frieza do at that moment? He's not going to come all the way here just to discipline you for a minor infraction. Surely, someone as powerful as him has better things to do than go investigate some small complaint."  
  
"You're right about that," Seductia said sweetly, leaning back further against Dirkan's hard body. She said to Diamonique silkily, "You know what, Commander, I'm going to give you some time to think about things. I decided that I need a break, and my darling Namek here is going to help me relax. When you decide how much you wish to give me--and it better be a generous amount-I will come back and serve you again. Until then, I'm going to have some fun of my own with my new green lover!"  
  
"This isn't the time to play!" Diamonique hissed.  
  
"Too bad, so sad, Commander. Contact me on my scouter when you make up your mind. Until then, my green hunk and I are going upstairs for some fun, aren't we, my precious?"  
  
"What kind of fun, my lemon drop?"  
  
"Oh, you'll find out, Dirkan, darling!" Seductia purred, nuzzling his chest. She then called to Raakon, "Raakon, darling!"  
  
"Yes, my pink buttercup?"  
  
"I want you to go get Shalila Chloe, put her on your shoulder and come back to Dirkan and me. We are going upstairs, and who knows? Maybe I'll show you a few things in the bedroom as well. But Dirkan gets his turn first. Oh, and Raakon, darling, would you help Bajal get up before you get Shalila Chloe please? I see him about to rise."  
  
"Anything for you, my sweetest of all candy canes!" And an enthusiastic Raakon ran over to Bajal, who was awakening, and helped his brother to his feet.  
  
"Bajal, darling," Seductia ordered. "I want you to help Raakon get Shalila Chloe, and then you both come to me immediately."  
  
"Yes, my cupcake!"  
  
After several minutes, Bajal and Raakon came to Seductia with Shalila Chloe on Raakon's shoulders. Bendros was debating as to whether to try to fight them for Shalila, but he decided against it for now. Knowing Seductia's unpredictable moods, she could order both Bajal and Raakon to attack him again or have them kill Shalila on the spot. Besides, it seemed to Bendros that Seductia did not plan to hurt Shalila at the moment; the dangerous beauty clearly had her own agenda.  
  
Seductia then ordered Bajal and Raakon to touch Dirkan, as she herself leaned into him.  
"Don't hurt Nama!" Tayla cried worriedly. "Let her go!"  
  
Seductia smiled then, and Tayla could detect a small note of benevolence in that smile. "Calm yourself, girlie. We're just going to hold your granny hostage for now. I have three gorgeous men here to play with, and your grandmother is the last of my concerns. She isn't going to die right now; it wouldn't be worthwhile to kill someone who's out of it as she is. C'mon, men, let's go! TELEFADE!"  
  
Within seconds, Seductia and her captives faded out of sight.  
  
Diamonique hissed, "That little tart! How dare she turn against me?"  
  
Ridikar couldn't help, but smirk. "I guess her lust for Dirkan and greed for that reward overrode her loyalty to you. Serves you right, lady, because I sure wouldn't continue to work for you either."  
  
"I agree," Bendros added.  
  
"That's it!" Diamonique roared. "You two men are about to become jewels! Diamond Freeze!" And with that she aimed a silvery-blue laser at Ridikar, who jumped out of its way. She managed to do this with her free hand while holding Tayla captive still.  
  
She continued to aim more diamond-freezing lasers at Bendros and Ridikar, both of whom dodged each one. Finally Bendros declared, "Give it up, Diamonique! It's two of us against you now, and Seductia's gone. Let Tayla go!"  
  
"You heard him!" Ridikar cried out. "Free her now!"  
  
"Oh, I don't think so, boys," Diamonique said severely. "In fact, I may turn the girl into a diamond statue myself in order to restrain her. Or I may get angry enough to kill her; I can cut her throat within seconds. I suggest that you boys leave immediately, if you want her alive and well."  
  
"Didn't Frieza say that you couldn't harm me?" Tayla asked her. "What would he do to you, if he knew that you had killed me or froze me? I don't think that he'd be too happy with you right now!"  
  
"Shut up, little girl!" Diamonique snapped. She said to Bendros and Ridikar, "Leave now!"  
  
"What do we now?" Ridikar whispered to Bendros, who was standing near him.  
  
Bendros sighed, unable to answer. He was no longer sure at this point as to what to do. If only his leaders, Shalila and Dirkan were able to help.  
  
"Princess Tayla," Diamonique told her captive icily. "You tell your boy toys to leave now, or I will turn them into diamonds. It's your choice, little girl."  
  
Tayla sighed, ashamed of her overwhelming fear for the lives of her two potential suitors, "You two better go."  
  
"No way, Tayla!" Ridikar declared.  
  
"We're not leaving without you," Bendros told her. "She apparently must not be as strong as she acts, or she would quit hiding behind you and come fight us on her own."  
  
Ridikar then grinned. "That's right. Diamonique is just a girl, after all, and we all know how weak girls are."  
  
"Hey!" Tayla cried indignantly. "I'm a girl too!"  
  
"Calm down, Tayla," Bendros told her, trying not to laugh. "Ridikar merely meant Gemstarian girls like Diamonique. Diamonique must be much weaker than she acts; she's probably just a weakling. Why, I bet that those nails aren't made out of real diamonds either."  
  
"Yeah," Ridikar added. "And I'll bet that the only moves that Diamonique really knows are filing those nails and fixing her hair. She probably works more on her wardrobe than her fighting techniques. I bet that she's just a pretty package, just a bit of fluff with no real substance."  
  
"You've got that right, Ridikar," Bendros told him. "And I would lay odds that the only techniques she knows are makeup techniques. "  
  
"I agree, Bendros, I agree. And while she has a nice set of breasts, I don't believe that they're real. I've known my older sisters to use water brassieres from time to time, and those boobs that she has look similar to those. Just water, cloth, but no real flesh. Tayla's chest is smaller, but she didn't have to pay for it. Anyone like Diamonique can stuff her blouse and armor."  
  
That was the last straw, as the old cliché goes, for Diamonique. No one had ever dared to insult her chest (which actually was real, thanks to special lotions on Gemstar that had increased the size of Diamonique's now generous bosom) unless they were planning a painful suicide. Her black stone eyes narrowed, her face purpled, and her free fist clenched. With an angry thrust, she threw Tayla into a wall, not realizing what she was doing, and she flew through the air at Ridikar.  
  
"No one insults my magnificent chest and lives to tell about it!" Diamonique declared, with her fists aimed at Ridikar's face. Ridikar flew out of her path and slid to the floor, and then Diamonique came after Ridikar again, but Bendros blocked her path. The Sastorian fighter managed to land his fist into her chest, and Diamonique responded by clawing Bendros's handsome face. Bendros kneed her in her stomach then, ignoring the sharp pain that her nails had inflicted.  
  
The two began to pummel and kick each other for a few minutes, as they used their best martial arts skills on each other. Diamonique shoved Bendros into a giant red vase, but Bendros emerged to throw his weight against the deadly beauty, as she clawed him again, this time on his arm. Bendros cried out, as blood burst forth from his lower arm, but he continued to fight Diamonique. He was considerably stronger physically than Diamonique, but Diamonique was faster, and yet Bendros was able to match most of her blows and kicks.  
  
Meanwhile, Ridikar was checking on Tayla, as he pulled her out of the wall. He brushed her off, as Diamonique and Bendros continued to fight each other. He looked over his intended carefully, and Tayla managed to smile.  
  
"Okasen? I mean, are you okay?" she asked him.  
  
Ridikar grinned. "Yeah, how about you?"  
  
"I'm fine, I think, thanks to you and Bendros."  
  
He smoothed her hair with his hand, and Tayla did not object. "I'd do anything for you, Tayla, don't you know that by now? Did that slut really claw you earlier?"  
  
"She did," Tayla panted. "But Nama healed me with Caline's roses. Now Seductia has both Nama and the roses."  
  
"We'll get them back and finish off Seductia," Ridikar assured her as confidently as possible.  
  
"C'mon," Tayla told him firmly, taking his hand. "We must go help Bendros. Diamonique is more dangerous than you two think she is."  
  
And with that, Ridikar followed Tayla to go help Bendros, who was still holding his own against Diamonique-until Diamonique knocked Bendros to the ground with a punch to his jaw. Bendros tried to rise again, just as Diamonique launched herself upon him. She raised her hand into the air.  
  
"How would like your heart put on ice, monkey boy?"  
  
She intended to freeze his heart until it stopped beating, but before she could act, Tayla seized her arm and twisted it behind Diamonique's back. Diamonique screamed in her pain, as she turned around and saw Tayla twisting her arm with the strength of someone three times her size. The cruel Gemstarian then realized her mistake in releasing Tayla.  
  
Diamonique forgot about freezing Bendros's heart, and she seized Tayla by her hair and yanked it, tearing out a huge chunk of black tresses. She would have done it again, but Tayla socked in her jaw, showing no mercy. The two females threw themselves away from Bendros, and the two began to wrestle around on the floor, with Tayla punching Diamonique as hard as she could. Diamonique responded by slashing Tayla's face again on the same side as before.  
  
"I'm going to cut your face up, brat, so that no boy or man will ever want to kiss it!" she declared, as she scratched Tayla's face once more. Tayla screamed, as Diamonique's nails raked across her nose and lips. Diamonique slapped the girl across her face, sharply, increasing Tayla's pain twofold. Tayla snatched her wrist before she could injure her again, but Diamonique grabbed Tayla's other wrist.  
  
Bendros and Ridikar were then behind Diamonique, and both young men seized Diamonique to force her to get off of Tayla. Finally, they succeeded in yanking Diamonique away from Tayla, and Bendros was now holding Diamonique under her arms. Diamonique struggled and kicked against Bendros, but he managed to hold her for a few minutes until Diamonique stomped his foot with hers. Bendros tried to regain his grip on her while Ridikar helped Tayla stand up.  
  
But Bendros was not able to hold Diamonique for long, and Diamonique managed to lean over and bite one of his arms with her sharp crystal blue teeth. Bendros cried out, but he did not release her right away until Diamonique bit into him again, this time, tearing a chunk of his flesh in her teeth. She spat out his flesh and blood, as she slashed his thigh with her nails, and finally Bendros unthinkingly released her in his pain.  
  
Tayla was ready to take down Diamonique now when Diamonique suddenly threw herself at her and shoved Tayla into a wall. She was weaker physically than Tayla, but she was as fast as Tayla was, and she had better control of her own body weight, a skill that Tayla had just mastered. Bendros came up from behind Diamonique, but Diamonique turned around and slashed his face and neck with her deadly claw-like nails. She then took that time to uppercut Bendros in his jaw. Before Bendros could recover, Diamonique turned away and launched herself at Tayla again with her nails out.  
  
"You're going to die, brat!" Diamonique hissed. "I'm going to rip your heart open!"  
  
And her nails did reach Tayla, but her nails scratched Tayla's face instead of her chest, for Tayla was able to block Diamonique's hand from her chest. While Tayla was holding Diamonique's wrist away from her, Diamonique slashed one of Tayla's breasts with her nails. She would have done so again, had not Ridikar seized her free wrist and yanked it away from Tayla. With one twist, Ridikar managed to twist Diamonique's wrist and sprain it.  
  
"You bastard!" Diamonique screamed, as she kicked Tayla in her stomach, forcing Tayla to release her wrist. Tayla shoved her away and Diamonique fell backwards several feet, but did not fall down. She then raised her nails again and dodged Bendros's attempt to grab her. Diamonique then ran at Tayla again, intending to stab her and cut her chest open once and for all.  
But before she could do so, Ridikar jumped in front of her, blocking her way to Tayla.   
Diamonique was furious at first, but then she stopped and smiled; she knew just how to hurt Tayla even worse than what she was planning.  
  
Before Ridikar could react, or even anticipate what she was about to do, Diamonique leaped into the air with her nails sticking out from the hand on her good wrist, and she quickly landed in front of Ridikar, brandishing her nails like knives.  
  
To the horror of Tayla and Bendros, Diamonique's nails clawed Ridikar's face, cut down his neck, and then sank deep into his chest!  
  
"NO!" Tayla screamed.  
  
"NO! STOP!" Bendros cried.  
  
Diamonique just ignored them, smiling, as she made a final swipe into Ridikar's chest, and then shoved him to the floor. Ridikar fell backwards onto the floor, clutching at his chest.  
His face grew ashen, as amber blood burst forth from his chest in a tidal wave, engulfing his body, and then bleeding more slowly. A terrified Tayla ran to him and fell to her knees beside him.  
  
"RIDIKAR!" she screamed. "Don't die, please!"  
  
"Tayla…" he moaned, clutching at her hand.  
  
"RIDIKAR!"  
  
Diamonique's cruel laughter mingled with Tayla's screams. 


	96. Too Late For Roses Now

Chapter Ninety-Six: Too Late For Roses Now  
  
At the same time while in the labyrinths…  
  
Most of the hostages had reached the surface and were on their way to the hotel in Magan. Caline was now searching the labyrinths for any stragglers, or anyone who had gotten themselves lost in the confusing corridors and intricate passageways. She called out several times, but she found no one, and after twenty minutes, Caline had to finally conclude that all of the former captives had left the tunnels. She hoped and prayed that was so, and she went to find Sergeant Baraki, who was still guarding General Norbrook.   
  
Lieutenant Balboun had become concerned when neither Baraki nor Norbrook had made it to the surface. Baraki was supposed to have escorted Norbrook to the surface in order to have him imprisoned above in Magan's only standing jail, but neither men had showed. Caline had told Balboun that she would go see what was taking Baraki so long, and Balboun, having to help organize the ex-hostages and get them to safety, allowed her to go alone. If he had not been distracted, he would have thought twice before letting a young girl like Caline go back down there by herself, knowing that Frieza's minions could come back into the labyrinths at any time. But by the time this thought had occurred to the harried lieutenant, Caline had already left.  
  
Caline had found the labyrinth corridor where Baraki had been holding Norbrook prisoner and where Superior Gran Shalila Chloe had "surrendered" to Frieza's forces. She dashed into the corridors and called out softly for Baraki. She could not hear anything, and she could not even sense anyone's presence in the corridor.  
  
She stepped further into the corridor, and it was when she ventured a little further that she noticed a small stream of thick, honey-tinted blood flow by her tiny feet. Anxiously, she followed the tiny river of blood to a pole that was helping to hold up the labyrinth ceiling, where she found Sergeant Baraki leaning against the pole, as if he were asleep.  
  
Caline worriedly took Baraki's arm and tried to shake him awake, but the sergeant would not budge. Instead his head lolled to the side of the poll, and Caline nearly cried out when she saw that his eyes and his mouth were staring wide open. His eyes seemed to be staring off into a trance.  
  
"B-Baraki? Sergeant Baraki?" she asked fearfully.  
  
But Baraki would not answer her, nor would he ever would again. His body fell towards Caline, and Caline shrieked, as she ran out of its path. Baraki fell facedown to the floor, and it was then that Caline discovered the source of the path of blood-a round, smoking hole in Baraki's head.  
  
"No!" she cried. "Sergeant?"  
  
She then suddenly felt a poke, a sharp, firm poke in the back of her cornsilk head, the poke from a round, cylindrical object. The object burrowed deeper into her hair, and a thick, husky voice hovered above her ear, breathing heavily.  
  
"What?" she gasped, as a meaty hand clamped over her small rosebud mouth. The object dug deeper into her head, and Caline realized that she was being held at gunpoint.  
  
"Not enough word, Princess Caline," that same thick voice said in a deadly calm. "Unless, you wish to share Baraki's fate, I suggest that you come with me."  
  
Caline's whole body trembled, as her captor pulled her tiny body against his. No, he couldn't have escaped, no he couldn't have…  
  
…"I didn't expect you to come back here, my little princess, but that's alright, my dear. I've wanted you for some time; I've offered for you, but your cursed father had to promise you to Sedemeyer instead! Never did like Sedemeyer or Dunlop, and now neither one will have you. Can't go back to Commander Zarbon now; he'll surely have me killed now that I've been exposed, so I'm leaving, little one, and you're coming with me. Need some female company anyway, and don't worry, I promise to be a better husband than Dunlop ever was. Only you're not going to refuse me every night the way that you did him, hmm? No protests or fighting now, my little Caline, or you'll end up sharing a grave with Baraki. Hate to have to kill a pretty little thing like you; I've liked you for about three years now. You won't find Princess Caline Norbrook to be such a bad name; it's much better than Princess Caline Dunlop, or even your birth name Princess Caline Alisine Famalie de Tamilieu." Tamilieu (pronounced "tam-a-loo") was the official name of Kitchator's family and "Chateau de Tamilieu" was the official name of the royal castle, although everyone in Calmag usually knew it better by simply as the royal castle, or the king's castle.  
  
Tears streamed down Caline's cheeks for herself and for poor Baraki. It wasn't fair! Would she always be doomed to become someone's sex slave or toy? She couldn't hide her sobs, as General Narvo Norbrook led her out of the corridor at gunpoint.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bendros and Tayla had both ripped off the top parts of their individual fighting gi outfits, and Tayla's chest was covered only with an undershirt. They were trying to stop the bleeding, but all they could do was slow it down, not enough to help Ridikar.  
  
Diamonique leaned back against the wall, watching the tears flow down Tayla's scarred cheeks, as fast as the blood flowed down Ridikar's body. She was observing with pure pleasure and not a trace of remorse with a cold, malicious smile on her flawless face.  
  
"Ridikar, don't give up," Tayla whispered hoarsely, as she tried to hold down her blood-soaked shirt, hoping to stop Ridikar's bleeding altogether.  
  
"Too late for me now," Ridikar whispered.  
  
"No! Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare!" Tayla cried. "It is not too late! It is not! Tell him it's not too late, Bendros, please!"  
  
Bendros looked at Tayla sadly, and he himself felt tears in his eyes. He knew in his heart that none of Tayla's words would be able to save Ridikar from his impending fate. He looked down at Ridikar, and Bendros sighed in frustration. He had seen some of his fellow officers die while he had been working for Intergalacticpol, and he had been by the side of two of them, as they lay there dying, with Bendros unable to save them. Ridikar was losing too much blood, despite his and Tayla's best attempts to stop the bleeding. They were doing all they could, but without proper medical treatment nearby, it was unlikely that Ridikar was going to live for much longer.  
  
Tayla was holding Ridikar's hand in hers, kissing it fervently and holding it to her chest. "Hold on, Ridikar, it will be all right, I promise. I can go find some of Caline's roses, I can…"  
  
Ridikar wanted to tell her that she was right, that he would live on to be with her, but he couldn't. He knew that his time was near an end, and not even Caline's roses would save him now, not that there were any available at the moment to help him. The Bright Healer roses could not restore all the blood that Ridikar had already lost, and Diamonique's nails had cut two main arteries.  
  
"Tayla…I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry…nothing more I can do…too late for roses now…sorry to leave you behind."  
  
"You're not going to die!" Tayla screamed. "I won't allow it!"  
  
Ridikar managed a weak smile. He brought her hand holding his to his lips and kissed it lightly. "You can control a lot things, Tayla, but not even you can stop death."  
  
"Stop talking about death!" Tayla cried. She looked frantically at Bendros and choked out, "Bendros, tell him he's going to live!"  
  
Bendros stammered softly, "T-Tayla, I-I think that I'm with Ridikar on this one." He felt his tears fall down his cheeks, as he his heart was hurting for both her and Ridikar. He fervently wished that he could make Tayla happy by saving Ridikar's life, but he knew now that it was out of his hands. Soon Ridikar would be meeting Enma Daiou.  
  
"T-Tayla…I'm sorry that I hurt you so much before…want to make it up to you…always wanted to make things up to you…promised myself I would…now I can't."  
  
"You already have!" Tayla cried out. "You already have! But if you really want to make things up to me, you will fight this and live!"  
  
"Wish…I could…can't. GASP! HACK! HACK!" Ridikar began to choke, as tears were now streaming down his handsome face. With his free hand, he struggled to wipe his mouth of the saliva gushing up; he was trying to prevent himself from throwing up blood.  
  
Ridikar's face grew paler, and his flesh began to cool considerably. He was fighting to stay alive for just a little longer, and Tayla broke down into a sob when she realized that Bendros and Ridikar were right-Ridikar would soon pass on to the next dimension.  
  
"T-Tayla, would you kiss me one last time-please?" he asked in a fierce whisper. "Just…one…last…kiss." He hoped that Bendros wouldn't grudge him this final request for Tayla.   
  
Bendros didn't, and he backed away, allowing them to have this time alone together.  
Tayla nodded quickly, and she kissed him gently, yet thoroughly on his cooling lips. She stroked his hair lightly, and then she gave him a second kiss, only this time, much more firmly, a stronger kiss full of things that would never be.  
  
"Th-thank you, T-Tayla," he whispered, as Tayla moved her face away from his slightly, only an inch away. "Best…goodbye present…you could have given…me."  
  
"Aw…how sweet," Diamonique mocked. "Very touching end. How adorable. A goodbye kiss."  
  
If Ridikar hadn't been lying there, on the border of life and death, Tayla would have leapt up from the floor and given Diamonique a well-deserved punch in her face. She clenched her free fist, but did not confront her enemy just yet. Diamonique's turn would come soon enough.  
  
Tayla would see to it…personally.  
  
But for now…  
  
"Ridikar, I am sorry," she sobbed. "Sorry that I didn't forgive you sooner."  
  
"'Tis I who should say I'm sorry…Tayla…felt awful for what I did to you weeks ago…never thought that…I could get…you…to…like me…again. You…don't know…how happy…I was…day…you…forgave…me. Tell…truth…Tayla….do you think…that…you…could have ever…loved me…someday?"  
  
"I-I believe so," Tayla choked out. "You've…redeemed yourself, Ridikar. You have…you have."  
  
"T-Tayla, c-can…you…promise me…something…by your Seven Moons?"  
  
"Su-sure."  
  
"Look after…Caline…for me…would you? Take…my place…help her be happy…please…succeed…where I failed. Wanted to make things…up to her too…can't anymore…too late. Tell her…I love her…will you? Take…care…of her…protect her…please?"  
  
Tayla nodded quickly and held up seven fingers. "I…I will," she whispered.  
  
"Thank you," Ridikar said as steadily as possible. He weakly kissed her hand again.   
  
"Sorry…Tayla…that I couldn't…have done more for you two…love you, princess…always will…always loved you, I think. I…know…I'm…asking so much of you…right now…but one last request, please…"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Get Diamonique…and her…com…rades…for me…please. Don't…let them…hurt…anyone…else."  
  
"That will happen," Tayla assured him as confidently as possible. "You needn't worry about either promise, Ridikar, both will fulfilled. They won't get away with their crimes…especially Diamonique. I'll see that Caline is taken care of too…don't worry about her anymore."  
  
Bendros watched them, his heart breaking for them both. He was sad for them and angry with Diamonique for causing so much unnecessary pain and suffering. He looked out the corner of his eye at the cold-hearted, unremorseful Gemstarian woman who was smugly watching the painfully tender scene between two young people whose budding love would never be realized.  
  
"Is he going to die already?" Diamonique asked impatiently. "I do have better things to do than stand around and watch some Calmagian weakling croak." Bendros threw an icy look that was so unlike him in her direction.  
  
"Then why don't you go and leave them in peace?" Bendros roared with uncharacteristic harshness. "Even someone as cruel as you can do that much!"  
  
"Hmmph!" Diamonique snorted, and she turned her back away from them.  
  
Ridikar's eyes felt heavy, and his head turned and gently hit the floor. His brown eyes, even darker than Tayla's, looked deeply into her brown eyes, as he spoke again,   
"Tayla…please…don't worry…he loves you too…you won't be left alone."  
  
"He?" Tayla asked, puzzled. "Whom are you talking about?"  
  
"Why…it's…" But Ridikar could no longer answer her.   
  
He would never answer her again. Tayla shook and nudged him, and then a cold feeling sank deep into her heart, and the coldness engulfed her heart, making her shiver on the inside. It took her a few seconds to realize that Ridikar was no longer in the same dimension as her.   
His eyes were locked in an eternal trance, but a peaceful expression was resting on his features, with his mouth closed in a gentle smile. However his calm features in death were not enough to soothe Tayla's soul, and the icy realization that he would never speak again flowed throughout her body, causing it to shake and shiver.  
  
And with her entire body trembling violently, Tayla shakily used her hand to close Ridikar's eyes, and throwing her head back, she emitted a loud piercing scream that would be heard throughout the floor. Bendros dashed to her and tried to hold her, but she was at that point, beyond consoling. Rage, grief, and deep hurt invaded her heart and spread throughout her entire body.  
  
Her body shook harder than before, and several startling things occurred…electric currents danced about her small, slim body, and the entire floor shook as if an earthquake. Pictures began to fall off the wall, and the statues of past ancestors of King Kitchator toppled over, with one statue's head breaking off. Cracks ran along the floor, and several windows shattered as if rocks or balls had hit them. The ceiling above began to crumble slowly, with pieces breaking off and hitting the floor.  
  
"What's happening?" Diamonique shrieked, as she felt the shaking of the entire floor.  
But that floor was not the only thing shaking…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the ballroom…  
  
The Astorians and Calmagians, along with Crystalis and the Meatian men, who were battling Dodoria and the Ginyu Force were now starting to lose their battle downstairs, and Dodoria and the Ginyu Force had been celebrating their imminent victory in advance. Dodoria's fist had been in Lektron's stomach when they and everyone else felt the full force of the tremendous power occurring upstairs. Crystalis had been helping Pork, Steak and Ham against Guido until Guido had stopped time in the corner of the room where they had been at and paralyzed them. Guido abruptly unstopped time (he had been about to cause the ceiling to collapse on top of the hapless fighters) when he felt the tremors. The four fighting against him wasted no time in escaping him before he could entrap them again.  
  
"What the hell is going here?" Dodoria demanded to know, as the ceiling began to shake and crumble, with large pieces falling down upon him and everyone else.  
  
Guido jumped into Jeice's arms when large cracks began to break along the walls and the marble floor. Baata and Reccoom huddled near each other, forgetting about the men and women that they were fighting at that moment. Flirtius crawled under a heavy buffet table while Reccor, who was on the other side of the ballroom was smart enough to start crawling to the entrance behind the bar into the labyrinths on the opposite side. He had no intention of staying and getting himself killed.  
  
"What's going on here?" Alora asked worriedly. "I heard that it was rare for this planet ever to have quakes! We really came here at a bad time!"  
  
But in a few minutes, she and the others would realize that it was no planet quake, but some explosion or power source that was causing the building to shake so violently.  
  
Lektron abandoned his fight with Dodoria, trying to stay on his feet as the ground shook and trembled harder. He was trying to reach Gracina before anything happened to her. Gracina was still leaning against the wall, unconscious, as Lektron flew across the ballroom to reach her. A huge pole was falling near her, about to crush her and take her life once and for all.  
Fortunately, Lektron managed to reach her in time, and he gathered her into his arms and pulled her out of the way of the falling pole, which fell to the marble floor and crashed, breaking the pole and cracking the floor worse than ever.  
  
Two more poles fell down and crashed into thousands of large pieces, as the dais broke into three pieces. The musical instruments in one corner of the ballroom fell all on each other, making loud clamorous noises. Everyone, good and evil began to run for cover, and   
  
Dodoria, being the main one in charge right now, shouted, "Men, let's get out of here! We'll finish this fight with these fools outside!"  
  
The Ginyu Force didn't hesitate. All four remaining Ginyu Force members fled with Dodoria out of the ballroom, trying to find the quickest way of the castle.  
  
The Astorians and Calmagians who were fighting wisely decided to take the cue from their foes and flee out of the castle as well. "To the labyrinths!" Lektron ordered everyone, as he held his wife in his arms. No one, not even the CRP officers, hesitated as they followed Lektron to the labyrinth entrance behind the bar.  
  
But Lektron then decided that he wasn't leaving just yet. He found Arlon and shoved his wife into her brother's arms. "Take my wife and get out of here! I'm going back to find Tayla and the others!"  
  
"What about you?" Arlon asked him worriedly, taking Gracina from him.  
  
"I can take care of myself," Lektron told him.  
  
Alora had joined them, after just dodging a giant piece of falling ceiling that would have crushed her, had she not jumped out of the way. She had just heard Lektron's previous sentences and declared, "I'm coming with you."  
  
"No," Lektron insisted. "Go with the others!"  
  
"I am coming!" Alora shouted furiously. "My husband's up there too, and you know what happens when that dear lout of mine is left to his own devices! And if that slut, Sedusa, or whatever the hell her name is, even thinks of bedding my man, I'm going to rip out all of that freakishly pink hair of hers slowly and painfully! No one gets to order my man about, but me! Where does he get off calling that weird whorici 'sweet goddess', 'pink pearl of perfection' and other ridiculous nonsense? Why doesn't he ever call me pet names like that?"  
  
Lektron managed to laugh, even as the entire ballroom continued to fall apart, "'Cause he knows that you'd belt him one, if he ever spouted silliness like that to you!"  
  
"Yeah, that's true," Alora agreed. "He better be lucky that he's under that woman's spell 'cause if he were saying those things for real…well, he knows what I would do. Anyway, it's time to go find him and the others. I can't wait to give that man-stealing and child-stealing whorici a piece of my mind!"  
  
"Same here!" Lektron told her. "But I think that I should go alone."  
  
"Well, you're not and that's that."  
  
Lektron sighed; he knew that it was no use to argue with his best friend's wife when she was like the way she was. He wondered how she and Bajal were able to get along so well-most of the time. Anyway, Alora was as strong as he was, if not stronger.  
  
"Very well," he sighed. "Just be careful."  
  
"I always am," Alora retorted. "Out of Bajal and I, one of us has to be." And Lektron chuckled slightly.  
  
"Wait!" Julien cried, following behind them. "I need to find my brother!"  
  
"We'll find your brother," Alora promised him. "Now go with the others!"  
  
"But…"  
  
"Do as I said, Calmagie! We don't have time to mess around anymore!"  
  
Julien grumbled a few nasty phrases about bossy women, but Alora's deadly glare prevented him from disobeying her. Grudgingly, he left with the others downstairs into the labyrinths once more.  
  
Lukan was carrying Cletos on his back, as he was fleeing the ballroom for the labyrinths. Rojal, Dedron, and Riccan were following behind their uncles, and Riccan ran up to his father, panting excitedly, "Wait for me, I want to come too!"  
  
"No!" Lektron told his son sharply. "You're to leave with the others!"  
  
"I want to help find Tayla! Why can't I go and help?"  
  
"Because I said so!" Lektron growled at his son. "I don't want you hurt!" Riccan flinched, and his startled expression nearly broke his father's hurt.  
  
"But, Pappa, I want to be brave and strong like you!" Riccan was near tears. "And I'm worried 'bout Tayla and the others, but 'specially Tayla. I want to help!"  
  
Lektron softened slightly. "Look, son, you've already helped us a lot and proven yourself to be a fine fighter, but this is something that your Aunt Alora and I have to handle, okay? You can help by getting the others to safety, but you can't go with us this time. You're already becoming a fine warrior, and you've made your mother and me proud. Now go!"  
  
"Really, Pappa?"  
  
"Really, son. Now get out of here!"  
  
"Yes, Pappa! Make sure they don't hurt Tayla or anyone else!"  
  
"We won't, kid," Alora promised him. "Now do as your pappy says."  
  
"Yes, Aunt Alora!" And Riccan was finally content to leave for the entrance behind the bar to the labyrinths. Dedron followed quickly behind him, figuring that Lektron and Alora could handle things; he had nothing against Bajal and Dirkan, but Shalila and Tayla were not enormous concerns to him.   
  
Rojal remained behind and asked if he could come, but both Lektron and Alora declined. "You've done enough for now, Rojal, but it's time for you to go. Alora and I can handle things from here." And Rojal reluctantly left. By that time, all of the Astorians and Calmagians had fled the ballroom and were now in the labyrinths once more.  
  
The ballroom continued to shake and collapse, as Alora and Lektron made their way out of the room to head upstairs. Flirtius managed to reach the labyrinth entrance to escape, but Reccor wasn't so lucky. He was the last one to reach the labyrinths, but he would not make it out.  
  
At that moment, a huge pillar fell over towards the labyrinth entrance and came crashing down on Reccor's head, bashing his skull in. He was killed instantly, never knowing what hit him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Upstairs in Shalila and Dirkan's bedroom…  
  
Seductia had been performing a striptease for Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon, whom she had ordered to watch her dance. She now had her perfect breasts bared, and she had been doing a lap dance on the bewitched Dirkan, who was smiling stupidly at her, when she felt the entire building shake. The bed where Shalila and Dirkan had been using for the past few weeks fell down with two of the legs breaking, and Bajal and Raakon fell over on each other, trying not to fall down.   
  
The castle shaking jolted Shalila out of her unconsciousness, and she was now fully awake. Seductia had ordered Bajal and Raakon to hang Shalila from a ceiling lamp by her wrists, with those wrists tightly bound to restrain Shalila's ki. The ceiling lamp that had been holding her by her wrists suddenly broke free from the ceiling, and poor Shalila fell to the ground, with her wrists still bound. She struggled vainly and weakly against the wretched fan that her wrists were tied to.  
  
Seductia clung to Dirkan as the ceiling began to crumble around them. "What's going on?" she cried in uncharacteristic fear.  
  
Shalila knew; she could feel Tayla's ki, and it was three times as strong as before.  
"Tayla…" she whispered hoarsely. "What's happened to you? Why are you doing this?"  
  
The entire room shook harder, as if trying to bring itself down.  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila cried, sensing that her favorite was in great pain. "My little poor dandelion…"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the edge of the city of Magan…  
  
Norbrook and Caline were already out of the labyrinths, with Norbrook holding Caline at gunpoint when they had felt the ground shaking throughout the city of Magan. They could see the Chateau de Tamilieu shake severely, as if an invisible hand was shaking it. But the city near the castle was trembling violently as well. Norbrook and Caline could see the trees falling down and several small buildings collapse. Caline cried out with fright, both in fear of the quake and in hopes that someone would hear her and come save her. No one came to her aid; Caline's friends and family were not nearby enough to hear her.  
  
At first, before the shaking had begun, Caline had felt a sudden, heavy hurt in her heart, as if a piece of it had been torn away. She could not identify the feeling, but she felt as if she had lost something or someone very important. Why was she feeling this way? Where had this ache, this sudden burst of emotional pain come from? She then suddenly screamed out for that reason alone, as if she were mourning for this loss that she could not explain.  
  
"Stop screaming!" Norbrook ordered Caline, poking the gun deeper into her back. The general was terrified of the quaking himself, but he was not about to lose his "prize". It had taken him forever to get Princess Caline, and he intended to keep her, planet quake or no planet quake.  
  
Caline, feeling as if she nothing left to lose, decided to chance Norbrook's gun and scream anyway. "SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE! SOMEONE SAVE ME! GENERAL NORBROOK'S ABDUCTED ME! HELP, PLEASE! I'M BEING ABDUCTED!"  
  
"Shut up, I said!" Norbrook growled, as he noticed a skycar. He poked Caline with his laser gun again and roared, "Let's go! We're getting out of here, you and I! I don't want to hurt you, Princess, but if you try to escape or resist me…well, I don't want to even describe the consequences. Remember the connections I have, little one, and I can easily turn you over to one of Frieza's men, should you anger me enough. I don't want to give you up, so let's go!"  
Norbrook seized Caline by her hair, taking her by gunpoint to the skycar, the same skycar where the Saiyans had forced Dollan to bring them to Magan in. The doors were unlocked, and Norbrook shoved Caline into the driver-side seat, and then he forced her over to the other side, keeping his gun on her.  
  
"You keep your mouth shut," Norbrook growled at his intended bride. "We're leaving this side of Calmag to go to my summer home on the other side. We're going to wait the war out there and hide there. I'm keeping you with me, even if we wind up having to leave Calmag. Don't do anything stupid, and you won't get hurt."  
  
Caline's face was paler-than-pale, and she cowered near the passenger-side door. If only she knew how to fly! She could have escaped through that door, if she had known! But because she couldn't, all she could do was cry. Finally Norbrook ordered her to put her head in his lap, still holding his gun on her. Caline reluctantly did so, still crying in terror, as she tried to turn onto her stomach. Norbrook, however insisted that she lie on her back, and she had no choice, but to obey him. He used his hand that was holding the gun to drive, still holding his weapon. He used his free hand to smooth Caline's hair, and then his hand slid down towards her small chest. He massaged one of Caline's small breasts gently, and then he rubbed her arm, enjoying the soft, white skin. She cringed and tried to pull away from him, but his hand held her down firmly.  
  
Norbrook said in what he considered to be a soothing voice, "Now, princess, I don't mean you any harm. I just had wanted you for myself for a while, and unlike Dunlop, I'm not going to beat you for every little thing that you do wrong. I just want you as my bride, that's all. I'm sure you'd prefer me over Sedemeyer. Now just relax, little one; if you're nice and obedient, I won't hurt you."  
  
"I want to leave," Caline sobbed, tears running down her white face.  
  
Norbrook continued to run his hand along her small body. "You'll like it with me, I promise. Now stop fretting, and be a good girl now. I'm going to take care of you, just as long as you please me." His hand lightly patted her bottom. "You're a cute little thing, princess, liked you for a long time."  
  
Caline froze in pure terror, as she huddled into herself.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the Angori Hotel in Magan…  
  
Toria, Kekron, and Veal had been helping hostages into the hotel when the whole city of Magan had started to shake. Several unstable buildings had crumbled; thankfully no one had been in them, and some CRP officers and firemen were scattered throughout the city, checking to see if anything caught on fire. Toria was now standing on the sidewalk right outside the entrance to the hotel, anxiously watching the shaking castle farther away.  
  
The High Priestess of Astoria could feel Tayla's ki, and it was so strong now that it was causing the city to shake. Toria could sense the grief and anguish in Tayla's ki signature, and she could feel that Ridikar was no alive. Toria pitied both Tayla and Ridikar, a young man who would never be able to make up fully for the things that he had done in the past.  
Toria was now debating if she should leave to go back to the castle, even though none of her magic would work well enough there to help Tayla and her family fight. However, she was leaning towards going anyway to see what she could do when little Tila came running up to her.  
  
"Great-Aunt Toria!"  
  
Toria bent down to a frantic, panting Tila. "What is it, little one?"  
  
"Kekron and Veal left! Veal heard Caline screaming, and Kekron could hear it too 'cause Veal had accidentally coughed in his ear earlier, so he can hear as good as she does! Kekron left right away, and Veal went with him even though a CRP officer told them not to go! Nikon, Tayka, and I wanted to go too, but Kekron said no, stay here."  
  
Toria didn't reply at first; instead she sensed the ki signatures of Kekron and Veal, and then she could sense Caline's ki, along with the ki of Norbrook, Caline's abductor. She meditated for a few moments, and then she turned back to Tila.  
  
"Little Tila," she told her great-niece. "Let them go for now. I want you to go back with the others."  
  
"But aren't you going to help them, Great-Aunt Toria?"  
  
"I am going to ask Captain Qatar of the CRP to follow them. I am going back to the castle to help the others."  
  
"But you're not a warrior, so won't that be dangerous?"  
  
"Yes, little one, it will be, but I must do what I have to do. Now go back and get yourself to safety!"  
  
"But what's making the shaking?"  
  
Toria said quietly, "It is your Aunt Tayla, little one."  
  
"Make her stop! Shaking's scaring me! Why is she doing it?"  
  
Toria said with tears glistening in her eyes, "She just lost someone that she cared for. She's not doing this to hurt anyone, my dear; she doesn't know what she's doing."  
  
"If you go, can you make her stop the shaking?"  
  
"I'll try, darling, I'll try. Your Aunt Tayla is hurting very much right now, so we must be patient."  
  
"Will you see if my parents are okay?"  
  
"Yes, little one, if I can get in the-" Toria's words were abruptly interrupted, as she suddenly fell to her knees, holding her head, as if she had been given a sudden headache. It happened occasionally whenever she had a strong, painful vision that she was being forced to witness in her mind.  
  
"Great-Aunt Toria! Are you okay?" Tila shrieked.  
  
Toria could not answer her, as her head suddenly felt, as if it were going to explode. She was now seeing what was happening to Tayla so clearly in her mind, it was as if she were there with Tayla herself…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the castle…  
  
Tayla's body shook and gave out sparks and electric currents for several more minutes, but then the shaking that she had been causing started to slow down. The currents dancing about her body disappeared, and her ki level toned down closer to normal for her. Tears continued to flow steadily down her face, however, as she finally allowed Bendros to take her into his arms. She buried her face into his arm and sobbed, as the violent shaking and quaking that her power had been causing earlier started to cease. Within minutes of Bendros holding her, the shakes and tremors stopped entirely, but Tayla continued to cry steadily.  
  
Diamonique had been clinging to an black metal statue in the hallway, wrapping her entire body around it. She had never been so unnerved by a child in her entire life. For the first time in a long time since Tayla had caused that mountain to crumble down upon her, Diamonique felt true fear. She looked frightfully at the strange Astorie girl who had caused this catastrophe just now, and she was in awe of Tayla's power. For the first time since she had met Tayla Chloe, Diamonique wondered if she had finally met her match outside of Frieza's Elite. And for the first time, she wondered, if now would be a good time to retreat.  
  
*My Kami, * Diamonique wondered. *That isn't a girl, or even a princess, that's a monster! *  
  
Tayla's loud sobbing had quieted down to a soft weeping, as Bendros rocked her back and forth gently in his strong, muscular arms. She finally opened her walnut-colored eyes, rubbing them as she did, and she looked at Ridikar, sleeping for all eternity.  
  
Gently, she partially wriggled her way out of Bendros's arms, and she inched closer to Ridikar's body with Bendros hovering nearby. She brushed the matted hair back from Ridikar's forehead gently and kissed his forehead softly, yet deeply.  
  
She could hear Ridikar's words still:  
  
* Sorry…Tayla…that I couldn't…have done more for you two…love you, princess…always will…always loved you. You…don't know…how happy…I was…day…you…forgave…me. *  
  
Tayla took Ridikar's cold hand and clasped it to her, kissing it gently.  
  
"I'm glad that I forgave you," she whispered. "You can rest in peace about that."  
  
* Look after…Caline…for me… *  
  
"Caline will be taken care of; she'll be happy. I'll look after her."  
  
*Get Diamonique…and her…com…rades…for me…please. Don't…let them…hurt…anyone…else. *  
  
When those words of Ridikar's passed through Tayla's mind, she gave his hand one last kiss and said in a new, stronger voice, "I won't, Ridikar; I won't let her and those like her hurt anyone else. They won't get away with their crimes, and they will pay, they will pay for their sins. I swear that to you Seven Moons." She held up seven fingers to seal her promise.  
  
Then solemnly, she eased herself out of Bendros's arms and arose. Before Bendros could prevent her, she steadily and bravely walked away from him and Ridikar's body towards Diamonique's direction.  
  
"Tayla!" Bendros cried out. "Come back! You are in no condition to be fighting her right now!"  
  
Tayla looked back at him, smiling sadly, with the smile not of a child, but of a new, young woman. Tayla's childhood was almost near its end, and Ridikar's death had started the death knell for it. After today, Tayla the child would no longer exist.   
  
She looked into Diamonique's eyes and saucer brown eyes stared off against beady black eyes for the beginning of the end-for both of them.  
  
The end of Diamonique's reign of terror.  
  
And again, the end of Tayla's childhood.  
  
Tayla said in a soft voice that was its normal dulcet tone, but was laden with deadly threat:  
  
"Ridikar will be your last victim, ever. You better start planning your greeting to Enma Daiou because you'll be meeting him long before I will."  
  
Diamonique climbed down off of the statue and said frostily with her nerve coming back to her, "Is that a threat, little girl?"  
  
"It's not a threat; it's a promise."  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: I can hear Ridikar fans cursing me now; poor Tayla and Caline. For those of you (those of you who are still reading this far anyway), Diamonique won't get away unscathed for her crimes. And neither will Seductia. What will these two cruel beauties do when a very angry young girl goes all out on them? I guarantee one thing: I can't whether she wins against them or not, but she won't be showing them any mercy. You hurt anyone that Tayla cares about and you hurt her, and Diamonique and Seductia are about to learn that the hard way.  
  
And of Caline? She has the worse luck, worser than even Tayla's. Will Kekron and Veal find her in time before Norbrook does anything to her? Where is Norbrook taking Caline, and what does he plan to do with her? All I can say is that Norbrook fully intends to follow in the footsteps of Alberm, and if Kekron and Veal don't find him and Caline soon, Caline may be reliving her worst nightmare all over again.  
  
And of Tayla's family and allies fighting Dodoria and the Ginyu Force? Well, both sides have retreated for right now, but for how long? Can Toria help, or will her family be able to solve their problems before she gets there?  
  
And what about Shalila and the men under Seductia's spell? Can Tayla end Seductia's evil (and those awful lines that Seductia's victims keep spouting such as "dab of pink pearl cream") once and for all?  
  
Find out the answer to some of these questions next time in Chapter 97: Comeuppance For Diamonique and Seductia  
  
A/N 2: I know some of you are wondering "where in the &*%$# is that last Chestra chapter?" To tell you the truth, I don't know still how I am going to end it! I know some people have been urging me to have Chestra's paternity and heritage revealed, but I doubt that I will let it be known to Chestra's comrades in that story. They will find out eventually, but it won't be until I come out with the sequel to TOA, called "Hope Never Dies".  
  
If any of you have any ideas (other than revealing Chestra's heritage), please let me know. Thank you for your patience.  
  
Sawnya 


	97. Comeuppance For Diamonique And Seductia

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Comeuppance For Diamonique And Seductia   
  
Bendros abruptly pulled himself to his feet and hurried over to Tayla's side. "Tayla, are you sure that you're up to challenging her?" he asked. "I can fight her in your place."  
  
Tayla looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand. She flew up to his face and gently kissed him on his firm cheek. "I appreciate, Bendros, really I do, but I have to do this. Ridikar sacrificed himself to save my life, and I can't let his death go unpunished."  
  
"Tayla, you don't have to face her right now. I can take her."  
  
"I'm sure that you could," Tayla told him softly. "But this is my fight. If she gets past me, then she's yours, but until then, it's just her and me. I don't want to risk losing another person that I care about very much, and I don't want your life to end like Ridikar's did. Please, Bendros, I have to do this; I have to. She's mine. For now this is between her and me. Please understand."  
  
"Tayla…" Bendros began, but she shook her head sadly.  
  
"Please step aside, Bendros. I'll need your help eventually, and I want you to stay alive for that, and for me. Oka? (Okay?)"   
  
Bendros sighed reluctantly, "Oka. Bur bi carfi." (Okay. But be careful.)  
  
"Donsen worrien. Willien." (Don't worry. I will.)  
  
Diamonique smiled, amused. "How touching. I'd eliminate him too, but that's all right; I can save him for later. So it's just you and me then, little girl?"  
  
"I'm not a little girl," Tayla told her coolly. "And yes, it's just you and me."  
  
"Let's get it on, brat," Diamonique hissed.  
  
"We're taking this outside," Tayla told her firmly. "I don't want any more innocent people hurt." She looked outside a broken window at the end of the hall to see a large, white cliff above the raging Shi River. The young princess pointed to the window showing the cliff.   
"We can fight on that cliff."  
  
"Fine with me, girlie," Diamonique said stiffly. "I'll be glad to give you what you deserve. At this point, I'll be happy to see you dead. Lord Frieza can well do without you."  
  
"Perhaps he could," Tayla told her sweetly. "It's possible that my power may unnerve him, as much as I know it has unnerved you."  
  
"Do you honestly think that your puny ki level would even faze me?" Diamonique stated arrogantly, hiding her fear of Tayla's powers as much as she could. Despite her brave words, the Gemstarian warrior knew that she had good reason to fear this difficult, bratty girl who was not going to make capturing her an easy feat.  
  
"I can sense your fear," Tayla told her evenly. "If you wish to leave now, I suggest that you do so immediately."  
  
"Ha!" Diamonique declared, squelching her anxiety about fighting Tayla again. "I'll see you there in fifteen minutes, girlie."  
  
"I'll be there in less time than that," Tayla promised her.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the outskirts of Magan in a cave on a cliff thirty miles from Tayla and Diamonique's chosen fighting location…  
  
Norbrook had parked the skycar on a cliff, and he had forced Caline out of the car at gunpoint. Caline was frantically trying to wonder how she was going to escape before Norbrook had the chance to try anything on her. They were now walking deep into the caverns, and Caline finally managed to speak up:  
  
"Why, General Norbrook? Why are you doing this? My family trusted you for many years, the same way that they did Alberm. How many more of you are working for Frieza?"   
  
"Only Dunlop and myself, princess. Your husband was a fine spy for a long time, I'll admit, but he became too sure of himself. We used to get along well, him and I, until the day your father announced that Dunlop was marrying you. Wanted you for myself for several years, but it was Dunlop who had the money and the connections, not I. Unlike Dunlop, I worked my way up to where I was today; he was born into wealth. But enough of that fat fool; he received what he deserved, and you don't seem to be grieving too much for him."  
  
Caline did not deny that; she felt no grief or regret for Alberm's death, only relief that he would not harm her anymore. She sorrowfully acknowledged to herself that his death had been horrible, but she held no grudge against Commander Jaden for killing him. Caline truly believed that Commander Jaden had killed Alberm because he was talking so badly to her; the Calmagian princess didn't know that Alberm's mistreating her had reminded Jaden too much of her own abuse at Sagash's hands. Commander Jaden had saved Caline from Alberm's clutches, for Caline knew well what Alberm was capable of when he was angry.   
  
She could remember the many nights when she had told Alberm that she did not want to sleep with him, but he had forced himself upon her almost every time. She had not been a real spouse to him; she had known all along that she had been little more than Alberm's legal sex slave, a concubine instead of a wife. Caline had known Alberm since she was seven years old, and she had always felt uncomfortable and afraid around him.   
  
She had never forgotten the time, when six months after she had turned ten years old, that Alberm had grabbed her in front of her father for the first time and kissed her hard on her lips. A humiliated Caline had kicked him hard in his ribs, and Alberm had actually fallen over backwards into an indoor fountain after releasing her! She had laughed at Alberm in his best suit, soaking wet. However, her laughter soon had stopped when her father had slapped her across her face in front of everyone! Alberm had tried to laugh Caline's assault off, but she could tell that she had angered him. Of course, he had done or said nothing when her father had hit her.  
  
It was several hours after that incident that Amitar had told her that he had already betrothed her to that awful man. Caline had fallen to her knees and tearfully begged her father not to make her marry Alberm, promising that she would be good and not cause him any more trouble, if she didn't have to marry that cruel nobleman. Amitar had turned a deaf ear to her pleas and told her to stop whining and be happy that a fine man like Alberm Dunlop would want her.  
  
She had known since she was nine years old that both Alberm Dunlop and Filcor Sedemeyer had wanted her, but she had never suspected General Narvo Norbrook of desiring her. Norbrook had always been like a gentleman towards her, and he had never even made on improper advance upon her. Caline believed that Filcor would kidnap her, especially after Ridikar had broken off their engagement, but she had never thought that Norbrook would be the one to come after her like this.  
  
She was still in shock over Norbrook's wanting her as a woman, and it scared her much more deeply than anyone had suspected, especially since she had once trusted him explicitly. Caline sobbed softly, as she remembered what Norbrook had done to her on the way to this cave. In the skycar, he had held her at gunpoint, told her to stay still or else, and molested her. Before he molested her, he had used some rope, the same rope that had been used to tie him up, to bind Caline's wrists together behind her slender back, as she lay with her head in his lap, terrified.   
  
Norbrook had set the skycar on automatic pilot, so that he would not need his hands to drive. He had cracked his window slightly for some fresh air. Then, keeping his gun on her, he had pulled up Caline's nightgown, up to her armpits and fondled her everywhere, using his free hand. He had talked to her lovingly while he had been caressing her, but his soft words had only served to terrify her more. Norbrook's touching her that way was just as traumatizing to her, as Alberm's raping and molesting her during their marriage had been. Caline was still shaken from the experience; Norbrook had been gentler than Alberm and Balair had been, but his unwanted touches were still as revolting to her as theirs had been.  
  
Would she always have to keep up her guard around man or boy for the rest of her life? What if Dirkan or Lektron or any of Lektron's male relatives secretly desired her? What if even Kekron was like that? Caline's small, white body trembled. Wasn't there any male besides Ridikar that she could trust? What if she was able to go home with the Astorians after all, and one or more of the Astorian men turned out to be another Alberm, Filcor, Balair, or Norbrook?   
  
Caline's earlier bravery and courage before Norbrook abducting her was fading away by the hour, and her fears were now threatening to cripple her. What was it about her that made so many older men want to bed her? Until recently, her fear of men had been limited to only Alberm, Amitar, Filcor, and eventually Balair, but now her fear of those males was starting to turn into terror of all men, even those she knew that she could trust.  
  
As tears flowed down her milky face, Caline made a painful decision: she was not going to Astoria with the Astorians, after all. She decided then and there on the slim chance that she escaped Norbrook that she would flee from everyone, forever. She was no warrior or soldier, so she knew that she would be of no further use to either the Astorians or CRP officers, now that the hostages were safe. She would go back to neither her family nor the Astorians; she could not take the chance of another trusted male hurting or molesting her.  
  
She would run away again, and this time, no one, not even Tayla's family, would be able to find her. She would do whatever she had to do to keep from being found. She could easily hide her identity again and become a maid, or a cook, or a nurse, or some occupation like that. It did not bother her to work with her hands and do chores; she would do anything to survive, as long as it did not involve indulging a male's attention. And she would never marry, or even allow a man or boy to court her. She would remain single and free for the rest of her life, no matter what.  
  
Tears flowed further down her soft, white cheeks, as she thought of having to leave Tayla, Gracina, Natala, and the other people she had come to love behind forever. She did love them dearly, but she felt she had to leave them too. After all, they weren't about to leave the men in their family behind, and Caline's fragile beliefs that there were males she could trust were dying fast. She could not chance even the Astorian men turning out to be like those she had known before.  
  
She had grown to especially love Gracina and Tayla, and it broke her heart, knowing that she was not going to see them again. Gracina had almost become like a new mother to Caline, and Tayla had been more like a sister towards her than Rosyn and Meyline had been. But sometimes you had to do what you had to do to survive.  
  
And she knew that her leaving would upset Ridikar for a long time, but he would soon be too occupied with his new royal duties, if he lived, if their side won the war. He'd be better off without her, anyway; she just seemed to cause problems between him and their brothers. No one would miss her for long, and she would eventually learn to do without them. A lesser princess like herself would soon be forgotten.  
  
But first, she had to find a way to escape Norbrook's clutches.  
  
Only question was…how?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the sky, over the outskirts of Magan…  
  
From a long distance, Kekron and Veal had been able to hear Caline's sobs and Norbrook's soft words to Caline in the skycar. Kekron had told Veal that Norbrook must have had a window open because he had learned weeks ago that most of Calmag's skycars were soundproof. Both teens suspected the worst, and Kekron was uncharacteristically angry; he strongly believed that Norbrook had touched Caline without her permission.  
  
"I'll kill him!" Kekron vowed aloud with such unusual fury that Veal shrank away from him. In the four years she had known Kekron, she had never seen him this livid. Kekron had always been such a gentle, sensitive, very mature young man who rarely ever gave a thought to violence. He was one of the most even-tempered young men that Veal had ever known, and to see him in this rage, no matter how justified, was a scary thing to her.  
  
Kekron had noticed Veal's reaction, and he apologized, saying, "I'm sorry to scare you like that, Veal, but I can't help it. Norbrook turned out to be no better than Alberm Dunlop or Filcor Sedemeyer, and it just angers me that he would want to touch Caline as well! Caline does not deserve any more abuse! She's a sweet, gentle, loving girl who deserves much better than a monster like Norbrook!"  
  
Veal said softly, trying to remain calm, "You like her, don't you? You must like her a lot."  
  
Kekron's rage ebbed briefly, and he blushed ever so slightly, unable to look at the Meatian girl. "Yes," he admitted shyly. "I like her a lot. I know she's too young for me now, and she's still a little girl, but-"  
  
"She'll be old enough in a few years?" Veal finished. "She is still a little girl now, but she's already fairly mature for her age, I think. If you don't mind my saying so, I think that you would be good for her, and she would be good for you. You two seem to be suited to each other, and if we live through this war, then maybe you two could get to know each other better."  
  
Kekron looked at Veal with his heart in his eyes, and Veal patted his back comfortingly. She said as calmly as possible:  
  
"Don't worry, Kekron. If you two are meant to be together, then you will be. I know that sounds odd from someone who comes from a culture of arranged marriages, but I truly believe now if two people are meant to be together, then it will happen."  
  
She then continued softly, "We'll find her, Kekron, we will."  
  
Kekron nodded worriedly, hoping that she was right.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the cliff where Tayla and Diamonique have chosen to fight…  
  
Diamonique was sitting impatiently on a rock when Tayla showed up in less than the set fifteen minutes (she had shown up in twelve). Diamonique took in the girl's appearance for several moments and then her own. Diamonique was still wearing her battered Top Elite armor, and Tayla was dressed only in an undershirt, her pants, and her patched gray boots that were about to fall apart. Diamonique privately thought that Tayla didn't look much like a princess; she had heard that Princesses of Chloe were beautiful, well-dressed women, although extremely conservative in their appearances. She looked down her pointed, perfect nose at Tayla, trying to make the girl feel inferior with withering glances. It didn't work, for Tayla's fierce demeanor was now as present as ever, if not more.  
  
Diamonique shuddered at Tayla's merciless, determined facial expression. The fresh scars on Tayla's face that she had inflicted only added to the girl's new dangerous look. From what she had been able to glean of Tayla's fighting ability and strength, Diamonique knew that she was slightly stronger than Tayla according to brute strength, but Tayla's speed and ki attack abilities were equal to hers. She then wondered if she should just turn Tayla into a diamond statue and save herself the trouble of fighting her.  
  
*No*, Diamonique thought to herself. *I will defeat this brat and have my vengeance on her for causing me so much trouble. If I have to kill her, I will. Lord Frieza will just have to get it over it; he has enough powerful warriors working for him, and she would just give him grief. I'm actually doing him a favor. *  
  
Tayla then walked slowly towards Diamonique and said quietly, "Are you ready?" She looked steadily at her opponent, as she held Bendros's sword in her hands; Bendros had insisted on her taking it with her.  
  
Diamonique arose, strutting herself towards her opponent. She said stiffly, "I've been ready. Be prepared to die."  
  
"I may die today," Tayla told her calmly. "But it won't be by your hand."  
Diamonique decided to make the first move, and she flung a medium-sized ki blast at Tayla, who crossed her arms in Mirror Shield position and deflected the attack right back onto her. The Gemstarian warrior fell backwards, but after two minutes, she began to recover.  
  
Just as she was recovering, however, Tayla flung herself at her, punching her hard in her face. Diamonique then slashed Tayla's side with her sharp nails, causing indigo blood to spurt out. The injury was not severe enough to stop Tayla in her tracks, however, and she was able to land her foot into Diamonique's stomach. Diamonique then tried to aim a freezing laser at Tayla's heart, but before she could even launch the ki blast, Tayla seized her wrist and twisted it hard, making her scream. Diamonique then tried to claw Tayla's face again with her free hand, but Tayla used Diamonique's captured arm to block the attack. She then slammed her tiny fist into Diamonique's jaw.  
  
Diamonique made another attempt to claw Tayla's face again, but Tayla kicked her hard in her stomach and fell back. Diamonique then launched herself upon the girl and punched her in her scarred cheek before Tayla could prevent it. Tayla responded by kneeing Diamonique between her legs, and then the two began to hit and kick at each other as hard as they could. Kicks, chops and punches dominated their fight for the next ten minutes until Diamonique abruptly left Tayla and flew into the air to launch a regular ki blast.  
  
The large ki blast that Diamonique had released sped towards Tayla like a comet, but Tayla used Mirror Shield to deflect it back at Diamonique. Diamonique dodged her own ki blast by inches, as she fell back and prepared to launch another ki missile upon the girl. This one Tayla was also able to use Mirror Shield to prevent, and Diamonique dodged it again.  
  
Diamonique then used her eye lasers from the air to shoot at Tayla, and these were too quick for Tayla to use Mirror Shield on, so she kept dodging and dancing around the eye blasts that her opponent kept sending her. Black shafts kept raining around her, but Tayla was able to avoid every one, as she managed to fly into the air.  
  
She then decided that she didn't want to waste too much time fighting Diamonique, so she began to draw upon her life force to back her ki attacks up. She then powered up, preparing for a Blitzer attack, but before she could do so, Diamonique shot more eye lasers at her, and Tayla was forced to stop and dodge the attacks. Diamonique kept firing more eye blasts at her so quickly that she had no time to prepare for her Blitzer or Double Janus Bolt attacks. She used one-handed Mirror Shields to deflect Diamonique's eye lasers away from her, but she could not deflect any of them back onto her opponent.  
  
Finally Tayla flew up higher into the air, further away from Diamonique. Her enemy followed her, as Tayla fired a ki blast at a pile of large boulders on a smaller cliff that was set upon the larger cliff where she and Diamonique had started their next battle. Diamonique was right in the path of the boulders, as they started tumbling towards her.  
  
Diamonique at first laughed when she saw the boulders falling towards her, and she began to fire eye and hand lasers at them to shatter the huge boulders. Tayla fired another ki blast at the pile of boulders, and those boulders kept Diamonique busy as well.  
  
"Stupid brat," she muttered, as she kept firing at the boulders that fell towards her. A particular huge boulder fell towards Diamonique's head, and Diamonique shot another ki blast at it, completely occupied with it and the other falling rocks.  
  
But what Diamonique didn't know was that Tayla had been using the time wisely to power up for her Double Janus Bolt attack. Tayla put her hands together in a praying position once more, drew on her life force, and then thrust her hands apart. Holding her hands at the same ninety-degree angle as before, she then threw them back together side by side, and then she shot out two silvery bursts of ki from her palms. The two bolts of light whirred through the air, whistling loudly, as one suddenly crashed into Diamonique, piercing her chest while the other one struck her from behind. The streams of ki collided with each other inside of Diamonique's body, and before Diamonique knew it, she was being electrocuted from the inside out. She screamed in terror and pain, as her body began to fry and crackle in mid-air. Two boulders fell towards her, and the bigger one hit her hard on her head, and the rock sent her crashing to the ground. Within seconds, her body hit the ground with the impact of a plane crashing, and that was when Tayla made her next move.  
  
A severely wounded Diamonique tried to rise again, but then Tayla sent her a second Double Janus Bolt attack, and this move hit her much quicker than the first attack did. This second one had involved Tayla using more of her life force than before, and this time the ground beneath Diamonique began to crumble, as she was still being electrocuted. Diamonique screamed loudly, her shrill sounds nearly busting Tayla's eardrums. The ground beneath the Gemstarian warrior collapsed under her completely, and Tayla quickly retreated away from both cliffs, as both natural structures began to fall into millions of pieces and clouds of debris and dust.  
  
"TAY…LA…YOU…LITTLE MONSTER! I'LL…GET…YOU!" And those were the last words that Tayla would hear from Diamonique, as the cliffs fell apart completely into a giant cloud of dust.   
Tayla flew further and further away, as the dust began to slowly settle.  
  
Within ten minutes, the collapsing had stopped, and there were no more of those cliffs left, and Tayla hoped, no more Diamonique.  
  
She floated down slowly to the top of a plateau, as she watched the clouds of dust began to dissipate. She was exhausted now and out of breath, and she would have to wait a bit for her life force to restore itself. She had used the maximum that she could expend without wearing herself down; Diamonique had been somewhat easier to defeat than Vegeta had been. Diamonique was in a higher position than Vegeta, but she did not have Vegeta's brute strength, or his extensive repertoire of ki attacks. Tayla could no longer sense Diamonique's ki, and she hoped that this time, it would stay gone.  
  
She then whispered, as she suddenly began to weep, "You've been avenged, Ridikar, I hope." And then she allowed herself to cry louder for a few minutes, for she then realized that defeating Diamonique would not restore Ridikar's life. No amount of vengeance can ever bring back someone's life, or repair the damage that the receiver of the revenge had caused. All vengeance did was bring relief (and sometimes joy, depending on the person) to the avenger and bring justice for the victims, but that was all it could do. Vengeance could not ever resurrect dead victims, turn back time, or repair the damage or pain that it was being used to avenge. Tayla's heart and soul hurt when she thought about this. She understood now why some races and species preached against revenge; she had finally understood truly why her brother, Raakon, had once turned his back on fighting. He had known all along what she had just learned.  
  
Raakon had once said in a lecture during one of the lessons he had been teaching her that vengeance was best left to fate and the Kais, and Tayla had asked why. Raakon said that she would learn soon enough, and she now she had. Most of the time, only fate and the Kais could truly use vengeance properly, without causing more pain than necessary. She had been extremely hard on Diamonique, especially when Diamonique could not fight her back anymore. But she had been so angry over Ridikar's unjust death and her own horrific abuse at Diamonique's hands that all she had been able to think about was destroying the cruel Gemstarian woman.  
  
It made her feel better that Ridikar was now avenged, but it did not make her feel good to know of the harsh tactics she had used to defeat her cruel opponent. Of course, Diamonique had done wrong, but Nama had once said before that two wrongs don't make a right. But was defeating Diamonique really a wrong? At least, she wouldn't be able to hurt others anymore.  
  
That was what Tayla would focus on, and she managed to put aside her uneasiness about what she had done. She could not be shy about eliminating a threat, no matter what.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In Shalila and Dirkan's bedroom…  
  
Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon had been standing guard in front of Shalila, and Dirkan was completely naked, having stripped himself on Seductia's orders. Seductia had recovered quickly from the trauma that Tayla's ki quakes had caused, and she had turned back to seducing Dirkan. After some thought, however, she had left to go find Diamonique to see if her ex-trainer still lived. She had commanded Dirkan to stay naked until she returned. Seductia had been exclaiming delightedly at the thought of sleeping with Dirkan, and she hadn't hesitated to taunt Shalila cruelly about bedding Shalila's husband. Shalila, who had now been gagged, hadn't been able to respond. Once Seductia had left, Shalila's gag had fallen out of her mouth.  
  
Shalila had had her wrists rebound, and Bajal, on Seductia's orders, had hung her by her wrists on a coat hook. Suddenly, she noticed a change over the men, as Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon seemed to return to their normal selves (just as Bendros had hoped). Dirkan was shocked to find himself naked, and even more shocked to find his wife hanging from a coat hook. Bajal and Raakon were equally stunned, and they both wondered how they had arrived in Dirkan and Shalila's room.  
  
Dirkan shoved past both of Shalila's grandsons to reach his badly injured wife. He embraced her tightly, nearly in uncharacteristic tears. "Shalila…" he whispered.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila shrieked. "You…you are back to normal!" Tears of shock and joy burst from her soft, gray eyes.  
  
"What happened to you?" he cried in horror. "Who injured you like this? I'll kill whoever did this!" He took her down from the coat hook and quickly untied her. Shalila threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, glad to have her mate back to normal again.  
  
"Dirkan," she sobbed. "Oh, Dirkan…my Dirkan…never thought that you would be back to your old self again!" The confused Namek embraced her tightly, pulling her against him. He felt himself become aroused, and he remembered that he was naked. He quickly pushed himself away from his wife and looked about for something to cover himself with.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila couldn't help, but laugh. "Why are you rushing about? You don't have anything that I haven't seen before, silly! Why are you embarrassed to be naked in front of me now?"  
  
Dirkan couldn't help, but laugh himself. "I guess you're right, but your grandsons don't need to see my best friend down there!"  
  
Bajal managed to joke, "He's not the only one happy to see you, is he, Nama? His best friend rising between his legs seems delighted as well!"  
  
"Bajal!" Shalila scolded sharply, embarrassed.  
  
"Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" Dirkan growled, as he managed to pull on his pants.  
  
"But what happened?" Raakon asked. "How did we get here? And where is Tayla? And Zarbon and Diamonique?"  
  
Shalila suddenly had to sit down, and she grew very sad.  
  
"Something has happened to that poor girl," she whispered. "I could feel her grief, her pain."  
  
"For who, Nama?" Raakon asked.  
  
"And how did we get here?" Dirkan wanted to know.  
  
Shalila stood up quickly and spoke, "Listen, Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon, I will have to explain what happened to you three later. First, we need to go out into the garden and gather some more of Caline's roses to heal ourselves. Then we can go find out what happened to that whore, Seductia. I just hope that poor Tayla and Bendros are okay. I have a feeling Seductia's spell has been broken, and I don't know how or who broke it, but I am very, very grateful, and I will see that the person who did it is richly rewarded."  
  
"Seductia must have enchanted us," Dirkan concluded.  
  
"That's exactly what happened," Shalila explained to her husband.  
  
"You mean that I was acting like Dirkan and Private Gauze when they were under that woman's spell?" Bajal asked, stunned. "There was no way that she could have bewitched me!"  
  
"Oh, but she did," Shalila told him.  
  
"I hope that I didn't spout any ridiculous garbage like they did?"  
  
"I'll just put it this way," Shalila said slyly. "I believe that you will miss your 'dab of pink pearl cream'."  
  
"Dab of what???" Bajal exclaimed.  
  
"Heh, heh, at least I'm sure I didn't say that rubbish," Dirkan quipped.  
  
Shalila said sweetly, "Well, my darling, for a while, Seductia was your queen of all sunsets and your mistress of the moonlight."  
  
Dirkan's green face would have paled, if it had been possible. His eyes and his mouth were wide open in horror. "I-I said stuff like that?"  
  
"I called her my dab of pink pearl cream?" Bajal exclaimed, horrified.  
  
"Well, at least you didn't call her 'sweetest of all candy canes' or 'sweet apple', but perhaps your brother here would know something about that. Raakon, I'm surprised at you; normally you come up with better compliments that aren't so mushy. I've never known you to call Natala your 'pink buttercup' or 'queen of the loveliest stars' or was that sunsets?"   
  
Even Raakon was embarrassed by this time. He just hoped that Natala would understand once she had learned that he had been following around another woman. He looked at a blushing Bajal, and he knew that his older brother was hoping the same thing with Alora.  
  
Dirkan was blushing a bright purple, for he couldn't look his wife in her face. Shalila looked at all three of her beloved men and sighed. She would wait until the war was over to tell him of the more dangerous, near-deadly things they had done while they were under Seductia's spell.  
  
She just hoped that the little tramp was dead. If not, Seductia would be by the time Shalila crossed paths with her again. At this time, Shalila could not sense her ki.  
  
Hopefully, that was a good sign.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Twenty minutes after Diamonique had been defeated, and ten minutes before Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon had been removed from Seductia's spell…  
  
Bendros had found Bajal's sword lying on the floor, and he was thankful to have a blade again. He was about to go upstairs, after sensing the ki signatures of Shalila and the others when Seductia suddenly teleported in front of him. She was coming to find Diamonique to see if Diamonique was still alive, in hopes that Diamonique would now give her a larger share of Frieza's reward.  
  
Bendros thought of a plan very, very quickly, and then he smiled somberly. And then, he put on the same slack smile as Seductia's victims and ran to her, throwing herself at her feet, crying joyously:  
  
"Seductia, my sweet, pure love of the universe, I wish to change sides and join you!"  
Seductia was taken aback, puzzled. "Wait a minute! You're not even under my spell!"  
  
Bendros took Seductia's hand and kissed it lightly. "You don't need those silly red balls to enchant me, my beautiful fairy fluff! I have been delighted with you for a long time; I was just too shy to show it! My sweet cherry taffy, do you know how much you enrapture me? I have admired you for some time, and I wish to become part of your court!"  
  
Seductia looked at Bendros skeptically. She was flattered, but she was too smart to fall for Bendros's seemingly mindless devotion right away. "You're very handsome and strong, but how do I know that this isn't a trick of yours? And where is Commander Diamonique?"  
  
"Forget about her!" Bendros declared. "She isn't worth your bother! You are ten times the woman that she is! Let me help you prove that, please! I am in love with you already, my princess of golden sunrises! Won't you give me a chance, please? I am so sorry that I hurt you earlier, and that I gave you so much grief! I just had to keep up appearances with the Superior Gran and Tayla around, you understand. Please give me a chance to prove my devotion to you, and with me, you won't even need to put me under that ridiculous spell. My love and dedication to you are real!"  
  
Seductia frowned. She wanted to believe him, but…  
  
"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
Bendros impulsively seized her into his arms and gave her a long, hard kiss on her lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth. He ran his hands over her curves, and Seductia couldn't help but be aroused by his sudden advances upon her. She melted against his body, running her hands along his muscled arms and returning his kiss. She slipped his tongue into his mouth, and their tongues danced together seductively inside each other's mouths. They pressed against each other, wrapping themselves around each other. Bendros continued to caress her body, as Seductia ran her fingers and tongue along his face. Finally, after about ten minutes, Seductia was breathless.  
  
"My Kami! I am amazed!" she cried out. "You're even better than Dirkan, and with you, it's for real!"  
  
"Of course it is, my chalice of sweetness!" Bendros crowed. "If I could, I would take you upstairs and prove my love and desire for you right now! I can outdo any Namek or pureblooded Astorian, I can assure you!"  
  
Seductia jumped into Bendros's arms, and she drew Bendros's hand to her left breast. Bendros caressed her left breast lightly, as his mouth fused with hers. His joyous expression saddened, and Seductia immediately noticed.  
  
"What is wrong, my darling?" she asked.  
  
"I am sorry, Seductia," he told her somberly. "I've no doubt that you pleased many a man and still could, but I won't be one of those men."  
  
Seductia grew alarmed. "Wh-what do you m-mean?"  
  
Bendros smiled sadly at her. "I didn't want to resort to this, and I'm sorry; if there was another way, I would take it, but I have to do this." And with that same sad smile, he pressed his hand harder against her breast and sent an electrifying ki blast through her heart. Seductia's mouth gaped open in horror, as she screamed. Bendros gently tossed her onto the floor, as she continued to scream.   
  
He had long ago surmised that Seductia was not as physically strong as most of her comrades; other than her Fatal Attraction Attack and Kiss of Death attack, she had no real powers. That was why it had been so easy for him to attack her, once her guard had gone down. He suspected that she would easily fall for a man whom she did not have to enchant with her Fatal Attraction Attack. He had a gut feeling that once Seductia was dead, her power over Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon would die with her.   
  
He took some pity on her, and in order to end her misery faster, the regretful Sastorian warrior plunged Bajal's sword through her heart. He hated to kill any woman, and taking a life like this wasn't like him at all. Like Tayla and Raakon, he could not take a life without some regret or guilt. However, he couldn't have defeated her, had Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon been around to help her.  
  
Within seconds, Seductia was dead, and orange blood seeped gently from her slim, once-beautiful body. Bendros withdrew his sword from her body and wiped it clean on the carpet.  
  
"I am sorry to kill you this way," he whispered. "But I couldn't let you do what you did to Tayla's family members to some other unfortunate victim." He then felt about Seductia's body for the stolen healing roses and found them. He tucked them into his pocket.  
  
He then pulled a tapestry down off of the wall, a lovely red and gold cloth and gently threw it over Seductia's inert body and face. He then took one last glance at her and went sensing about for Tayla's ki. He hoped that she would be okay.  
  
  
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A/N: I hope that battle wasn't anticlimatic; I wasn't planning until today to have Bendros kill Seductia himself. Anyway, both Diamonique and Seductia got what they deserved--for now. Seductia is definitely dead, but is Diamonique? And what of Caline? Find out next time.  
  
Thanks for reading still! 


	98. Rescue Caline!

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Rescue Caline!  
  
Norbrook had taken Caline and rushed her deeper into the cave. "We must go for cover," he ordered his victim. Caline wished she knew what was going on, as Norbrook picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running deeper into the caverns below with her. Her wrists were still bound, and she was all cried out. She just felt extremely depressed and hopeless.  
  
She had to find a way to escape him, but how?   
  
Norbrook finally found an alcove in one of the lower caves, and he carried Caline inside. The alcove was hollowed out completely, a secure burrow just large enough for the two of them. The molesting general lay her down, and he lay down beside her.  
  
"I'm going to take care of you, little princess," he whispered. "We're going to wait here until the war is over. I'm no longer concerned at this point whether Frieza's forces or our people or the Astorians win or not."  
  
"Why don't you just let me go?" Caline pleaded. "You can go wherever you want, and I won't expose you. I just want to leave."  
  
"We're leaving together," Norbrook assured her, stroking her hair. Caline cringed and tried to pull as far away from him as possible, but Norbrook just pulled her small, soft body back against his. Caline's terror increased, especially after the poor child felt his arousal harden against her stomach.  
  
She had to get away from him, but how?  
  
"Please let me go," she whispered. "You said that you weren't going to hurt me. Please let me leave, and I won't tell anyone where you went."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't," he told her softly. "I'm about to lose everything that I have, and you are all that I have left."  
  
"What about your children?" Caline asked.  
  
"They can do without me. They have for a long time. If Frieza learns that I am still alive, he will kill me for my failure."  
  
"He'll never have to find out!" Caline protested. "I won't tell anyone! Please let me leave!"  
  
Norbrook only pulled her closer to him. "I'm not letting you go; you were meant to be mine, princess."  
  
"You can't marry me without the permission of Ridikar or my grandfather," Caline insisted. "The marriage won't be legal." She decided on one last tactic. "If you wish to marry me that badly, why don't we find Ridikar, or our grandfather, and they can decide? Surely they-"  
  
"They'll have me killed for treason!" Norbrook's voice suddenly took a hard edge that sent a chill down Caline's spine. "I'm not concerned with legalities, princess, just having you for myself. I'm not freeing you. You'll learn to be happy with me, I promise. Let me show you…" He then pulled her down beneath his body. Caline began to writhe and kick at him, but with no success.  
  
"Let me go!" she screamed. "I don't want to do this with you! NO! Let me go!"  
  
Norbrook raised his body up slightly, but only long enough to shove her dress up to her armpits again. Caline squirmed and thrashed about, but she could not prevent him from tearing off what undergarments she had left. He fondled and kissed the girl's body gently for a few minutes, but when Norbrook tried to touch her again, but before he could do so, his scouter (which he had taken back from Baraki) beeped. Norbrook growled in frustration, and he rolled over to his side, taking Caline with him.  
  
"Keep quiet," he ordered her. He pressed a button on the device, and Zarbon's voice came through:  
  
"Narvo Norbrook? Where have you been?"  
  
"Um…just been finding a safe place to hide 'til that quake was over, Commander."  
  
"I need you to do something for me immediately. We have some serious problems; Tayla's family still needs to be destroyed, and I cannot reach either Diamonique or Seductia. And now we don't know where Tayla Chloe went to; I need you to go find the girl. Capture her, if you can, but if you cannot, at least contact Dodoria or myself, and we will come get her."  
  
"May I ask where you and Commander Dodoria are at now?"  
  
"We are hiding in some underground caverns, but we are about to leave. We still can't figure out what caused that tremendous planet quake, but we can't let Tayla's family escape. And Calmag must still be cleared and conquered. We still have two-thirds of this planet to clear, and the Astorians have been stalling us forever. I am still trying to contact Diamonique and Seductia, but with no success. Norbrook, I need you to locate the girl immediately. We must go now and destroy what's left of Tayla's family; Lord Frieza will have our skins if we allow Shalila Chloe and her kin to live this time. His reaction in the aftermath of the Battle of Chloe is not one that I wish to endure again."  
  
"Yes, Commander, consider it done."  
  
"I am sending Dodoria to find you; he will help you search for Princess Tayla and recapture her."  
  
"Yes, Commander."  
  
And when they cut off communication, Norbrook pulled Caline's dress down again and picked her up, putting her on his shoulder again. "We have to go, princess. I have to get back to work. Apparently, they know that I'm still alive, and they're not plotting my demise yet. Perhaps, if I capture your friend and get that huge reward Frieza promised, they will let me live, hmm?" he said softly, turning her small head towards his and kissing her roughly on her rosebud lips. Caline fought down the bile rising up in her throat; his touching her was bad enough, but his kissing her was far worse. He had kissed her several times earlier, and each time he did, she wanted to vomit. His kisses were just as revolting as Alberm's.  
  
She was very, very tired; she had not slept for a while except for those few hours down in the labyrinths just before Shalila Chloe had faked her surrender to Frieza's forces with Flirtius's help. Those hours of rest were the last ones before Shalila's family had left to attack Frieza's soldiers above. Caline was now too afraid to go to sleep; she was in Norbrook's clutches, and who knew if she would wake up again?  
  
Keeping his gun on her once more, Norbrook carried Caline out of the alcove into the main caverns.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the way back to the castle…  
  
Tayla was about to return to face down Seductia when she sensed the ki signatures of Kekron and Veal nearby. She then saw them flying in the opposite direction away from her, and she sped towards them with the speed of an eagle on Earth. Within minutes, she had caught up with the two wanderers, concerned for their safety.  
  
Kekron and Veal were shocked to see Tayla again, even though they both had sensed her ki coming. "Tayla?" Kekron gasped.  
  
"Kekron? Veal? What are you two doing here? It's too dangerous for you two to be out here!" Tayla exclaimed. "You two need to go back!"  
  
"We can't, Tayla," Kekron insisted to his young aunt. "Caline's in trouble. Norbrook has kidnapped her."  
  
"What?" Tayla shrieked. "But how?"  
  
"We're not exactly sure," Veal admitted. "All we know is now that General Norbrook has taken her, and from what we've heard, wants her for himself as well."  
  
Tayla paled. She had known before Kekron and Veal of Norbrook's interest in Caline, but she never believed until now that Norbrook would be able to act on it.  
  
"Veal," she began softly. "Would you breathe in my ears?"  
  
"Sure," Veal told her, and she did what Tayla asked. Tayla's hearing increased dramatically, and while she could not hear the voices of either Caline or Norbrook, she could hear Zarbon's voice, and a rough, deep voice that she did not recognize from far off where she was. From many miles away, she could hear Zarbon address the owner of the deep voice as Dodoria.  
  
And from the castle twenty miles away from her, she could hear the veiled voices (the castle was mostly soundproof) of her Nama, Dirkan, Raakon, and Bajal! She could then hear a window open up, and the voices of her family members now came through loud and clear. Dirkan was reassuring Nama that they would find Tayla in time to keep her out of the clutches of Frieza's soldiers, and Bajal was ribbing Raakon about calling Seductia his "sweet apple". Raakon gave it back to Bajal, saying at least that he didn't say anything as ridiculous as "dab of pink pearl cream" or "honey lover". The two brothers allowed themselves to laugh, and Tayla herself couldn't help but chuckle. Her beloved Nama was safe, and her dear guardian and brothers were back to their old selves.  
  
*Thank Kami* she thought. *No more mushy lines…ugh! *  
  
She then heard Bendros talk to himself, saying that at least Seductia wouldn't hurt anyone anymore. That meant that Seductia had been defeated! Bendros must have done it! Tayla's heart swelled with tremendous pride for her crush.   
  
She then threw her arms around Veal and squeezed her tightly. Then before the astonished Veal could respond or speak, Tayla flew over to Kekron and hugged him tightly as well.   
  
Surprised, Kekron hugged her back. "What was that about?"  
  
"Just because! Now come on!" she cried. "Let's go find Caline!"  
  
"Speaking of Caline, how's her brother, Ridikar?" Kekron asked. "Is he still okay?"  
  
Tayla's face crumbled, and her voice trembled, as she told them very briefly what happened to Ridikar. She also told them about Norbrook working for Frieza. After hearing the news about Ridikar, Kekron patted Tayla's back and pitied her and Caline.  
  
"Poor Tayla…and poor Caline. As if she didn't have enough to endure."  
  
"If we find her," Veal spoke, "it's not going to be a happy homecoming for her."  
  
The others agreed, and all three of them were now trying to figure out how to break the sad news to their friend.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Near the caverns where Caline and Norbrook are located at…  
  
Dodoria had parted ways with Zarbon and the remaining Ginyu Force members; he was to go find General Narvo Norbrook and meet with him. Zarbon and the Ginyu Force members were on their way back to the castle to destroy the remaining Astorians and the Calmagians that had dared to challenge them.   
  
Dodoria didn't think much of anyone he considered weaker than him, and any Calmagian, including Norbrook and Alberm Dunlop, just happened to be under that category. He thought that he could have found Tayla Chloe and recaptured her himself; he didn't need that weakling Calmagian spy's help. He had committed Zarbon's description of Tayla (which Zarbon had received from Vegeta) to memory; the girl was of small build, skinny, long black hair, brown eyes, and according to one of Diamonique's earlier reports, also a bratty child with a smart mouth and no respect for her superiors.   
  
The girl was reported to have an enormous power level equivalent to a Saiyan's (after all she had defeated Vegeta, the strongest known of all of the "monkeys"). Dodoria, who held especial contempt for the Saiyan quartet, had actually laughed when he heard that Vegeta, the mightiest and most arrogant of the Saiyan warriors, had "his tail kicked by a scrawny Astorie brat" (Zarbon's words). The fat, pink warrior had heard earlier from Frieza that Vegeta had made death threats to nearly everyone who had dared to taunt him about that last defeat.  
  
Within twenty minutes, Dodoria had located Norbrook's location on his scouter, and he contacted the CRP general through his scouter: "Nelvin Norbrook?"  
  
Norbrook's voice came through as steady as possible: "Yes, Commander Dodoria? And that's Narvo Norbrook."  
  
"Yeah, whatever. Now stay where you are. I am coming to you. Have you located Princess Tayla yet?"  
  
"Not yet, Commander, but I'm working on it."  
  
"You better be," Dodoria growled. That Calmagie general better not be wasting his time.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later…  
  
Norbrook decided to wait for Dodoria, and the fat, pink Top Elite officer finally showed up on the top of Ryer's Cliff, the cavern-laden cliff where Norbrook had taken Caline. Dodoria landed on the ground near Norbrook and Caline as gracefully as possible for a huge, bulky warrior like himself.  
  
"Any luck finding the brat?" Dodoria demanded to know.  
  
"Cannot even locate her, unfortunately," Norbrook admitted.  
Dodoria recognized Caline on Norbrook's shoulder. "So, I see that you and Bali have the same taste in girls. What are you doing with her though? You don't have time right now to be screwing around." Caline turned her cornsilk head around to look at Dodoria, and her entire body shook. She had not forgotten Dodoria's cruelty or brutality towards his victims.  
  
"I intend to marry her," Norbrook stated firmly. "That's why I brought her with me."  
  
"Well, as long as she doesn't run her mouth or get in our way, I don't care," Dodoria grumbled. "C'mon, let's go find that brat, Tayla Chloe."  
  
He looked up into the sky, and although his scouter did not go off; he saw the silhouettes of three people hovering in the air. Dodoria only had average vision, so he demanded Norbrook's binoculars from him. The corpulent Elite fighter then used the binoculars to view the visitors. He then grinned and shoved the binoculars at Norbrook, who had laid Caline down on a flat rock for several minutes.  
  
Norbrook peered through the binoculars. "Commander, that little girl with the black hair is Tayla Chloe!"  
  
Dodoria grinned wider then. "Good, the prey has come to the hunters, instead of the other way around. Wait here, Nervo, I'll be back to fetch our quarry! I'm getting that reward for her! After all the grief I've been through, I deserve it!"  
  
"Good luck, Commander," Norbrook said, a bit nervously. He was always unnerved around any of Frieza's Top Elite officers, even Zarbon.  
  
"No!" Caline dared to cry against her better judgment. Dodoria turned around to address the girl.  
  
"No little girlie orders me!" he snarled at her.  
  
"Don't hurt Tayla, please!" Caline cried. "She's done nothing to you! Why do you and your friends have to take her away?"  
  
"Shut up, brat," Dodoria growled. "Tayla Chloe's not going to die; Frieza wants her brought to him alive."  
  
"Please leave her alone," Caline begged. "She doesn't want to work for Frieza! She-"  
  
She stopped protesting when Dodoria fired a small hand blast at her. It came within inches of her head.  
  
"Don't shoot at her!" Norbrook commanded.  
  
"Then keep her quiet!" Dodoria growled. "I hate a whiny female! Gag her! It's going to be enough to put up with that Astorie brat, Tayla Chloe, and I don't need two annoying girls blabbing their mouths. Stuff something in her mouth, now!"  
  
Norbrook had no choice, but to obey. He pulled a handkerchief out from his pocket and gagged Caline with it. She could barely breathe now. "She can't hurt anyone, Commander," Norbrook told him, as he picked up Caline into his arms.  
  
"Just keep her quiet," Dodoria ordered him, as he boosted himself off of the ground. Within seconds, he had gone to meet Tayla Chloe and her friends in the air.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The three rescuers knew that Dodoria was coming; they had heard the voices of Dodoria, Caline, and Norbrook. Tayla turned to Veal and Kekron and said:  
  
"You two get out of here! I'll deal with Dodo, as Nama calls him."  
  
"What about Caline? We can't leave her behind!" Veal protested.  
  
"You both told me that Norbrook has a gun," Tayla told her. "He could shoot at either one of you."  
  
"I know a few fighting techniques," Kekron pointed out. "And Norbrook isn't any stronger than I am, otherwise why would he need a weapon? I can fire some ki blasts and electrocute, thanks to Father, although fighting is not something that I like to do often. I can deal with Norbrook, Tayla, I can, but you're right in that Veal should leave."  
  
"But where should I go?" Veal asked. "I don't feel right about leaving you two."  
  
"Don't worry about that," Tayla told her. "If Kekron can deal with Norbrook, I can concentrate on fighting Dodo. From what I can sense, he's stronger than Diamonique and Vegeta, although he doesn't have a wide range of fighting techniques like they do. At least that is what I have been told. Dirkan told me long time ago that most of Dodoria's abilities lie in his brute strength and mouth blasts, but he lacks speed. Veal, you have to leave now, I am sorry, but this is too dangerous a place now for you to be in."  
  
"Then I'll go," Veal told her. "But you and Kekron be careful."  
  
"We will," Tayla promised her. "And you do the same. Just go back to the others. Kekron and I can hear as well as you at the moment, so we can make do."  
  
Veal said a quick goodbye and fled, as Dodoria finally met up with Tayla and Kekron. He then recognized Kekron from among the Astorian hostages, and he decided to eliminate the boy quickly. But before he could open his mouth to fire a ki blast at Kekron, Tayla flew at his stomach with her fist and landed a hard punch, forcing Dodoria's pudgy abdomen to cave in considerably. Dodoria bit his lip to keep from screaming.  
  
"Go, Kekron!" she shrieked. "Now!"  
  
Kekron flew off to find Norbrook and Caline. Within seconds, it was just Tayla and Dodoria.  
  
Dodoria snarled, "That's going to cost you, brat! So you're Tayla Chloe, eh? Not a bad punch coming from a scrawny thing like you, but not great! Hell, I heard that you defeated Vegeta, and Veggie must be losing his touch if an itty-bitty thing can defeat him. I'm curious as to why a tiny girl like you was able to beat him up."  
  
"'Cause I had to," Tayla told him simply. "Why don't you just go away and leave me and my family alone? I don't want to work for Frieza."  
  
"It doesn't matter what you want, brat. Frieza wants you for his army, and I intend to bring you to him and gain more favor from him. Make it easier and both of us and surrender."  
  
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Tayla said firmly. "I don't want to work for him, and he's just going to have to understand that."  
  
"You don't have a choice, girlie!" Dodoria snarled. "I'm amazed that you're actually the girl we've been searchin' for. What makes a tiny toothpick like you that special?"  
  
"Want to find out?" Tayla asked, realizing that mere threats and refusals would get her nowhere. Well, at least she tried talking things out.  
  
Dodoria grinned. He turned on his scouter, and Tayla's power level reading only came up at two thousand. He chuckled.  
  
"Hell, your ki level's not as high as it's been reported. I'll crush you in no time, and then you'll be beggin' for me to take you to Lord Frieza! I'm gonna catch you, little girlie. My scouter tells me that you're no stronger than the strongest Human, and that's not very strong. And to think that you defeated Vegeta; he must have been having an off day."  
  
"Whatever," Tayla said flippantly. She then turned her face away from Dodoria slightly and grinned secretly to herself. Nama was right when she said Dodoria had more blubber than brains; Dodoria should have known by now that Astorians could hide or repress their ki and fool those stupid scouters!   
  
But Nama had also warned her long ago that Dodoria had twice the brute strength of an adult Astorian, and probably three times that of a child Astorian. Dodoria was no genius, but who needed brains when you had more than enough brawn to take its place? He was considered to be among the deadliest of Frieza's Top Elite officers, and he was fourth on Intergalacticpol's Most Wanted List. Like, Frieza and other powerful Elite officers, he had the power to blow up a single planet easily! He had also been reported to be bisexual with an obsession for Frieza and Balair's appetite for young women. And Dodoria was known to only pick on those he considered to be weaker than he was; he was a grown-up bully who enjoyed using and abusing his immense powers. Tayla remembered from the Battle of Chloe stories that it had been Dirkan who had squashed the giant and put him in his place.  
  
"Okay, brat," Dodoria told Tayla. "I'm gonna make it easy for you; you surrender to me now, and I won't hurt you. Whaddya say?"  
  
"I say…if you want me badly enough, you're going to have to come get me first 'cause I'm not going to that nasty lizard-man, Frieza, without a fight. And you can tell him I said so."  
  
"How dare you insult my beloved liege?" Dodoria roared. "You ought to be grateful that he has chosen you! I'm gonna teach you a lesson for puttin' him down alone!"  
  
"Go ahead," Tayla said coolly. She then looked over at a tall mountain not too far from the cliff where Kekron had gone to confront Norbrook. "Let's fight over there, away from innocent people."  
  
"I could care less about the people of this wretched planet," Dodoria snorted. "But that's fine with me; gives me more room to maneuver."  
  
Tayla wisely decided not to speak her first thought upon that comment: that someone as fat as Dodoria would need all the room that he could get. Both warriors left for the mountain where they had chosen for their fight, and within ten minutes, they had arrived.  
  
The mountain was level on top, but plain with very few trees and shrubs. Tall, red grasses blanketed most of the mountaintop. There were no cliffs or plateaus or caves or even large rocks to get in their way; it was the perfect place for a fight.  
  
And Dodoria wasn't about to waste his time. He was ready to deal with the brat now.  
  
He flew at her, and Tayla put up her guard. Despite her brave words, she knew that taking down Dodoria would be harder than fighting Vegeta and Diamonique had been. Well, at least, he couldn't go Oozaru.  
  
Tayla flew at him, rising to meet his challenge.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kekron found Norbrook and Caline in no time, and he landed ten feet away from Norbrook. Norbrook was startled to see Prince Kekron Chloe here; why would he trouble himself to come here?  
  
Kekron decided to try to talk to Norbrook first before fighting him. The CRP general had a gun on Caline, and if Kekron attacked without a plan, Caline could wind up hurt or dead. Maybe he could just talk him into releasing her without any violence between them. "Let her go, Norbrook," Kekron told him firmly. "You leave Caline be; she does not want to be with you. You can easily find someone else."  
  
Norbrook narrowed his eyes at the defiant Astorian boy. No lad was going to order him about, prince or not. "She's mine, boy! Zarbon promised her to me, when we win this war; she's part of my spoils and I intend to keep her. I'm not planning to harm her, just make her my bride, my woman-"  
  
"But that's just it," Kekron argued. "Caline is a little girl, not yet a woman, and she's far too young for you. I'm sure that someone of your position and rank can find a woman closer to your own age; you don't need to take a frightened child who just wants to be left in peace. Many a woman your age would surely have you." Kekron was angry with Norbrook for terrorizing Caline and taking her away, but he had to keep calm. He remembered Father's lectures about diplomacy being able to go places where violence couldn't. Sometimes it was better to talk things over than throw a punch or a ki blast. He hoped that he could make Norbrook see reason before it was too late for Caline.  
  
Kekron continued, keeping his inner rage out of his voice, keeping his voice calm and steady, "General Norbrook, Caline is a very beautiful and sweet girl, but she's still a child. If she was closer to your age, then maybe your attraction to her would be understandable, but in this case, it's not. She's scared of you, Norbrook; can't you see that? See how frightened she is? Your actions towards her remind her too much of what her husband had done to her when he was alive. You're going to make her afraid of men for the rest of her life, if you had not done so already. You don't want her hurt and scared for the rest of her life, do you? Do you really want to touch or force yourself upon a terrified young girl? If you truly care about her, Norbrook, you'll let her go. Caring about someone means knowing when to let go and let the ones you care for be free."  
  
"Let me put it to you this way, Norbrook: which would you rather have: a grown woman close to your age who would love and desire you the way that you wish her to, or a little girl that you made too afraid of you to even want you near her? Do you want her to be as miserable with you, as she was with Alberm Dunlop? You know that Alberm Dunlop didn't treat her very well; do you want to become an Alberm clone?"  
  
"I hated Dunlop!" Norbrook growled, still holding Caline. "I offered for this girl, along with Sedemeyer, and Prince Amitar turned us both down in favor of Dunlop! And he tried to kill her!"  
  
"Exactly," Kekron reasoned. "And you don't want to become anything like Alberm Dunlop, do you?"  
  
"Hell no!"  
  
"Then you'll let Caline go. If you hold her captive and force her to become your mate against you will, you'll be no better than Alberm was. Do you want Caline to be happy?"  
  
"I can make her happy."  
  
"I don't think so, Norbrook, and you know it as well as I do. Caline doesn't want a husband right now, and we can't blame her. She needs time to heal from the things that Alberm did to her; she needs to be allowed to be free and to grow up. If she's scared and miserable with you right now, imagine what it would be like for you both if you forced her to become yours. She may even become so desperate to escape that she might try to kill herself, and you don't want her to do that, do you?"  
  
Norbrook hedged. "Well…"  
  
"Let me put it to you this way: would you want someone to hold you captive against you will, force you to do things that you didn't want to do, keep you as his or her prisoner, never allowing you to make your own choices or come and go as you please?"  
  
"Well, no, Prince, but…"  
  
"That's the situation that Caline is in now, the situation that you put her in. You would be unhappy, if you were in Caline's position right now, wouldn't you? She needs to feel safe, and she wants to be free to make her own choices in life. Keeping Caline, as a captive bride, would be unfair to you both: unfair to Caline because you would be keeping her against her will, and unfair to you because Caline is not in interested in you as a mate or a spouse. Wouldn't you rather be with someone who came to you of her own free will, rather than being forced? There are many women out there that would surely have you, General, women that would come to you, an important CRP officer and strong fighter, of their own free will. Let Caline go, and you will be free to find someone who shares your feelings in return; it's not too late, General."  
  
"I don't know, if I can, Prince," Norbrook said, a bit shakily. "If I go back, I'll be executed for treason on Calmag, and if I go to Frieza, anything that he'll give me will be worse than death."  
  
"You don't have to go back to the royal family or Frieza," Kekron insisted. "Just free Caline, hand her over to me, and you can go wherever you want alone. No one will know, and you can start your life anew somewhere else, somewhere where you won't be recognized. If you take Caline on the run with you, you'll be putting her life in danger, and you don't want her hurt, do you?"  
  
"No, no…but I don't want to give her up."  
  
"Take that gag out of Caline's mouth and the gun away from her, and ask her what she truly wants. If she says she wants to go with you, I won't say another word, but if she says that she wants to leave you, you must release her. Sound fair?"  
  
Norbrook sulked for a moment, considering Kekron's suggestion; he was an obsessed man, but he wasn't entirely unreasonable. Reluctantly he took the gag out of Caline's mouth and put the gun in his pocket. "Do you want to leave, Princess Caline? Do you really want to leave?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes," Caline whispered softly. "I'm sorry, but I want to leave. Please let me go."  
  
Norbrook sighed sadly, realizing that Kekron Chloe was right. Taking Caline away with him would only endanger her life; Frieza's forces and King Kitchator would surely be after him. He had to go somewhere and hide for the rest of his life. He had to cut all ties to his past, and that now included Caline. It was time to free her, to say goodbye.   
  
With a heavier sigh, he walked over to Kekron and placed Caline directly into his arms. Caline trembled, as Kekron took her into his arms. She shook with fear, but Kekron spoke to her softly, promising not to hurt her. Norbrook stepped away, as Kekron began to untie Caline's wrists.  
  
"I think you better go now," Kekron told him firmly.  
  
"Yes, yes, I think I better," Norbrook said wearily. "G-Goodbye, both of you. You won't tell Dodoria or Zarbon where I went, will you?"  
  
"No, we won't," Kekron promised him. "We won't tell anyone." Caline nodded her little head in agreement against Kekron's chest.  
  
Norbrook decided not to say another word; he decided that it would be wisest to go now. Without looking back at Caline (it would have been too painful for him) he climbed into the parked skycar that had been nearby, and he quietly drove away. Within seconds, he was out of sight, and Kekron hoped, out of Caline's mind forever.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Turning towards the sky, a trembling Caline looked after Norbrook's skycar becoming a dot in the sky. She then sank to her knees, and her tears returned, as she sobbed in both relief and fear. Kekron sat down beside her. He was about to embrace her, but he then he stopped himself, not wanting to scare her.  
  
"Would you like me to hold you?" he asked her gently.  
  
Caline huddled into herself, wanting to trust him, but then she remembered her resolve not to go back home, or back to the Astorians. "I-I have to leave," she whimpered, tears freely flowing. "I have to get out of here. I have to go where no one can find me, no one can hurt me, and no one can touch me."  
  
"Caline, I'm not going to hurt you," Kekron reminded her kindly. "I won't let anyone hurt you, and neither will Tayla. We came here to rescue you, Caline, to save you. Why do you want to leave us? We won't make you do anything that you don't want to do, but why do you want to leave? Where will you go? How will you survive?"  
  
"I'll figure out something," she whispered. "Your family is very nice, Kekron, but I don't want to have to worry about any of the men turning out to be like Norbrook or Alberm."  
  
"Caline!" Kekron exclaimed, shocked, taken aback by her thinking that the men in his family would harm her. Caline shrank back away from him, and he immediately regretted his tone. He said in a softer voice, "Caline, I'm sorry that I frightened you just now, but I am surprised that you think that we would hurt you like Alberm did. Or maybe I shouldn't be too surprised after what men like Alberm and Balair and Norbrook have done to you. But Caline, even you know that not all men are like those three."  
  
"At one time, I-I thought so too," Caline sobbed. "But Norbrook, my father's friend, had never hurt me before. But when we-we were in that car and in those caves, he lifted up my dress and kept kissing and touching me, even though I didn't want him to. I was too scared to fight him. I'm not very brave or strong, and if I couldn't prevent him, how I am going to prevent some other men from fondling me. I can't take that chance, Kekron, I can't! I can't risk another man hurting me or touching me when I don't want him to! That's why I have to get away from everyone, so that it doesn't happen! I have to go someplace where no male can hurt me or rape me again! I have to leave!" Crying harder, she huddled into herself further into a ball, hoping to hide herself from everyone and everything, including Kekron.   
  
Her defeated, frightened position and devastating expression broke Kekron's heart. He wished that he could find some way to help her, to start her healing before it was too late. What could he do to convince her that he and his family, at least, could be trusted? He finally decided to put his next words more practically, in hopes that some good sense could reach Caline until she was willing to accept sympathy and comfort again.  
  
"Caline," he began softly. "Have I ever hurt you? Has any of the men in my family ever hurt you or tried to touch you? If we have, it's okay to tell. I just want the truth."  
  
Caline looked up from her huddle into Kekron's face. She tried to meet his eyes, but it took great effort; a proper Calmagian female was not supposed to look directly into a male's eyes. "No," she whispered finally.  
  
"And do you think that we would hurt you now?"  
  
"I-I don't know."  
  
"Caline," Kekron told her gently. "If me or any of my male relatives would have wanted to hurt you or molest you, we would have done so by now, don't you think? There were plenty of times that you were alone with me, or Lektron, or the other men or boys in my family, and we never laid an improper hand on you, have we?"  
  
"No."  
  
"And we would never do so. We don't hurt the people that we love like that, and most of the men in my family believe in treating females of all ages with the utmost love and respect." He carefully avoided any mention of Dedron and his growing bitter attitude against females; he knew that Dedron would likely and unreasonably give Caline a hard time in the future, although as of now, he had barely spoken more than a sentence to her. He would not worry about Dedron for now, the time for that would come soon enough. If he could get through to Caline, he would warn her about Dedron eventually.  
  
He shoved Dedron out of his thoughts for now, as he continued, "Caline, not all men are like the men that you've known. We don't tolerate abuse of women or girls in our family, and we consider them to be equals. I understand that it's not decided yet that you will come back to Astoria with us; if you still want to, we will do everything that we can to ensure that happens, and if you don't, then we will keep in touch with you and think of you fondly. You've come to mean a great deal to all of us, Caline, and we all love you. Love doesn't hurt, Caline, it feels good."   
  
"This goes a bit off the subject, but your family did not appreciate you, or show you enough love, but that was not your fault. Nor was what Alberm or Balair or Norbrook did to you your fault. I am sorry that Norbrook molested you before we were able to reach you; I wish that we had been able to prevent it. Did he do anything else to you beyond that?"  
  
"He-he didn't rape me, if that's what you're asking," Caline whispered in reply. "But I am glad that he's gone away. I don't ever want to see him again!" Her usual soft, whispery tone rose to a passionate shriek.  
  
"You won't," Kekron assured her softly. "And he won't come near you again, I promise you Seven Moons. And neither will Filcor Sedemeyer, if he's still planning to come after you. My family and I won't allow you to be forced into another arranged marriage, no matter what. We'll protect you, Caline, and keep you safe, all of us."  
  
"You too?" Caline asked hesitantly, allowing herself to sit up finally. She looked steadily into Kekron's eyes; it was one of the rare times in her life that she had ever made eye contact with a male. She was studying him intently with bated breath. She was tremendously relieved when she saw Kekron favor her with a kind smile. He held out his arms slowly to her, hoping that she would find the courage to come to him. He was rewarded with a small, feminine lavender-and-gold-and-white bundle suddenly thrust into his embrace. She clung to her rescuer tightly, her arms wrapped firmly around his body. Kekron closed the embrace and hugged her back, as if shielding her from the outside world.  
  
"Of course, me too," he said with a small laugh. "In fact, me most of all, besides Tayla!" He relaxed considerably when Caline looked up at him and smiled for the first time in a long time. But then the smile faded, and she buried her face into his chest, as if burrowing herself into him for protection.  
  
Caline murmured into his chest, "Is Tayla going to be okay? Dodoria's awfully strong and mean and tough. I don't want Tayla to be killed."  
  
"I don't want her to be killed either, but Tayla's very strong, very brave. I wish I was strong enough to go help her."  
  
"I wish I was brave and strong like her," Caline whispered wistfully.  
  
"Oh, but I think you are," Kekron said smilingly, still holding her firmly. "You may not be able to fight like Tayla does, but you're much stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for. You've helped save all of our lives, Caline; don't you know that? You braved Alberm's wrath to go to Tayla to warn her about Frieza's forces coming to Calmag, and your knowledge of the labyrinths helped many people to escape from Frieza's soldiers. Caline, we might not be here now with a fair chance of winning, had it not been for you. You have helped to save my people and yours just as much as the warriors and healiors in my family have."  
  
"You really think so?" Caline asked in a trembling voice.  
  
"No," Kekron said seriously.  
  
A shocked Caline's face fell, and Kekron then smiled.  
  
"I know so."  
  
Caline then hugged him so tightly that Kekron almost thought that she was going to squeeze the air out of him. He laughed softly and hugged her back tighter in return, being careful not to crush the fragile girl.  
  
"Thank you for saving me," she whispered. "Twice."  
  
Kekron said with a laugh, "No problem, and it was my pleasure to save such a pretty little thing like yourself!"  
  
Caline didn't know why she did what she just did next, but she couldn't help it: a strange, melodious sound like wind chimes came forth from her mouth. The sound was so odd and so unfamiliar, that it took her a minute to recognize it. Kekron smiled wider when he heard it, for it was a pleasant sound.   
  
"Why, Caline, you're laughing!" he declared. "You're really laughing!"  
  
Caline blushed slightly, as her laughter ebbed, and her smile remained. Tears, happy tears came to her electric-blue eyes then; she could not remember the last time she had laughed. She could not believe the laughter was coming from her own mouth.  
  
"It's-it's been over a year since I've laughed," she whispered. "I've forgotten until now what my own laughter sounded like. I haven't laughed since-since before my best friend, Carie-she's in heaven now-had to go back to her husband. I can remember now when I laughed last, Kekron, I can-it was when Carie was telling me a joke last time we were together. That was before she died and after Father declared my engagement to Alberm. I haven't laughed since, not since then; it was on the last day that we were together before we parted ways forever."  
  
"I am sorry about your friend," Kekron told her gently.  
  
"So am I, but she's in a happier place now," Caline said bravely in such a conclusive tone that Kekron wisely decided not to press further at this time. She lay her head against his chest and closed her eyes, feeling safer than she had been in weeks.  
  
"May I touch your hair?" Kekron asked her softly.  
  
Caline nodded, and Kekron gently stroked her hair, as he lifted her up. He told he was going to return her to the others in Magan, and then he was going for reinforcements to help Tayla. And no, Tayla would not die, he again reassured her, as he carried her away into the sky.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The sun was starting to set over Magan, and the pastel colors glowed iridescently off of both Kekron and Caline. Caline rested peacefully in Kekron's arms, and Kekron looked down at her with deep, sharp sadness and regret. Suddenly, he remembered that he had not told Caline the truth about Ridikar!  
  
He, or someone else was going to have to eventually tell her that Ridikar was dead, and he didn't know how it was going to be done. She was feeling tentatively safe and calm, despite Tayla being in a fight with Dodoria, and he didn't want to shatter her peace just yet. Kekron gulped; how was he going to break the news to her about Ridikar?  
  
And what would happen to her now that Ridikar was gone? Would that mean that fourteen-year-old Julien would be in charge of her? Veal had confided to Kekron on their way to rescue Caline that she had heard Julien make some cruel remarks about and to Caline (she had also heard Julien and Ridikar's fight about Ridikar breaking Caline's engagement to Filcor). Or would King Kitchator be in charge of her? Now that Ridikar, who had once again become Caline's protector, was dead, what would become of her? Would she be forced into another awful marriage? Would Filcor Sedemeyer take advantage of Ridikar's untimely demise and try to get Caline for himself again? From what little he knew of Prince Julien, Kekron was certain that Caline's nasty brother would try to force her to marry Sedemeyer or someone else. What if King Kitchator tried to do the same thing?  
  
Kekron made himself a silent Seven Moons Oath, as he carried Caline in the air: he was not going to let anyone hurt the girl again, or force her into another unwanted marriage. He'd protect her any way that he could, even if it meant smuggling her off of Calmag. He wasn't sure how well that last part would go with his parents or his grandmother, but he'd risk their disapproval at this point. He had now made himself Caline's unofficial protector.  
  
But he was going to have to tell her the truth about her brother's death first, and he'd have to prepare her for it. But he would save the grave news for when they were safely settled. He stroked Caline's hair again, as it streamed in the wind, and he began to pray to both Orchida and the East Kai.  
  
He also prayed for Tayla, for what he had seen of Dodoria's power, she was going to need all the prayers and help that she could get. He did not envy his young aunt her battle with the cruel, pink monster.  
  
*Don't let him win, Tayla, please. We're all depending on you now.*  
  
Tayla was strong, but was even she strong enough to battle a beast like Dodoria? 


	99. Showdown With Dodoria

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Showdown With Dodoria  
  
"Ready to give up yet, wench? You can quit at any time!"  
  
"Nev…er…"  
  
"Suit yourself. I'm getting tired of playing with you. Surrender or die!"  
  
"Not…in…your…dreams…"  
  
A hovering Dodoria frowned heavily as he held Tayla in the air by her throat. Tayla was panting for air now, and her face was heavily bruised. Her right eye was blackened and swollen, and her button nose was bleeding; she could taste the coppery taste of her indigo blood dribbling into her throat. Her ribs ached painfully, and her arm had been twisted so hard it was nearly sprained. Her light blue pants were burned away completely below her knees. She had finally been forced to take off her boots, for Dodoria's last surprise hand blast had completely burned away her left boot, so she just threw away her right boot as well.  
  
*Nama won't have to worry about disintegrating my boots now* she thought, allowing herself a small chuckle, despite her injuries. She didn't laugh for too long, for the laughter made her ribs hurt worse. She finally groaned loudly, as she looked over Dodoria.  
  
The only comfort that she could take from this battle at this point was that Dodoria had not fared much better than she had. Dodoria had fought exceptionally well for a beast with one hand; he had put his remaining hand to good use. But he had not escaped unscathed, for Tayla had managed to inflict some damage upon him herself before Dodoria's last powerful hand blast had caught her off guard before she could use Mirror Shield to deflect it. Dodoria's nose was also bleeding, and several of his spikes had been blasted away. His shoulder was dislocated, and he had a broken collarbone. Half of his face had been burned severely, with a nasty red-and-white blister combined with scorched skin covering his right cheek. Six of his front teeth were missing, and his lower lip was bleeding along with his nose. His left eye was almost swollen shut, and his thigh flanks had been broken off.  
  
Tayla might have been able to hold up her end of the fight longer, if it had not been for Dodoria's surprise hand blast that had nearly sent her crashing into the ground. She had managed to keep herself from falling, but Dodoria had captured her before she could gain her bearings. Tayla was now dangling by her neck in Dodoria's meaty fist, and she knew that she had to think of an escape plan quickly before Dodoria had a chance to think of anything else.  
  
Dodoria then suddenly slammed his fist into Tayla's stomach hard, making her cry out. She retaliated by kicking Dodoria in his stomach, but Dodoria's fat, plus his armor protected her enemy nicely, so all her foot managed to do was dent his stomach flank. Dodoria shoved his fist into her side with the impact of a mallet, and he delighted in Tayla's screams.   
  
She would have electrocuted him, but she had tried that earlier with no success. Dodoria had long ago become immune to Electric Touch. He finally decided to torture the girl more, so he took her by her throat and swung her around in the air. After he had done that several times, he threw her into a nearby cliff, and Tayla's slim body crashed into the side of the cliff, creating a hole in the side about five feet deep and six feet wide.  
  
With dust enveloping her, a severely wounded Tayla lay in the hole that her body had created for several minutes, trying not to pass out. How much longer could she go on like this? Her final battle with Diamonique, as short as it had been, had taken its toll on her young body. She was tired, very tired, and all she really wanted to do was faint and give into the welcoming blackness that calling to her mind. She closed her eyes briefly, but her rest would be short, for Dodoria had caught up with her. He was outside of her hole, calling out:  
  
"Now are you going to surrender, girlie? I have better things to do than waste time with a scrawny thing like you? You're lucky that I'm not allowed to kill you, but I will beat you to a bloody pulp. Come out now and give up, brat!"  
  
No response, except for girlish groans.  
  
"Come out, girlie! Or I'll blast you out! Which would you rather have happen?"  
  
Tayla tried to struggle to her feet, but with little success. All she could manage to do was rise to her knees. She stood on her knees, wobbling, trying to rise further.  
  
"I'll have to admit, brat, you put up a longer fight than I expected; I have to admit you're definitely Elite material. I can see now why Lord Frieza wants you so badly; why in a few years you might be as good as me! Hah! Well, maybe as good as the monkey prince that you defeated anyway! Hell, maybe you'll have his position one day! But now it's time to go, brat; we still have a planet to clear, and you and your meddling family have interrupted us for long enough! COME OUT NOW!"  
  
Tayla only moaned. Her entire body ached, as she slowly and shakily rose to her feet and turned around painfully. She knew now that she would have to summon up her life force, which she had been saving as an absolutely last resort, in order to finish her fight with Dodoria. She closed her eyes for a few moments, as she felt her life force bolster her feeble ki.   
  
Dodoria called, "Well, girlie, are you gonna surrender to me now, or what?"  
  
Finally, after five minutes of listening to Dodoria bellow threats and commands, she felt energized again. She then began to steadily walk through the hole, as she gathered her ki together once more. Finally, feeling ready, she emitted a stream of silvery light from her left palm straight out of the cave at her opponent. She was rewarded with an angry scream from her fat nemesis.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE BITC-"  
  
"Does that answer your question, Dodo?" Tayla cried out with more confidence than she previously had earlier. She then shot another ki blast at him before she flew out of the cave. While Dodoria was recovering from that second attack, Tayla wasted no time in flying past him into the air. She hovered over him, as she prepared for a Double Janus Bolt attack, as Dodoria flew up into the air after her.  
  
She wasted no more time in launching her Double Janus Bolt, but to her shock and horror, Dodoria managed to dodge it, and Tayla's powerful attack crashed into a small hill, completely obliterating it. After several moments, Dodoria stared down at the muddied rubble in horror, as the huge cloud of dust and debris and light began to dissipate.  
  
*Amazing. This little girlie isn't playing anymore. I definitely better stay on my guard. *  
  
Dodoria charged after Tayla again, but Tayla started to fire a series of small ki packets at him, as if she were shooting a machine gun. The ki packets weren't very damaging, but there were more than enough of them to keep Dodoria at bay.  
  
"Little wench! Stop this immediately!"  
  
Tayla smirked, as she continued to shoot more ki balls at her enemy.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Not too far away…  
  
"Tayla is fighting against Dodoria by herself?" Shalila screamed. "What in Orchida's name is that child thinking? We ourselves had a hard time those many years ago against that monster, and she's fighting him alone! We've got to hurry!" She, Dirkan, Bajal, Raakon, and Bendros had heard a giant ki blast crash into a hill and cause it to collapse. They did not know that it had been Tayla's unsuccessful Double Janus Bolt, but they did know that Tayla was facing off against Dodoria now, and things were ugly between them. They were in the air now, flying towards the area where Dodoria and Tayla were fighting.  
  
And Shalila, Dirkan, Raakon, and Bajal knew how deadly and merciless Dodoria could be; he would have no consideration or care for Tayla's small size or young age. In fact, none of them would put it past the spiky-headed monster to disregard Frieza's orders and kill the girl as soon as possible.   
  
Shalila and Dirkan had both mutually agreed to retrieve Tayla from the fight with Dodoria and face off with the giant minion themselves. They were worried that Dodoria's great strength and Tayla's earlier immense grief for Ridikar would inhibit her fighting ability. Bendros disagreed with them, believing that even now Tayla still had it within her to stand up to a bully like Dodoria. Dirkan had argued with him for several minutes on that point, saying that Bendros had never fought against Dodoria before, and therefore, had no idea of what the mighty monstrosity was like. Bendros still held to his position, but in the end, he conceded with the Superior Gran and Granden. He did not agree with them about pulling Tayla out of the fight if she could hold her own, but they were in charge of her safety and welfare, not him. As much as he disagreed with them, he respected their authority over Tayla.  
  
Bajal had sided with Shalila and Dirkan while Raakon had remained undecided. Bajal believed in Tayla, but he was realistic about her chances with Dodoria. Dodoria had defeated Bajal a long time ago in the Battle of Chloe, and if the first Bajal, Shalila's husband, and Dirkan had not intervened soon after, the second Bajal would have perished. If he, a large, husky man who was one of the strongest in the Clan of Chloe, had not been able to take down Dodoria, what were Tayla's chances? Tayla was less than half of Bajal's size, and she was still a child in his eyes.   
  
Raakon had wanted to take a-wait-and-see approach, and Bendros had agreed with him, but they had both been outvoted three to two. They were all pulling Tayla out of the fight with Dodoria; she would not be happy with that, but even she would have to submit to Shalila and Dirkan's orders.   
  
They all just hoped that Tayla would submit to them calmly. Knowing her temperament, she could be like Lektron or Bajal at times when someone was dragging them away from a fight. Shalila shrugged that last worry off; she'd rather have a disappointed and frustrated Tayla than a dead Tayla.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back with Tayla and Dodoria…  
  
Tayla was now flying away from Dodoria, who was in hot pursuit of his opponent. She had surmised that her best chances of defeating the fat, pink monster would be in her ki attacks, not her brute strength; she had to use the same tactics earlier with Vegeta because his brute strength had greatly exceeded her own. If she had had to rely only on hits and kicks with the Saiyan prince earlier, Vegeta would have eventually defeated her, and she knew it. Her brute strength had been one of the major areas that she had been trying to improve in, and while her brute strength outshone that of many of her relatives her age and above, she still had a long way to go. If and when she returned to Astoria, she would resume her weekly sessions at Kami Orchida's to train further and improve; she had been doing those sessions ever since she had returned home to the Palace of Chloe.  
  
But first, she had to help win this war before making future plans-if there was a future left to make plans in.  
  
She hovered in the air above Dodoria, preparing for a Blitzer attack. Unfortunately, Dodoria was not giving her the time that she needed; he repeatedly fired mouth blasts at her, which she had to continuously deflect with Mirror Shield attacks. Finally Tayla had to go back to using her rapid-fire ki packets to hold Dodoria off. And then she decided that it was time for a new tactic, one that she had only used twice in her lifetime, and no, it was not Electric Quake.  
  
After shooting one of her ki packets into Dodoria's eyes, temporarily blinding him, she drew her hands back, as if she were using both hands to bowl in an Earth bowling match. A small, pinkish-orange ball manifested itself into her small hands and began to increase in size rapidly, until it was the size of a basketball. She then used one of her hands to toss it into the air above her head, and the ball continued to grow in size until it was twice as large as she was. Tayla wasted no time into leaping up into the giant, glowing ball that sucked her in. Now she was encased in a protective ball of ki that would cause potentially deadly damage to anyone or anything that it hit.   
  
She panted, trying her best to conserve her ki as much as possible, for this ki attack was a last resort move, such as Electric Quake. This attack that Kami Orchida had taught her (and only allowed her to try twice) was called Power Globe. Power Globe was as deadly as Electric Quake, but the downside of this attack was that it could quickly drain the ki of the user. Power Globe would only last as long as the user was able to maintain, and so far, Tayla had been the first to try it. Kami Orchida had developed the attack herself, and so far before Tayla, she had only taught Shalila and Dirkan how to use the attack. Both warriors had each only used it several times in their lives because of the dangerousness of the attack. Both rulers of Astoria had been able to restrain themselves from using Power Globe during the entire war on Calmag, neither having found the necessity to do so.  
  
If an opponent were hit with a Power Globe, the globe would hit him or her with the impact of a small, speedy comet that electrocuted, guaranteed to either kill the opponent instantly, or at the very best, send him or her crashing out of the sky or into the ground. While the caster was in the Power Globe, he or she was invincible, and no ki attacks could affect him or her, but the Power Globe would quickly sap the attacker of his or her energy. Tayla would only be able to use Power Globe for ten minutes at the very most before she would have to make it vanish. If she used the Power Globe attack for too long, it would drain her of all of her ki, plus her life force (some life force manipulation was involved) and wear her out, rendering her useless for any further fighting. Every time the Power Globe would hit a person or object, it would sap her ki and strength much faster than if the globe did not touch anything at all, so Tayla would have to be extra careful.  
  
Tayla was inside her Power Globe, and she dashed towards Dodoria while inside her ball of ki, like a comet. Dodoria could not escape her in time, and Tayla's Power Globe crashed into his body, electrocuting him severely, and then sending his body smashing into a cliff! Tayla sent the globe that she was in to attack Dodoria again, and before Dodoria could flee, the Power Globe smashed into him with Tayla inside.  
  
Dodoria screamed, as he was being electrocuted; he thought that he was going to die, as Tayla's Power Globe crashed into him again and again. By the fourth time the Power Globe hit, Dodoria was severely damaged and burned, his entire armor having melted away. He was greatly weakened now-but then so was Tayla.  
  
Tayla could feel herself weakening rapidly, and she knew that she was going to have to drop her protective ball of ki much sooner than expected. The Power Globe had taken an unusually high toll on her young body, due to Tayla's too-frequent use of it and her size and age. She saw an enraged Dodoria charge after her with a mouth blast, and she decided to use the Power Globe for one last time before dropping it.  
  
She sent her Power Globe smashing into Dodoria again, cutting off his mouth blast and breaking his jaw and cheekbones. The Power Globe shoved the corpulent fighter into the ground again, and he was disabled now for several minutes, more damaged than ever.  
  
Unfortunately for Tayla, that last Power Globe attack drained what little bit of ki that she had left, and not even her faltering life force was enough to reenergize it. Within minutes of her last attack on Dodoria, the Power Globe faded away completely, and she felt faint, completely drained and light-headed.  
  
Before she could prevent herself, she fainted, and her slim body began to fall rapidly towards the ground. Luckily for her, she had a soft landing, landing into a small pond where the cold water revived her immediately. Tayla managed to keep herself from drowning, as she struggled to the surface, but she was very disoriented, and she allowed herself to float on the surface of the water. She just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep; she was just too tired to try to get up to fly again. Her ki was now much weaker than a newborn Human infant's.   
  
"Must get up…" she murmured to herself, but her body was unwilling to move. She could not even levitate herself off of the water's surface. She felt like a balloon that had been deflated, but not popped; she felt light-headed, disoriented, and weak.  
  
Unfortunately, Dodoria had recovered slightly, much faster than Tayla. He was still extremely injured, but he could now easily take down the little girl resting on the pond's glassy surface. His huge body was now hovering in the air over her, as he was gasping for air. Tayla's attacks had taken their toll on him, and his jawbone was cracked, more of his teeth were missing, two more of his spikes were gone, and now both sides of his face were scorched black. He could no longer see out of his left eye.  
  
He was furious, and he was ready to destroy Tayla Chloe now. He no longer cared at this point about Frieza's reward; he wanted Tayla dead. Lord Frieza was better off without the dangerous brat; he already had Vegeta to deal with, and Dodoria's beloved sire did not need two potentially deadly brats to handle. His face was scrunched him, and his remaining fist was balled. He took a deep breath and threw his head back, preparing to roast Tayla and the pond away with a mouth blast.  
  
*Die, brat, die! I'm givin' you what you deserve! Have fun in the next dimension, wench! *  
  
And he opened his jaw and fire blasted out of his wide mouth. The blast of deadly fire shot down towards the pond and Tayla, who now was completely disoriented. She saw Dodoria's attack coming, but she could not even summon the energy to scream. Slow tears streamed down her exhausted, scarred face, as the blast came at her; she could not even convince her drained body to swim away.  
  
*I'm sorry, Nama, Dirkan, Bendros…Ridikar…wish I could have won this one…now it's too late…*  
  
Tayla closed her eyes and gave into the blackness that swallowed her exhausted mind up and engulfed it, making her pass out before the blast hit.  
  
It would soon be over…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Or would it?  
  
Dodoria's mouth blast hit the pond, vaporizing all of the water inside and creating a huge, empty crater where a bowl of life-filled water had once been. Smoke rose from the crater, and small fires began to emerge in and around the huge hole.  
  
Dodoria closed his eyes and laughed and laughed. "Goodbye, wench! Lord Frieza may beat the crap out of me later for killin' you off, but it's gonna be worth it! He'll see eventually that he was better off without ya! Oh, knowing my attack, there's probably nothing of your body remaining-"  
  
His triumphant words were cut off by Dirkan's fist in his fat mouth. Before Dodoria knew it, Dirkan was beating him up with his huge fists, and kicking him with his powerful, swift feet. Dirkan was mercilessly pummeling and kicking the fat soldier, and he broke Dodoria's jaw further.  
  
"You fat bastard!" Dirkan roared, as he continued his deadly assaults on Dodoria. "I'll never forgive you for what you did to that child! She couldn't fight you back at that point, you sick beast! You're going to die, and I'm going to make it hurt! Oh, you'll wish that I killed you all those years ago instead of now! Once I'm through with you, fatso, there won't be so much as a shred of lard of you left!"  
  
Dodoria was hard-pressed to hold himself off against a strong, angry Namek who was determined to murder him. He managed to meet Dirkan blow for blow and kick for kick, but his best efforts were taking what energy that he had out of him. An enraged Dirkan repeatedly punched Dodoria in his jaw and mouth, and Dirkan's feet repetitively crashed into Dodoria's now unprotected stomach. Dodoria now only had his chest plate left, and Dirkan used his eye lasers to burn it off; it was about to fall apart anyway.  
  
Dodoria managed to keep up his battle with Dirkan for another twenty minutes, but his stamina was fading fast. Finally, Dirkan sent one hard punch to Dodoria's fat face, a punch that would render him useless. Dodoria could have held up his end of the battle against the Namek warrior, but Tayla's previous attacks on him had taken a severe toll on him, and he was no longer able to hold his own. Dirkan punched Dodoria in his face again, and then once more in the side of his head for good measure. Dodoria could not stop himself from falling headfirst into the crater that his last mouth blast had created, and when he crashed, Dirkan used his Tri-Force attack against him, and that coup de grace finished the fight between him and Dodoria once and for all.  
  
Dodoria was still barely alive, but he was defeated for good now, and he was smart enough to know it. He lay facedown in the mud and muck that he had created. Rubble and debris was covering his entire body, and his ki could no longer be felt. He wisely decided to lie there and play like he was dead; if he even attempted to rise again, he knew that Dirkan would kill him once and for all. So he reluctantly gave up and dragged his heavy body deeper into the ground, hiding until he passed out.  
  
More rubble and debris fell upon his body, engulfing him in darkness, but Dodoria could not see, feel, nor hear the pieces hit him and the mess covering him now.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dirkan floated away from the site where Dodoria was now buried under, and he slowly flew over several miles from the crater that Dodoria had created. He finally landed on the ground in a small meadow, where Shalila was kneeling on the ground, holding Tayla's body in her arms. She was nudging Tayla and rubbing the girl's hands.  
  
"Tayla, please, please be alive," she whispered frantically. Shalila had retrieved Tayla's body from the lake just seconds before Dodoria's mouth blast had destroyed the body of water. Tayla's body was completely inert, and she did not respond to Shalila's desperate cries.  
  
"Tayla, WAKE UP! Please!" she cried aloud. Bajal, Raakon, and Bendros were sitting all around the girl's body.  
  
"Tayla, wake up!" Bajal ordered her. "Don't die on us!"  
  
"Tayla, can you hear us?" Raakon cried. "Please, do something, say something."  
  
"Yes!" Bajal declared. "Say something, even if it's to tell me to shut up and go to hell!"  
  
Bendros took Tayla's hand and squeezed it. "Tayla, if you are still alive, you don't have to talk. Just squeeze my hand back, and we'll know that you can still hear us."  
  
No response.  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila cried, patting Tayla's cheeks. "Please respond to us! Blink your eyes; squeeze Bendros's hand or mine, do anything. Give us a sign of life!"  
  
Dirkan had joined them by this time, and he pushed himself next to Shalila, sitting besides his wife. He took Tayla's arm and began to rub it. "Tayla, we need you, sweetheart, please don't leave us."  
  
"Dandelion, it's Nama. I love you; we love you! Please don't leave us; we need you, we love you!"  
  
Tayla remained unresponsive.  
  
"Tayla!"  
  
"Tayla, please wake up!" Bendros declared. "Too many people love you and need you, me included."  
  
"We can't do without you, little sister," Raakon said worriedly.  
  
"We're counting on you to live, sis," Bajal cajoled. "Don't give up now!"  
  
"You helped defeat Dodoria," Dirkan prodded her. "I couldn't have finished him off so quickly, had it not been for you. You finished most of that battle with him before we even arrived. Dodoria's out of it now, and he can't hurt any of us anymore. Wake up, Tayla, please!"  
  
Still no response or reply from the little Astorian princess.  
  
"Tayla, we all love you," Shalila pressed. "What am I going to do without my little dandelion?"  
  
Bendros tried a different tactic. "Tayla, listen, what about your promises to Ridikar? You promised to help get rid of all those who have harmed us, and you promised him that you'd look after Caline. What's Caline going to do without you?"  
  
"What will we do without you?" Dirkan demanded to know.  
  
Finally, Bajal added, "If you die, Tayla, who's going to keep Dedron in his place? Dedron tried to get rid of you and make you life miserable! Do you want him gloating because you're gone? Why should that prick get to have the pleasure of you being gone? At least stay alive long enough to get back at the bastard for having you kidnapped!"  
  
"Bajal!" Shalila exclaimed, embarrassed and horrified. Dirkan chuckled until his wife nudged him in his ribs, and he managed to restrain himself. Raakon and Bendros smothered their own chuckles at Bajal's words, even though Raakon also felt that they shouldn't be finding Bajal's put-downs about Dedron funny.  
  
But suddenly, a tiny smile formed onto Tayla's bruised and scarred face, and a small chortle escaped her lips. Her body squirmed slowly, and her eyelids struggled to open. Shalila cried out in relief.  
  
"She's awakening!" she screamed excitedly.  
  
"C'mon, Tayla, wake up, you can do it," Raakon urged gently.  
  
"Wake up, sis," Bajal encouraged.  
  
"You can do this, Tayla," Dirkan told her, leaning over to kiss her forehead.  
  
"We're right here with you," Bendros told her, squeezing her hand.  
  
"So…tired…" Tayla finally murmured. Her eyes finally opened, and she was astonished to see her brothers, along with Nama, Dirkan, and Bendros. She first looked at Dirkan. "D-Dirkan? You're normal again…no more mushy lines…right?"  
  
Dirkan blushed before he could prevent himself. "R-right…Tayla," he said, embarrassed. "No more mushy lines."  
  
"Seductia's no longer his queen of the sunsets," Shalila told her granddaughter, smiling.   
"She's been destroyed for good."  
  
"Yeah, Ben here did it," Bajal told his sister, indicating Bendros. "Good thing too, 'cause I'm going to have a hard time explaining to my wife why I was panting after another woman."  
  
"Well, she was your 'dab of pink pearl cream' for some time," Raakon teased.  
  
"Yeah, well it was better than her being your sweetest of all candy canes!" Bajal retorted, but he was grinning. "Seems, bro, that you're going to have some explaining to do to Natala later." An embarrassed Raakon looked down on the ground.  
  
Tayla smiled at all of her family and friends, and then her happy expression turned to a worried one. "D-Dodoria…where is he?"  
  
"Dead, we hope," Dirkan told her fiercely. "I finished off the bastard…for a few minutes there, I thought that he had finished you for good. It seems though that you inflicted plenty of damage on him yourself before your grandmother retrieved you from that pond."  
  
"I remember now…Dodoria sent a mouth blast at me…thought I was going to die," Tayla whispered after briefly thanking her grandmother. "I-I used…that Power Globe attack that Kami Orchida taught me on him about five times, but…I must have used it too much…'cause it took everything…I had…out of me."  
  
"Five times in how minutes?" Shalila asked, alarmed. "That is a very dangerous, last-resort attack, dandelion. Even Dirkan and I try not to use that attack unless absolutely necessary. You could have killed yourself, child! Kami Orchida even discouraged Dirkan and I from using it too often. My heavens, child, you are very lucky to be alive right now! That was a huge risk you took! I didn't even know that Kami Orchida taught you that move…why didn't you tell us that she showed you that attack?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Nama," Tayla whispered. "Thought that I needed to use it. Kami Orchida taught me that Power Globe attack three weeks 'fore we left for here. Dodoria was so strong…thought I had no other choice."  
  
"Well, you did hurt Dodoria badly enough for me to finish him off quickly," Dirkan told her encouragingly. "You held up against him longer than any of us thought you could. Dodoria was a dangerous foe…much more deadly than even a Saiyan."  
  
"Is he dead?" Tayla asked him.  
  
"I doubt we'll get that lucky, but I don't think he'll be bothering any of us anymore for a while," Dirkan replied. He brushed the hair from Tayla's face and said firmly, "Tayla, we're going to have Bendros take you back to the city; you need to rest now. We'll take things from here."  
  
"I can't just leave all of you like that," Tayla said. "Won't you need me?"  
  
"Dandelion, you've worn yourself out," Shalila told her. "You've done more than your part. Now that Dodoria's out of the way, we can deal with Zarbon and the remaining Ginyu Force members. Where is Diamonique? Do you have any idea, Tayla?"  
  
"She's…been taken care of," Tayla explained briefly. "I hope that I made her pay for Ridikar's death." And several tears slid from her eyes. Shalila kissed them away.  
  
"We are sorry about Ridikar, dandelion," she whispered to her granddaughter.   
  
"I wish that I had been able to save him," Tayla said hoarsely, unable to keep her tears from coming again. "He tried to be good near the end, Nama, he really did. I know that nobody here liked him much, but he changed, he did."  
  
"We believe you, darling," Shalila told her softly. "Bendros told us how bravely he fought Diamonique to protect you. We are sorry that things turned out the way they did."  
  
"And I'm sorry that we couldn't have been more of help when we were under that witch, Seductia's spell," Dirkan said with a growl. "Curse that wench!"  
  
"At least she and Diamonique are gone now," Tayla said quietly. "Diamonique hopefully won't be coming back…I hope that I stopped her."  
  
"We can't sense her anywhere, so we believe that you did," Shalila told her, kissing her face again. She then gently lifted Tayla off of the ground and handed her to Bendros, who had arisen. "Bendros, will you take Tayla back to that hotel in Magan and stay with her? We need to go finish off Zarbon and his bunch."  
  
"She'll be in good hands," Bendros assured Shalila.  
  
"I wish I could come with you and help," Tayla told her. "If only I hadn't used up my ki earlier…could have done more."  
  
"Don't worry about it now, dandelion," Shalila told her, kissing her again. "Now it's time for you to go with Bendros. Gooden boden fro noy, my dear."  
  
"Gooden boden, Nama," Tayla said softly, and the others told her and Bendros their goodbyes. Bendros lifted Tayla up further into his arms, so that they both would be more comfortable. She wrapped her slender arms around his neck, as Bendros whisked her away into the sky. When they had left, Shalila and the others left a few minutes later to confront Zarbon and the rest of the Ginyu Force.  
  
As Tayla watched them leave into the air and fading further away, she held tight to Bendros and prayed that they would be able to take care of Zarbon and the others without her. She tried to comfort herself with the fact that they all had defeated them before long before she had been born.  
  
But could they do it again? 


	100. More Trouble For Caline And Tayla

Chapter One-Hundred: More Trouble For Caline...And Tayla  
  
Back at the hotel in Magan…  
  
Kekron and Caline had arrived in front of the hotel in Magan, and they were both surprised to find that Julien, who had escaped with the CRP officers and Astorians back to the city, greet them, along with Naykiar, Caline's other brother. Naykiar resembled a younger Ridikar, with the same dark skin, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes that were almost black. Julien was frowning darkly, and Naykiar just stood there, watching somberly as Prince Kekron Chloe landed gracefully onto the city sidewalk with Caline in his arms.  
  
"Where in the hell has my sister been?" Julien demanded to know of Kekron.  
  
"Don't you remember, Julien?" Naykiar snapped. "That strange horse-girl with the purple hair told us that General Norbrook abducted Caline and took her away!"  
  
"Well, now Caline will likely have to marry him. He's probably screwed her a few times, not that what she has between her legs is worth so much. Alberm could testify to that," Julien said insensitively. Kekron scowled darkly at Julien for speaking so crudely of his own sister, but Caline shook her head at him, silently begging him not to say anything just yet.  
  
"Not necessarily, Jules," Naykiar pointed out. "And Caline doesn't necessarily have to marry him, if he did. She's already had her garden gate opened by that traitorous brother-in-law of ours, Alberm, so if another man did mate with her, it wouldn't ruin her."  
  
"Garden gate opened?" Kekron asked, puzzled, still holding Caline.  
  
"It's a Calmagian expression for a girl losing her virginity," Caline explained in an embarrassed tone.  
  
Julien walked right up to Kekron and Caline and said edgily to Kekron, "How long did you have my sister? And how did she wind up with Norbrook?"  
  
"General Norbrook abducted me," Caline told him as steadily as possible. "But Kekron saved me from him; he talked Norbrook into letting me go. And he didn't even have to throw a punch."  
  
"How come?" Naykiar asked curiously.  
  
"He just talked him out of it," Caline explained.  
  
"Oh, so Prince Kekron here talked old General Norbrook out of spreading your legs any more than necessary. Well, tell me, Caline, did Norbrook screw you? Did he feel you up?" Julien asked salaciously.  
  
"He molested me," Caline replied simply as possible without getting tearful. "But he did not rape me."   
  
"Are you okay, Caline?" Naykiar asked softly, and Caline's eyes widened in amazement. She looked at him, shocked beyond words. Never in their lives had Naykiar shown her any concern for her welfare. He had usually gone along with Julien's cruelty against Caline whenever Ridikar hadn't been around to restrain both brothers, and he had talked down to Caline the same as Julien and their father did. But after Caline had helped him and the other hostages escape, he had started to slowly develop a new respect for a sister that he had once agreed with his father and his brother was a nuisance and a burden to be rid as soon as possible. Naykiar embraced some of Amitar's beliefs yet, but not the one that considered Caline to be no use or good to anyone. He was a little smarter than Julien in realizing that if it had not been for Caline, their people would not have known what Frieza's forces were up to until it had been too late.  
  
Still stunned by Naykiar's inquiry, Caline nodded a quick yes, and Julien decided to continue with his questioning. He still despised Caline yet, and he still enjoyed tormenting her. She was fun in his eyes to tease to the point of tears. He was not happy about her being back, and he had secretly hoped that Norbrook would have taken Caline to a place where they could not be found. He had never forgiven Caline for taking his place as their mother's favorite.  
  
He asked her, grinning, "So where did Norbrook touch you at, Caline? Did you enjoy the things he did with you? Did he make you feel good? Did he feel your breasts? Did he kiss or suck on them? Did he finger you? Did he put his mouth between your legs? Did he-"  
  
An incensed Kekron was about to respond to Julien's questions for Caline, and none of his replies would have been pleasant, but Caline was about to save him the trouble.  
  
Caline was almost always mild-mannered, and it was hard to anger her. Ridikar used to say that he loved her the best out of all of their siblings because she was the sunniest and the kindest of them all. But even the gentlest, most loving people have their limits, and Julien's crude questions had just broken all of them for her. He had now pushed Caline past her breaking point, and so, in an extremely rare display of anger, she screamed at her brother, "That's none of your business!"   
  
Caline jumped down from a startled Kekron's arms and stepped up to Julien. Julien was just slightly taken aback, for it had been a long time since Caline had dared to show anger towards him. The last time that Caline had shown one of her rare shows of fury was when she had slapped Julien's face for taunting her about Carie's suicidal drowning. Caline rarely ever got angry with anyone, but Julien knew how to anger her the best out of anyone. But the few times in her life that she had shown her anger, she had been cruelly punished for them; she had long ago learned that anger and independence were punishable-always.  
  
But Caline felt braver now, especially with Kekron nearby, and she was about to let Julien see her rage. "How dare you ask me those things, you pervert?" she screamed, her fury in full swing. "Do you realize what I have been through this past year? I had to learn from you that my best friend drowned herself to get away from Filcor, the same bastard that you want me married off to! And I was forced to marry that monster, Alberm, who raped me repeatedly and tried to kill me! I cried for help, but no one answered those pleas until Tayla and her family came along! And then Father died! And now when Kekron saves me from Norbrook and brings me back here, all you can do is ask me disgusting questions about what Norbrook did to me? At least Naykiar asked me if I was okay! You didn't even show me that much courtesy! How dare you treat me this way? Ridikar was right when he told me long time ago that you have no scruples! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Julien, you really should! What did I ever do to you for you to treat me the way that you do? Why do you hate me so much? What do you have against me? Tell me! I have a right to know, and you know it!"  
  
Julien was taken aback by Caline's unexpected anger. She had truly startled him, but he quickly regained his wits. "Shut your mouth, you little wench, or I'll shut it for you!"  
  
"Now see here-" Kekron began indignantly, deciding that he had heard enough.  
  
"You stay out of this! This is between the whiny wench and me! No Astorie weakling's going to get in my business, so you can keep your mouth shut as well!"  
  
Julien's comments to Kekron only set Caline off further. She hissed at her older brother, "Don't you ever call him a weakling! He may not be a warrior, but he's ten times braver than you will ever be! He risked his life to come rescue me, knowing that Norbrook had a gun! Where were you when Norbrook abducted me, Julien? Did you even care that Norbrook could have raped me or taken me away? And where were you when Balair was molesting me? Kekron saved me from both men and kept both of them from raping me or hurting me any further! He talked Norbrook into freeing me, and he stood up to Balair and challenged him even though Balair was much stronger than him! Kekron's strong and brave and loyal and kind, and he has more courage and goodness in the tip of his nose than you do in your entire body! He's ten times the man that you ever will be!"  
  
Julien raised his hand to slap her face, but Kekron quickly stepped in between him and Caline, and he seized Julien's wrist before he could strike. He looked down at Julien and said in a quiet tone saturated with deadly warning, "If I were you, I would not hit her-ever, not if you wish to remain unharmed."  
  
"Don't tell me what to do!" Julien said angrily, but his voice was shaking. He would have started a fight with Kekron, but Naykiar took his brother's arm.  
  
"He's right, Jules. You had no reason to hit at Caline just now. You provoked her, and we should be thankful to Prince Kekron for saving her. Jules, I'm starting to think that we were wrong about Caline; she didn't deserve the bad things we did or said to her. I know that Ridi and I used to treat her badly, but you hurt her just as badly as Father did. Maybe you should tell her the real reasons that you hated her so much. She does have a right to know."  
  
Huffing, Julien finally said arrogantly, with as much dignity as he could muster, "I don't have to answer any of her silly questions. Norbrook didn't screw her, and apparently, unfortunately, she'll live, so the subject is closed. I don't understand why he would want her anyway; why would any man would want her for his bride? She'd probably scream and cry every time he came near her, just like she did with Alberm. No one wants a whiny baby bride. C'mon, Naykiar, let's go; she's not worth our bother." Julien turned on his proud heel to leave, but before he knew it, Kekron blocked his path.  
  
"I think you better answer her questions," Kekron told him in a calm voice, but his tone still held a threat as fatal as any weapon. Julien tried to intimidate Kekron by staring, but the Astorian prince would not budge. He stood there with his arms crossed, scowling heavily at Julien, staring down at him. Julien was broader and heavier than Kekron, but Kekron was taller and more confident, even though Julien's strength surpassed his. Julien would normally have not feared anyone who was physically weaker than he was, but Kekron's menacing stare and stance soon wore him down.  
  
Naykiar and Caline both noticed Kekron's fierce expression, and Naykiar was awestruck. Caline had not seen Kekron looking so forceful since his fight with Balair. She was amazed by how gentle he could be one minute, and then so tough the next. She had never forgotten his warmth and kindness towards her earlier, and because of those things, she did not fear him now when he was clearly angry enough to send a punch to Julien's face. But what impressed her about him the most was that he could fight most of the time just with words and body language alone.  
  
"You-you stay out of this-this doesn't concern you," Julien snapped, but with uncertainty.  
  
"Anything concerning Caline now concerns me," Kekron told him sternly. "So I think that not only you should answer her questions, but you should apologize to her as well."  
  
"No-no way."  
  
Kekron smiled then, but his smile sent an unexpected chill down Julien's spine. The Technician then reached over and very lightly laid his hand on Julien's broad shoulder. Julien then cried out, as a quick bolt of electricity shot throughout his right arm. He fell to his knees, trembling.  
  
"Now, do you still say 'no way'?" Kekron asked softly.  
  
Julien grumbled, not wanting to endure another electric shock, "Fine, fine. I've been jealous of her, okay? I was Mother's favorite before she was born, but once the brat was born, it was always Caline, Caline, Caline. Father didn't want her in the first place, and he wanted Mother to abort her, but Mother wouldn't. He thought that five children were more than enough, but no, she just had to let Caline be born! Anyway, also, Ridikar and I used to be really close and happy before that pest came along, but once Caline was born, Ridikar turned all of his attention to her! So I lost both Mother and Ridikar to her; she stole their attention away from me just 'cause she was little and cute! And then when Mother died, Ridikar began spending more and more time with Caline, and less time with me! I hated Caline, always hated her, just for taking my brother and mother from me alone!"  
  
"I was happy when Ridikar started being mean to Caline along with the rest of us, and I was happy when she was married off to Alberm Dunlop! Ridikar and I were able to spend more time together, and just when we getting close again, your bratty aunt, Tayla Chloe, had to come along! Once again, I was shoved aside for some stupid girl! All my brother could talk about was Tayla this and Tayla that! And then I hated Tayla too; in fact, I still hate her! I hate both her and Caline for being more important to Ridikar than me!"  
  
Caline, in her dwindling fury, felt a spark of pity for her insecure brother. She came up to Julien, her deep blue eyes pleading, sympathizing with him. "Julien," she spoke softly. "Ridikar belongs to both of us; he is our brother and he loves both of us. We don't have to fight over him; we can share him. Please, Julien, Ridikar and I made amends, so why can't you and I do the same? I am not trying to take Ridikar away from you, nor was I trying to take Mother away from you when she was alive. If I took Mother's attention away from you, I am sorry; I didn't mean to do it. And as for Ridikar, there's enough love to go around for both of us. Why can't we get along and share him? We have no parents now, Julien, and Ridikar will have enough to do now without us not getting along. Can't we make amends and be nice to each other? And Naykiar too?"  
  
Naykiar turned towards Caline and Julien. "Yes, Julien, can't we? I think that Ridi's right in that the way that we have been treating Caline was wrong. She helped save our lives, Julien; can't you see that? I know that I've been awful to her, but I don't want to be mean to her anymore. I think that I'm starting to like her, and I think that you could too. Ridikar needs all of us, Julien, and he needs all of us to get along. Caline's part of our family too, and she's more than shown herself worthy of us. It doesn't matter now that she's only a female; she's a good one. We need her, and she needs us. I'm proud of her myself personally."  
  
Julien paused for a few moments, allowing the words of his siblings to sink in. He held the possibility of them united behind Ridikar in his mind for just a moment, pondering it. But then he looked at Naykiar, and then back at Caline, and then his jealousy and hatred of her quickly returned. His heart and face hardened, as he spat out harshly:  
  
"Since when do you side with our whiny baby sister, Nayke? Whose side are you on anyway? Caline's just a burden, and that's all there it is to it! Once Ridikar starts his royal duties in Father's place, you and I will be shunted to the side in favor of Caline! And if Ridikar dies, then we'll be stuck with Caline to take care of! Do you want that, Nayke, do you? I'm going to speak to Ridikar again as soon as possible; no I think that I will find him now. Where is he-he didn't make it out with the others."  
  
Caline looked at Kekron then. Julien's cruel remarks hurt her, but Ridikar was her main concern now. She asked softly, "Do you know where he is, Kekron?"  
  
"Yes, Prince Kekron," Naykiar added. "Do you?"  
  
Kekron looked at all three siblings, and he knew that what he was about to say would change their lives forever and shatter their hearts, but it was finally time to tell them the truth. He stepped closer to Caline, standing behind her. Caline turned her head around and looked up at him worriedly.  
  
He sighed sadly, looking more at Caline than her brothers, "Ridikar has…"  
  
Two excited little girls running towards him and Caline interrupted him. Tila and Tayka pushed their way past Julien and Naykiar to reach Caline. Both little girls leapt onto Caline, hugging her and squealing happily. A startled Caline slowly relaxed and happily hugged the children back.  
  
"We missed you, Caline!" Tila cried. "Where have you been?"  
  
"Where'd you go, Caline?" Tayka exclaimed.  
  
"I was abducted," Caline told them both truthfully. "But Kekron saved me and brought me back here. He saved me from getting hurt."  
  
"Kekron saved you?" Tayka asked.  
  
"That means Kekron's a hero!" Tila squealed joyously. "Yay for Kekron! Yay!" She hugged Caline tighter and whispered loud enough for Kekron to hear, "I'm going to marry him someday when I grow up, you know!" Kekron blushed, extremely embarrassed; he hoped that little Tila hadn't suspected his growing crush on Caline, a crush that he couldn't act on for years yet.  
  
Caline hugged her back tighter. "Well, if you do, he would make you a nice husband," she told Tila sincerely.  
  
"Did Kekron have to fight and kill someone to save you?" Tayka asked excitedly. She was hoping to hear a brave tale of Kekron beating someone to a bloody pulp or running a sword through them and then whisking Caline off into the sunset.  
  
"No fighting was needed," Caline told her. "He just talked my abductor out of taking me away."  
  
"No fighting for real?"  
  
"No fighting. Just talking."  
  
"Oh." Tayka was clearly disappointed. She loved to hear about heroic fights, as much as her older brother, Riccan, did. Kekron "just talking" Caline's kidnapper out of taking her away for good did not sound as thrilling to the adventurous Tayka.  
  
Tila was a little smarter than her older twin was, and she added, "Well, Kekron's still a hero 'cause he brought Caline back to us!" She then squeezed Caline tighter.  
  
"Wonderful," Julien muttered sarcastically, and Tila looked to Caline after he spoke.  
  
"Who's he, Caline?" Tila asked.  
  
"My brother, Julien," Caline replied. "And the other boy with him is my other brother, Naykiar."  
  
Tila asked Julien brightly, "Aren't you happy that Caline's back?"  
  
"Delighted," Julien mumbled insincerely.  
  
"You sure are lucky to have Caline for a sister," Tila rambled on, oblivious at her age to Julien's sarcasm. "I wish that she was my sister."  
  
"Well, you can have her," Julien grumbled. "I have enough sisters, and I don't need her." Caline sighed sadly, realizing that a friendship between them was very unlikely. Julien would never be like the brother that Ridikar had once again become to her. She held back her tears the best that she could.  
  
"Really?" Tila asked happily.   
  
"Yay!" Tayka shrieked. "That means she can come back to Astoria with us!" Both girls jumped off of Caline and began to sing in sweet, childish voices:  
  
"Caline gets to come home with us! Caline gets to come home with us! Yay, yay, yay!"  
  
Kekron put a hand on Caline's shoulder to comfort her the best that he could, and Caline gave him a sad, grateful smile. The air around them was silent except for the singing of Tila and Tayka. Both girls stopped singing suddenly when they saw Bendros landing in front of them. He was holding a sleepy, weary Tayla in his arms.  
  
"Tayla's back!" Tayka squealed.  
  
"Yay! Now, we can tell her that Caline gets to go home with us!" Tila exclaimed.  
  
"I bet that she's killed lots of bad people!" Tayka cried hopefully.  
  
"Girls…" Kekron began, about to tell them that no one knew yet, if Caline would get to go back to Astoria with them. But before he could continue, the twins ran over to Tayla and Bendros. Both little girls jumped up and down like excited puppies, wanting to throw themselves on Tayla and hug her the same way that they had done with Caline. Bendros shushed them gently, telling them that Tayla was tired, and that she'd hug them later.  
  
"Well, can we tell her something at least?" Tila begged.  
  
"Caline gets to go home with us, Tayla!" Tayka cried. "Isn't that great?"  
  
Tayla opened her eyes and smiled, as Caline ran over to join the hyper girls. The little Calmagian princess was holding the folds of her lavender dress, and she dashed up to Tayla, put her arms around her and gave her a careful hug, seeing how badly injured Tayla was.  
  
"Greetiens, Caline," Tayla whispered. "Are you okay? Did Kekron save you?" She was too tired to hug Caline, so she just patted her shoulder.  
  
"Yes, he did, Tayla," Caline said hoarsely, hugging her tighter than before. "He talked Norbrook out of taking me away."  
  
"And her brother says that we can keep Caline and take her home with us!" Tila shrieked so loudly that her shrill voice hurt Tayla's ears. "He doesn't need her anymore, so we can have her!"  
  
"He said that he didn't want her anymore, that he had enough sisters, so now we can have her as our sister! Mamma and Pappa are sure going to be happy about that, aren't they, Tayla?" Tayka cried happily.  
  
"Now we can have someone to be like another Mamma to us and tell us bedtime stories and keep Nikon and Riccan from bossing us around," Tila told Tayla hopefully.  
  
"Aren't you happy about that, Tayla?" Tayka asked, as she shook Tayla's ribs. Tayla emitted a painful shriek before she could prevent it, and Tayka fell back.  
  
"Tayla, are you okay?" Bendros asked, worried more than ever.  
  
"Are you okay, Tayla?" Tila cried worriedly, realizing for the first time that Tayla was badly injured.  
  
"Did I hurt you, Tayla? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" Tayka cried in heart-wrenching guilt. "Please don't be mad at me, Tayla!"  
  
"Who beat you up, Tayla?" Tila cried hysterically.  
  
"Want me to go get Riccan, and we can beat whoever did that to you?" Tayka asked her worriedly, eager to make up for hurting her aunt. "I'm so sorry, Tayla, I'll make it up to you, I promise, just by beating whoever hurt you up!"  
  
"Tila, Tayka…I'm okay, really," Tayla assured them as bravely as possible. "Tayka, it's okay…you didn't do any permanent damage. And you don't need to beat anyone up for me."  
  
Caline looked at Tayla, horrified. "Are you okay?" she asked fearfully.  
  
Tayla weakly nodded, the effort to nod taking what strength that she had.  
  
At that moment, Toria returned; she had seen no reason why she should remain further near the royal castle, so she had come back. Hurriedly, she landed, and then she ran over to Tayla and Bendros. She touched Tayla's forehead. "Are you all right, my dear?"  
  
"Yes…Aunt Toria," Tayla whispered.  
  
"Bendros," Toria said urgently. "We need to get her to a bed as soon as possible. I have a healing spell that will restore her life force and ki completely; I intend to use it on some of the other severely injured warriors as well."  
  
"How long will it take for her to heal?" Bendros asked.  
  
"I can get some more roses, and they would heal her faster," Caline insisted.  
  
"The Bright Healers, as you call them, little one, can heal physical injuries, but they cannot restore ki or life force. She needs this spell, but it will take some time for it to fully heal her. We must get her upstairs at once."  
  
"I want to come," Caline told her.  
  
"I'll come too," Kekron insisted, who had just joined them. He asked Tayla if she was okay, and Tayla gave him a weak nod.  
  
"And so will I," Bendros added.  
  
"We want to come!" Tila and Tayka both wailed. "We won't get in the way, we promise!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
One hour later…  
  
Tayla's physical injuries had been completely healed, thanks to Caline's Bright Healer roses, but she was still very weak and tired. Toria and Caline had bathed her gently with Tila's insisting on helping ("I like washing backs and hair!"), and then they put her to bed in Toria's large, comfortable, soft bed. Tayla was now dressed in a warm, pale rose-hued nightgown that had a scoop neckline and was trimmed with pink lace; it was two sizes too large (the gown was Toria's), and she smelled of bath oil of a scent exactly like the scent of a gardenia. Tayla was now in a heavy, peaceful sleep, thanks to a minor sleeping spell of Toria's. Toria then waved her hands over Tayla, as if she were conducting a symphony, as she recited:  
  
"Heali, heali, budi aud struth uv Tayla, restori yursu tu fule healthi  
Aud bu healthi aud strungth liki yoi bufor fro tus yuth une,  
Fro Fati iz fa finis wit har,  
Aud Destini hus muri tu with har bufor har lif iz dunz."  
  
Standard Translation was:  
  
"Heal, heal, body and strength of Tayla, restore yourself to full health  
And be healthy and strong, like you were before for this young one,  
For Fate is far from finished with her,   
And Destiny has more to do with her before her life is done."  
  
A glowing electric-blue dome suddenly formed over the length of Tayla's entire body, encasing her in a healing blue light. Small, white electric currents would leap to and fro from the dome now and then. Tayla continued to sleep serenely under the blue dome of magical ki that was slowly reenergizing her.  
  
Toria then left to heal Gracina, who was now lying in a nearby hotel room, and Tila and Tayka left with her, eager to see their mother again, who was in the company of their father, Lektron. After they left Tayla's room, another hour passed, and Kekron was resting back in a plush, apricot colored-chair that stood on four, polished dark wooden legs. Caline had fallen asleep in his lap, her pale white-gold hair resting trustingly on his chest, and her small, soft white body nestled peacefully against his body. Her arms were wrapped loosely around him, the hug of a little sister trusting an older, protective brother or friend. She was in a deep, contented sleep. A woven, emerald blanket was draped over both of them.  
  
Bendros was sitting up in a red, shiny leatherette chair that sat upon white, polished wooden legs, as he watched Tayla from time to time. His attention then slowly turned to Kekron and the sleeping Caline, and he asked quietly, "Does she know yet?"  
  
"About what?" Kekron asked nervously.  
  
"Ridikar."  
  
Kekron held his head down and mumbled uncomfortably, "I-I haven't told her yet…meant to…but Tila and Tayka and you and Tayla came along and…"  
  
Bendros interrupted softly, "When do you plan to tell her? You cannot keep what happened to Ridikar from her forever, Kekron. And Julien and Naykiar have the right to know as well."  
  
Kekron stammered, "I-I can't seem to find an appropriate time to tell her. She seemed so peaceful and so happy after she was saved from Norbrook, Bendros; why, you don't know what Norbrook did to her. It took me a while to get her to trust me again, to trust us males again. How do I break the news to her? I haven't figured it out yet. I've never had to tell anyone that someone close to him or her died before. You've worked in Intergalacticpol, Bendros, and you've seen people die-how do you tell the families about the deaths of their relatives?"  
  
"I tell them as soon as possible," Bendros told him. "I try to break it to them as gently as possible, as quickly as possible. Kekron, if you are waiting for the right time to tell Caline the truth, you will never find it-there is never a good time to tell someone that someone they loved has died. She has to know soon, Kekron, and better you or Tayla should tell her than have her hear it from gossip."  
  
"Should I tell her when she awakens?" Kekron asked worriedly, reluctantly realizing that Bendros was right.  
  
"I think that would be a good enough time," Bendros agreed. "Poor girl; I witnessed Ridikar's death myself, and it wasn't pretty. If you wish, I'll talk to her as well, but I won't tell her any of the unpleasant details; his death's going to be tough enough for her as it is. Ridikar did have a few dying words for her, loving ones, and those I will pass on, but I will leave out the grisly details as much as possible. Ridikar died trying to protect Tayla, and it is because of him that her life was saved from Diamonique."  
  
"Th-thank you, Bendros," Kekron murmured. "I just don't want her to have to be sad or hurt again; she's been through more than enough."  
  
"You care a lot for her, don't you?" Bendros asked softly.  
  
"I-I do," Kekron admitted. "I-I know that she's young still, still just a kid, but-oh, Kami Orchida, if she were older! Then I could consider courting her, but no! Right now, I almost feel like I'm no better than Alberm, or that Filcor Sedemeyer, or Norbrook, or Balair-"  
  
"You're nothing like them," Bendros assured him. "You haven't molested Caline or taken advantage of her; you are wise enough to realize that she's still a child, too young to give herself to any male. If you were anything like Alberm and his cohorts, Caline would instinctively know it and not trust you near her. She's a shy, frightened girl, but she's a smart one; she's slowly learning whom she can trust and whom she can't. Look how calmly she is sleeping in your lap; she wouldn't be there with you, if she didn't trust you."  
  
"No matter what happens, Bendros, I'm not going to let anyone hurt her again," Kekron suddenly said loudly and fiercely. "I'll smuggle her off of Calmag to get her away, if I have to! I won't let them force her into another bad marriage, I won't-"  
  
"Easy, Kekron," Bendros told him. "We'll have time later, if we survive this war, to discuss Caline's fate. It's still too soon to make plans." He silently hoped that the normally rational and mature Kekron wouldn't do anything rash, like kidnap Caline himself to rescue her from her family.  
  
But unknown to Bendros and Kekron, who were too absorbed in conversation to pay much attention to nearby ki signatures, someone was listening…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
…Filcor Sedemeyer had been outside of Tayla's room ever since he had seen Caline climb into Prince Kekron's lap and fall asleep quickly and easily. The CRP private and nobleman had become fiercely jealous of the Astorian prince-why the boy wasn't even a real warrior or soldier! Why couldn't Caline ever come to him, Filcor, like she had come so easily to Prince Kekron Chloe? Filcor gnashed his teeth furiously; how dare Caline prefer that Astorian weakling to him? Of course the Astorian boy was a genuine prince, while Filcor was no more than a rich businessman and CRP officer who had been given a rank of nobility from the now deceased Prince Amitar, but still! Who did Prince Kekron think he was? Caline had been promised to him, Filcor Sedemeyer, in marriage, not Prince Kekron!  
  
Then Filcor's fury faded for a few minutes, and he allowed himself to smile. Of course, it would be a sad thing to all of Calmag that Prince Ridikar was now dead as well as Prince Amitar, but he could work it to his advantage! Filcor was at heart a shameless opportunist, and Kami Ankor, Calmag's absentee deity, must have dropped this opportunity right into Filcor's lap, like a sweet, juicy piece of fruit!   
  
His smile turned into a grin; now that Prince Ridikar was dead, Prince Julien would become the next king of Calmag! And Prince Julien had always liked him and looked up to him like an uncle! Prince Julien had wanted to honor Prince Amitar's promise to Filcor concerning Caline, and he had privately apologized to Filcor when Ridikar had not been around.   
  
Filcor grinned wider; all he had to do was get Julien, whom he knew did not like his baby sister, on his side on the issue concerning Caline's future. Filcor would have Caline for his bride yet! And with Julien giving the consent, which could only be overridden by King Kitchator, sweet little Princess Caline would soon become Princess Caline Sedemeyer! Filcor chuckled at his own brilliance; Caline would belong to him once more, legally, and not even Prince Kekron, Princess Tayla, or any of the Clan of Chloe family would be able to prevent it. Not if they didn't want to risk the wrath and alienation of King Kitchator!  
  
Filcor quietly crept away, for he must now break the sad news to Prince Julien about Ridikar's untimely demise…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
An hour later…  
  
"My brother is dead!" Julien screamed. "Why didn't that bastard, Prince Kekron, tell us sooner? How dare he keep that from us?" Julien pounded the walls in his and Naykiar's hotel room, as Filcor stood there watching with a carefully placed sympathetic expression on his face.  
  
"We had a right to know!" Naykiar cried, his whole body shaking. "Why weren't we informed? Ridikar is our brother, the heir to Calmag's throne after Father! What are we going to do without him? We've lost Father, and now Ridikar too? This isn't fair! Why us? Why? What have we done to deserve Frieza's forces trying to kill us all? RIDIKAR! Why did you leave us? WHY?" He threw an amber glass vase across the room at a fireplace mantle, and upon impact, the vase shattered into thousands of glittering fragments. The golden drops of glass resembled drops of Calmagian blood.  
  
Filcor was sympathetic to the royal boys' immense grief, but his greedy nature soon overcame his compassion. He decided to add a few "harmless" lies to his story. "Why Prince Kekron deliberately delayed telling you two boys. I heard a conversation between him and Bendros Sahara, with Prince Kekron planning to ask for Princess Caline's hand-in-marriage when this war is over. He thinks that because he retrieved her from General Norbrook that he can convince your grandfather to give him your little sister as a reward. From what I have heard, he has lusted after her ever since they were taken hostage by Frieza's forces. In fact, Prince Julien, he even planned to go to you personally and ask your blessing for him and your sister to be together."  
  
"What?" Julien yelled. "How dare he?'  
  
"Prince Kekron would be a fine match for your sister," Filcor said smoothly. "He is royalty, but your father did promise Caline in marriage to me. I realize that I don't have a chance for her at this point, but I don't think that Prince Kekron would be any better a match for her than I would. He didn't tell you boys, or even Caline of your brother's death, and he should have done so right away. But I wouldn't blame you, Prince Julien, if you would prefer to marry Caline to Prince Kekron, even though your father originally promised her to me. You are in charge of her now, since you have reached your fourteenth birthday; only your grandfather may override your wishes. I could easily find another bride, although I would much rather have Caline; she would be in good hands with me, I can assure you. I care deeply for all of you, and you know that I have never let you boys down."  
  
"No," Julien whispered. "You haven't; you've always been good to us, Filcor. I'm sorry that Ridikar was too blind to see that. You at least are honorable and true, no traitor like Alberm Dunlop. Since I am to be the next king now, I will see that you and Caline are wed as soon as possible. I am reinstating your betrothal to her; I will have enough to do learning all of Ridikar's duties without having to worry about Caline."  
  
"Wait, Jules!" Naykiar cried. "Ridikar broke their engagement, and Caline doesn't want to marry Filcor-"  
  
"Quiet, Naykiar!" Julien hissed. "I am the next king now, and what I say goes unless Grandfather says otherwise. We don't need to be saddled with Caline anymore; can't you see that this is our chance to be unburdened from her?"  
  
"But I've heard that the Astorians really like Caline and want to take her home with them-" Naykiar pressed, but Filcor only shook his head.  
  
"Prince Naykiar, Prince Julien, the Astorians have no say in your sister's fate. And do you realize that they are indirectly responsible for the destruction of almost half of Calmag? Who did Frieza's forces come for? Princess Tayla Chloe of the Clan of Chloe, of course! Listen, Prince Julien, Prince Naykiar, if the Astorians had not come to Calmag, Frieza's forces would have never bothered us, even with Alberm Dunlop spying for Frieza! And it is because that Frieza wants the Astorians destroyed that we Calmagians must suffer! It is the Clan of Chloe of Astoria's fault that we are at war now! If the Astorians had not come, Frieza would have had no cause to clear our planet! The Astorians brought this fate down upon us!"  
  
"That's right!" Julien cried, now fully agreeing with Filcor. "It is the Astorians' fault!"  
  
"And your brother, Ridikar, died to protect Princess Tayla," Filcor said silkily. "He died to protect a girl who had rejected him at one time. So she indirectly caused his demise, not intentionally, but he died protecting her."  
  
"I knew that royal whore would lead him to no good!" Julien screamed. "Princess Tayla Chloe may as well have murdered my brother himself!"  
  
"Wait a minute, Jules-" Naykiar interrupted.  
  
"C'mon, Nayke, you know it's true! Ridikar died to protect a worthless slut like Princess Tayla Chloe! She's a murderer, as all of her people are!"  
  
"They did bring Frieza's wrath down upon your people," Filcor told Julien. Filcor was delighted with himself. He knew that causing a rift between Calmag and Astoria would create tremendous problems, but with the Astorians' strange ideas that included the equality of women, Calmag would be better off in the long run without Astorian allies.  
  
He added, "And you, Prince Julien, will now be expected to sign the alliance agreements in Prince Ridikar's place."  
  
"I won't, and the alliance will end after my grandfather's death! I will not sign anything concerning the Astorians!"  
  
"Jules, we need the Astorians!" Naykiar protested.  
  
"No, we don't, not after this war. We'll let them fight with us, but once this war ends, they are all leaving Calmag immediately. Filcor's right; we're better off without them. We will rebuild a new Calmag, better than ever, Nayke! I will go inform Grandfather of our brother's death, and Filcor can make funeral arrangements. Naykiar, you go tell Caline the news of Ridikar's death, try not to break it too hard, or she'll go into a crying fit. And make sure you tell her that as a consolation gift, I've reinstated her engagement to Filcor! I wish I could see the look on her sweet little face when she hears that she has to get married after all! And then we'll let the Calmagians know that we don't want the Astorians here any longer than necessary."  
  
"Jules, have you lost your mind?" Naykiar roared. "I will inform her of Ridikar's death, but you will give her that other piece of news. You're just reinstating her engagement to Sedemeyer as part of your immature grudge against her, and I won't be part of it! You yourself will tell her that she has to marry Sedemeyer, even though Ridikar rightfully broke the engagement! I'll tell her of our brother's death, but other than that count me out! I'm not going to do anything else to hurt Caline, ever again! Nor am I going to do anything to turn our people against the Astorians; we wouldn't be alive, if it wasn't for them!"  
  
"What if I threaten to strip you of your title, Naykiar?" Julien said in a cool, deadly tone of voice. "Do you really want to be know as ordinary Naykiar instead of Prince Naykiar de Tamilieu of the House of Kitchator?"  
  
"You're not king yet, Jules," Naykiar snarled. "I'm going to Grandfather about your plans! We need the Astorians, and Caline does not need to be married to someone that she doesn't want to be with!"  
  
"You sound like Ridikar!"  
  
"Good, I'm glad one of us does!" Naykiar hissed, as he stormed out of the hotel room.  
  
"I'll strip you of your title, Naykiar, if you do anything to foul up my plans!" Julien roared, as Naykiar angrily left.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bendros was now asleep, and Tayla was still in her deep slumber under her protective blue dome that was healing her entire body. Kekron himself was asleep, with Caline still in his lap. Naykiar then entered the room, tiptoeing. Seeing Caline sleeping so contentedly on Kekron's lap, he felt ashamed of himself for awakening her. He wondered if what Filcor said was true about Prince Kekron desiring Caline for himself; Naykiar, reflecting on this, grew thoughtful. Maybe Caline would be better off with Prince Kekron and the Astorians than Filcor Sedemeyer and Julien. Caline so badly wanted to go home with the Astorians, but Naykiar wasn't sure if that could be made possible.  
  
He decided to wake Caline up only, and he gently shook her awake. "Cali, wake up," he whispered urgently.  
  
Caline yawned, surprised to see her brother. "Naykiar? What do you want?"  
  
"Come outside in the hall, Cali, I have some news, and it's not good," Naykiar told her solemnly. He helped Caline climb off of Kekron's lap slowly, so that they would not awaken him. Just as Caline's delicate feet brushed against the teal carpet, she nearly shrieked when she heard the window creaking, as if it was struggling to open itself.  
  
Naykiar noticed as well, and he seized Caline, covering her mouth to conceal any potential screams. He swiftly flung open the door of a closet that just happened to be behind them, and he dragged her into the closet with him, shutting the door.  
  
"Don't make a sound," Naykiar ordered his sister. "It sounds like someone's breaking in."  
  
Caline whimpered, but that was the only sound she would make. The closet door was made up of vertical wooden blinds, and she and Naykiar anxiously peeked through the cracks.  
  
They watched as the bedroom window near Tayla's bed opened suddenly with a loud squeak, but Bendros and Kekron were too deeply asleep to hear it. A tall, masculine figure climbed into the hotel room, and he pulled his long cape behind him. He brushed the jewel on his circlet back off his mint-tinged skin, as he looked down upon Tayla Chloe's sleeping form, smiling wickedly. He pushed aside his emerald braid off of his shoulder, as he approached the healing dome where Tayla lay.  
  
"Hello, Princess Tayla," Zarbon whispered. "It's time for you to come with me. The Ginyu Force is currently trying to find the rest of your family to destroy them, but you, young one, will remain unharmed, if you don't resist. I promise you that if you don't resist Lord Frieza, he won't hurt you either, except in training you. You will be a valuable asset to our army, and I will get full credit for your capture."  
  
Being smart enough not to touch the blue dome himself, he fired a small ki blast at it. The laser bounced harmlessly off of the surface, and Zarbon cursed in his native language, a language that he would never have dared to speak around Frieza, who demanded that his subordinates speak Standard language only. He fired another small ki blast, only to receive the same result.  
  
Caline in the closet was now struggling against Naykiar's strong grip. "Tayla needs me," she whispered fervently, as Naykiar's hold tightened. "Let me go!"  
  
"You can't fight Zarbon, Caline, and you know it, and neither can I," Naykiar pointed out to her.   
  
"Then we have to warn Kekron and Bendros," Caline whispered frantically, trying not to scream.  
  
"If we come out now, Zarbon will kill us on the spot," Naykiar told his sister in a fierce whisper. "Kekron and Bendros are Astorian and therefore stronger than us. If anyone can defeat this Zarbon, it's them and their people. Let them handle things, sister; you'd just be throwing your life away, if you went to confront Zarbon. Your Tayla and your Kekron wouldn't want that to happen."  
  
Caline tried to calm down, even though she felt awful about not being able to help. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be her who would give her and her brother away to Zarbon; it would be Naykiar himself.  
  
For, at that moment, Naykiar's nose blasted out a powerful sneeze (he was allergic to dust), and his sneeze was loud enough to reverberate throughout the entire room. No Calmagian, male or female, could ever sneeze quietly; a Calmagian sneeze always sounded like a small dynamite explosion.   
  
Naykiar's sneeze woke Kekron and Bendros up with a start, and Kekron tripped over his own two feet, as he tumbled out of his chair (yes, Kekron was still clumsy at times). Bendros leapt out of his chair, and he fell back several inches when he saw Zarbon standing near Tayla's sleeping body. However, being the experienced Intergalacticpol officer and Astorian warrior he was, he quickly regained his wits.  
  
"Get away from her now!" Bendros ordered Zarbon.  
  
"Oh, I don't think so," Zarbon told him smoothly. "She and I are going on a journey together. I suggest that you and your friend there tell me how to get her out of that dome."  
  
"And I suggest that you leave now," Bendros told him icily. "Or you'll be sorry."  
  
Kekron tried to straighten himself up to follow Bendros's brave example, but then he finally realized that someone was missing. "Caline, Caline? Where are you? Caline! Caline!"  
  
"Looking for someone?" Zarbon asked pleasantly.  
  
Kekron clenched his fists. "What have you done with Caline?" he hissed at Zarbon.  
  
Bendros sensed Caline nearby, and he told Kekron, "Don't worry about her for right now; Zarbon did nothing to her yet."  
  
"I'm not here to harm his little girlfriend," Zarbon said serenely. "I merely want Princess Tayla. Now tell me how to break that dome she's under. My sire is getting impatient for the girl."  
  
"I'm afraid that your 'sire' will have a long wait," Bendros told him sternly. "Because Tayla's not going anywhere with you, if I can prevent it." He drew his sword out.  
  
Zarbon looked at Bendros's small, swishing Saiyan tail and chuckled. "A monkey ordering me about, eh? A half-breed monkey, but a monkey nevertheless. And just like you monkeys, you can't resist a fight, not even a useless one. Are all of you Saiyans that hardheaded?"  
  
Bendros gnashed his teeth, but he wasn't giving Zarbon the satisfaction of knowing that he hit a nerve. "Behind this building, in the empty parking lot," he told Zarbon. "We'll settle our dispute there. I don't want any innocent bystanders getting in the way."  
  
Zarbon snorted. "Fine with me. Not even Prince Vegeta can stand up to me, and he's stronger than you; what makes you think that you can do what he can't, monkey?  
  
"Bendros…" Kekron began uncertainly.  
  
"This is my fight," Bendros told him. "You stay here, and look after Tayla and the others. I've got to go." He saw Zarbon climb out of the window that he had climbed in and flew away. Before a stunned Kekron could respond, Bendros climbed out the window after him.  
  
Kekron prayed to whatever deities or ancestors that he could that Bendros knew what he was getting himself into. 


	101. Just When Things Couldn't Get Any Worse

Chapter One-Hundred-And-One: Just When Things Couldn't Get Any Worse…  
On the other side of Magan…  
  
It was nighttime in Magan, and the sapphire stars winked and sparkled in the ebony satin sky. Ten of the hundreds of streetlights in Magan still worked, and they were glowing, illuminating what they could of the darkened city. King Kitchator had put the entire city under a curfew, and everyone was now inside. It was windy outside, and the leaves, trash, and other debris danced and twirled along the broken streets. The wind, at thirty miles per hour, was so powerful that it seemed that a giant was huffing and puffing throughout the city. All of the trashcans were toppled over, and the garbage had now joined the other litter and debris in their blinding dances along the concrete. All businesses were closed, except for a makeshift CRP station and makeshift firefighter station, which were now both in a building that once housed a bank headquarters.   
  
Many of the skycars were now piled up in huge, twisted, colored heaps of metal and glass, and most of the dead bodies that had been found were now piled into any remaining garbage trucks to later be identified (hopefully) and then buried. The city streets in the bad parts of Magan was illuminated brightly, thanks to the piles of burning Saibamen corpses that reeked of spoiled meats. Green smoke emitted from the burning Saibamen bodies, and all of the men attending the fires were wearing gas masks. They and the CRP officers were the only ones left patrolling the streets. No women or children were out anywhere.  
  
Captain Qatar, having been informed by Lieutenant Balboun of General Norbrook's treachery, had become the temporary leader of the CRP officers. He had ordered a citywide patrol to find any remaining members of Frieza's forces. Captain Qatar's orders: Kill first and ask questions later.  
  
While Captain Qatar was barking orders to his men, King Kitchator and Prince Julien joined him. Captain Qatar immediately bowed down before them before the king gestured with a hand for him to rise. King Kitchator's proud, regal head was hanging down, like the head of a dying flower, and his eyes were bloodshot. Julien was somber, the full realization of Ridikar's death finally hitting him. Captain Qatar noticed their moods; he hated to add to whatever sorrow they were feeling by telling them of Norbrook's betrayal. He also noticed that Filcor Sedemeyer was with them.  
  
"My king," Captain Qatar addressed King Kitchator quietly. "Are you and Prince Julien well?"  
  
Barely able to keep the tears in his aged eyes from forming, King Kitchator sighed heavily, "No, Captain, I'm not. My grandson, Prince Julien, and Sedemeyer have informed me of Prince Ridikar's death. It seems that my beloved Ridikar died while protecting Princess Tayla Chloe, my niece-by-marriage, from an attack from one of Frieza's women."  
  
Captain Qatar said mournfully, as he held his head down in respect. "I am sorry, my king; my condolences to you and Prince Julien and all of your family. Prince Ridikar was a fine young man, and we all will greatly miss him. He would have made a fine ruler in his father's place, my king."  
  
King Kitchator said softly, "Yes, Captain, he would have. It was hard enough to lose my Amitar, but Ridikar's death seems to be far the worse; all Calmag was looking to him to lead them after Amitar's death. And now Julien here must take his place, but I am sure that Prince Julien will do well. Fate is cruel; it is not right that she took both Amitar and Ridikar from us."  
  
"Ah, Fate can be such a wench," Captain Qatar agreed. "But at least, she has spared Prince Julien and Prince Naykiar. Speaking of Prince Naykiar, where is he?"  
  
"Ah," King Kitchator said wearily. "Julien has sent Naykiar to inform Caline of Ridikar's death. The poor girl's going to take it very hard, for at one time, she and Ridikar were very close, and it seems that they had reconciled, from what Lieutenant Balboun told me earlier. But something is coming up that will surely help to distract Caline from her grief."  
  
"And what would that be, my king?"  
  
King Kitchator gave a small smile, and he patted Filcor Sedemeyer's shoulder companionably. "She is soon to marry Filcor Sedemeyer, if we all survive this war. Filcor Sedemeyer here has served us well, and I never understood as to why Ridikar broke his engagement to Caline. I had no problem with Julien reinstating the betrothal; Caline does not need to be without a husband, for she has mourned Alberm Dunlop long enough."  
  
"But Your Highness, Alberm Dunlop has been dead for less than two weeks that we know of," Captain Qatar protested. "Isn't it a little soon to betroth Princess Caline to someone else so soon?"  
  
"It was my son, Prince Amitar, who had betrothed Caline and Sedemeyer to begin with. Sedemeyer deserves a reward for his services, and I am honoring my oldest son's wishes."  
Captain Qatar spoke, "Your Highness, I know that Princess Caline's wishes do not matter in this, but I have heard that she was strongly against marrying Sedemeyer here, and Prince Ridikar agreed with her and broke the engagement. With due respect to Sedemeyer, I am not so sure that I am comfortable with forcing the girl to marry someone that she seems to fear and despise."  
  
"She will learn to be happy with me, or else!" Filcor Sedemeyer snarled out of turn.  
  
"Sedemeyer, you forget your place," King Kitchator rebuked. "You will get your Caline, I promise you, no matter what."  
  
"Your Highness…" Captain Qatar began, uncertain as to what he would say next. Captain Qatar was one of the more liberal men in the CRP, as in he treated females with more respect than most of his cohorts. He had three daughters whom he had allowed to choose their own husbands, and he was one of the minority of men on Calmag that did not believe in forcing girls to marry men that they did not want to be with. He also believed that females would be happier in marriages, if they were married to men that they at least liked. And he also felt that men would be happier with wives that actually wanted to be with them. Captain Qatar had lost his own beloved wife, Hayle, five years ago, but he had fallen in love again-with Zilly Fedamare, whom Lieutenant Saychelle had brought to him for protective custody. Zilly's fiancé and immediate family were dead, so there was no one to object when Zilly had willingly become engaged to Qatar, whom she had become immediately attached to.  
  
Qatar pulled on his collar, as beads of sweat slid down his middle-aged face. "Your Highness, I must protest this; I know that it's none of my concern whom you marry Princess Caline off to, but I don't feel that it's right to force her marriage to Sedemeyer, especially all that Princess Caline did to save us."  
  
Before King Kitchator could speak, Caline snapped at Captain Qatar, "Listen here, Qatar! I am to be the next king after my grandfather, and unless he overrides me, what I say goes! I reinstated my sister's engagement to Sedemeyer, and marry him she will, even if I have to drag her down the altar in chains! I don't need to be burdened with her, especially when I will need to learn all of the royal duties that my father and Ridikar would have done. And furthermore-"  
  
Julien did not get to finish his speech, for at that moment, Captain Qatar's communication radio beeped, and Captain Qatar answered it. "Yes?"  
  
"Lieutenant Saychelle speaking, Captain. We have problems…some men have burglarized a sweetshop."  
  
"Saychelle, we have bigger things to worry about than some men's appetites for sweets. Send a couple of privates to arrest them immediately."  
  
"Captain, you don't understand! The men involved are from Frieza's forces-reported to be from the Ginyu Force that had helped to take the hostages!"  
  
Captain Qatar nearly choked, as he wheezed, "Th-thank you, Saychelle! Do not have any of your men attack them until I give the order! Signing off now."  
  
"What's going on?" King Kitchator demanded to know.  
  
"Frieza's men are in Magan again, Your Highness. The ones known as the Ginyu Force."  
King Kitchator grumbled every curse word in every galactic language that he knew of.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the invaded sweetshop…  
  
Zarbon had ordered the Ginyu Force members to track down the remaining Astorians and destroy them, but of course the fearless Ginyu Force members just had to eat and practice their poses first.   
  
They had raided an abandoned candy shop called "Sweet Treats", and were now feasting on the many candies before preparing for battle (of course, their ideas of preparing consisted mainly of posing). All of them were sitting in the display window, making gluttons out of themselves. Reccoom was munching down on a giant chocolate telope covered in green nuts that were popular in Magan. Guido was shoving milk chocolate bars that were shaped like trees into his huge mouth while Jeice, who rarely ever ate chocolate ("bad for my skin!") was slurping giant ropes of Calmagian licorice (which came only in bizarre colors like electric blue, neon yellow, and neon green).   
  
Baata, who enjoyed sour candies, was puckering his lips and gulping down water after eating a dozen cases of rainbow candy bars that tasted of strong flavors such as sour cherry, sour apple, and sour lime. Of course the Calmagians called those flavors by different names than what Earthlings would normally call them. On Calmag, the flavor and scent of apple was known as the flavor and scent of "elppa" (pronounced "elp-PA") and cherry would have been called "yrrehc" (pronounced "yer-RECH"), and so on.  
  
The men had temporarily stopped their feasting after Jeice received a scouter message.  
"Cap'n Ginyu's not comin' back," Jeice informed the other Ginyu Force members. "I just got a message from him sayin' that he's leavin' Calmag to get to the medical ship. Apparently, Shalila Chloe convinced her Namek hubby to blast Cap'n almost to death."  
  
"Now who's gonna lead our poses?" Reccoom wanted to know.  
  
"I will!" Jeice declared.  
  
"Why should it be you?" Guido asked.  
  
"'Cause I'm the most graceful and athletic," Jeice pointed out to him.  
  
"Says who?" Reccoom wanted to know.  
  
"Says me," Jeice told him.  
  
"I vote for Jeice," Baata spoke up.  
  
"I'd want to lead for once," Reccoom protested.  
  
"Same here," Guido added.  
  
"You two couldn't lead Dodoria to a seven-course meal," Baata pointed out. "But if we're going to do our poses, we'll need to do them soon 'fore our dear Head Commander and Lord Frieza both have a conniption."  
  
"Ginyu Force members rise!" Jeice ordered, and the other three Squad members arose, Reccoom and Guido reluctantly. "Poses now!"   
  
"GUIDO!"  
  
"JEICE!"  
  
"BAATA!"  
  
"RECCOOM!"  
  
"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE…EVEN WITHOUT CAP'N GINYU!"  
  
All of these calls were accompanied with elaborate spread-eagle poses that could fit well in any ballet-if the ballet consisted of only clowns for dancers.  
  
"Now!" Jeice commanded. "We have a city to clear and Astories to take care of…except for the two pretty blonde Astorie women that I made the moves on earlier…if anyone finds them, capture them for me!"  
  
"Whatever, Jeicey," Baata sighed and rolled his eyes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the hotel in Magan…  
  
Tayla slept peacefully still under her blue dome, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She would not awaken until Toria's healing spell finished its work on her, and that would not be for another thirty minutes or so. Caline and Naykiar came out of the closet.  
  
"Are you two okay?" Kekron asked them when they had emerged from the closet.  
  
Caline panted, "Yes, but is Bendros really going to fight Zarbon?"  
  
"Zarbon is dangerous; we saw what he did to some of our grandfather's guards," Naykiar gasped. "And one man thinks that he can fight him?"  
  
"Bendros is very strong…he is an Intergalacticpol officer taking a temporary leave of absence," Kekron told them as confidently as he could.   
  
"I hope that he knows what he's doing," Naykiar persisted. "You yourself saw what this Zarbon was capable of."  
  
"Yes, I did," Kekron told him. "But Bendros and many of my family members are strong, and they surely can stop Zarbon before he hurts anyone else."  
  
Caline hurried to the sleeping Tayla, and she hovered protectively near her friend. She watched Tayla worriedly and asked, "Is there any way that we can move her, so that we can hide her somewhere safe?"  
  
"I don't know," Kekron told her honestly. "Great-Aunt Toria didn't say that we couldn't touch the dome, but she didn't say that we could either." Kekron himself was afraid to touch the ominous-looking dome.  
  
Naykiar quickly looked under the bed skirt of the bed that Tayla was laying on. He cried out with relief, "We can move her! Almost all hotel beds these days are on wheels, like hospital beds! These beds were made, so that the elderly, small children, or the handicapped in the hotels could be moved out quickly in case of fire! These beds are easy to move, even on the carpets!"  
  
"Good thinking," Kekron told him. "Do you think that you two can help me move Tayla's bed?"  
  
Caline and Naykiar nodded eagerly.  
  
"Okay, Naykiar you get on one end, and Caline and I will get on the other. Be careful not to touch the dome. We can take her to an elevator and hide her in the basement downstairs."  
  
Caline and Naykiar hurried to follow Kekron's instructions, and they were clinging to the ends of the bed. "How long will it be before she heals?" Caline asked worriedly.  
  
"Not too long, I hope," Kekron assured her, as all three of them began to wheel Caline's bed across the thin carpet. Caline ran to open the door, and then she rejoined the two boys in wheeling Tayla out of Toria's room. Frantically, they wheeled Tayla and her bed down to the nearest elevator.  
  
"Once Princess Tayla heals completely, she'll be able to fight again, right? And the dome will go away?" Naykiar asked, as the elevator doors opened.  
  
"That's what Great-Aunt Toria told Bendros and I," Kekron replied. He silently prayed that Toria's healing spell would do its magic soon, as he, Caline, and Naykiar entered the elevator with Tayla in her bed. Naykiar pressed a button to go down to the basement below.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the way down to the hotel basement…  
  
Kekron cursed when the elevator stopped on the twenty-fifth floor of the fifty-story hotel. When the door opened, Rojal and Dedron entered, and Kekron sighed unhappily. Those two were just he needed; even with Rojal's improving attitude, Kekron still did not like to be around him or Dedron any more than necessary. Naykiar nodded politely to the two boys. Caline watched them warily; Rojal had been courteous to the little Calmagian princess, but Caline had seen the way that he and Dedron had both treated Tayla in the past. Dedron had not been cruel to Caline (Rojal had warned him in advance not to mistreat the girl), but Riccan hadn't hesitated to tell Caline about Dedron's part in having Ridikar kidnap Tayla.   
  
Caline felt that maybe she could get along with Rojal, but she was rightfully uneasy around Dedron. She was aware of how cruel Dedron could be, but she did not know that Dedron himself had developed an interest in her; she would have run from the elevator had she known that Dedron had now joined the ranks of her admirers.  
  
Neither Kekron nor Caline were aware that Dedron was now interested in courting Caline when she grew older. Dedron knew of Rojal and Kekron's interest in little Caline, and at first, he was for Rojal having Caline for himself. (Dedron looked down on Kekron and thought that he was too much of a weakling to be a good match for Caline; actually he had always held his peaceful cousin in contempt because Kekron did not normally fight.) Then Dedron had started to pay more notice to Caline while she had been in the labyrinths with him and his family and the CRP officers, and he had noticed her unusual maturity at her age, as well as her delicate beauty. Sure, he couldn't touch her now because she was still a child (and he was wise enough to know that most of his relatives would kill him, if he bothered her at this time), but Caline would be old enough in a few years for courting. And Caline had already been initiated sexually, thanks to the hated and deceased Alberm Dunlop of Rendor.  
  
The huge, burly Astorian warrior smiled slowly to himself at that thought; Caline in a few years would be easier to couple with than some inexperienced virgin. He himself already had plenty of sexual experience with females since he had been about fourteen; his promiscuity was something that would not have been approved of among his Clan members, since he was still unmarried. He had often slept with some of the teenaged female servants of the Palace of Chloe, and he could be charming with them when he wanted to be-that was until he decided that he was no longer interested in them. The four female servants that he had slept with all had the same things in common: they were unusually beautiful, mannerly and sweet-tempered, and they all had pale skin, fair blond hair and large, mesmerizing blue eyes. Dedron only liked blondes; brunettes and redheads he would not even consider. And on Calmag before the war began, Dedron had coupled with two more lovely blond, blue-eyed lasses, charming them into bed and then jilting them just when they were starting to care for him. He had been carrying on with a married girl named Ruschelle for two weeks before the war before Ruschelle had to go home to Hensley to her aged, impotent husband. Ruschelle would have gladly ran away with Dedron, but Dedron, tiring of her at that time, had threatened to tell her husband, if she ever bothered him again.  
  
Looking intently at her, he flashed a private smile at Caline, but she became ill at ease immediately and moved closer to Kekron for protection. Dedron looked away from her and smirked.  
  
"What happened to Tayla?" Rojal asked, looking at Tayla still sleeping under the dome. "And what is that blue thing over her?"  
  
"It's one of Great-Aunt Toria's healing spells," Kekron explained. "But I have no time to elaborate; we have to move her to the basement. Zarbon knows she's here, and Bendros left to fight him."  
  
"Then why are we taking her to the basement?" Rojal pointed out. "Why not take her out of the hotel altogether? Zarbon and his cohorts will tear up this hotel searching for her and possibly kill everyone in the process."  
  
"Where are we going to move her?" Kekron wanted to know. The elevator was now on the twentieth floor, and it continued to descend.  
  
"The labyrinths?" Caline suggested.  
  
"Good thought, but Frieza's men knows about them now, and that will be one of the first places they'll look," Rojal told her.  
  
Naykiar spoke up, "We can use the labyrinths briefly to go to this underground bomb shelter not too far from the hotel. It would only take about ten minutes. There will probably be people hiding there, but there should be enough room for us and Tayla."  
  
"How will we enter the labyrinths from here?" Dedron demanded to know. All the boys looked to Caline, who knew the labyrinths better than any of them. Caline closed her eyes, trying to think about the way; Ridikar had taken her to the bomb shelter two years ago.  
  
But before Caline could fully remember, the elevator stalled, stopping at a complete halt, and the lights went out. Caline shrieked, and Dedron nearly fell onto Rojal, who had been standing near him. Kekron and Naykiar froze. Kekron frantically pushed at the buttons, but they did not work, and the elevator was completely dark, except for the glowing blue dome over Tayla. Not even the once lighted elevator buttons were lit. The air-conditioning in the elevator was no longer working.  
  
"Electricity's gone out," Naykiar said needlessly.  
  
"No, really?" Dedron muttered sarcastically. "I thought that your deity must have been pulling a prank."  
  
Caline trembled and shook. "I don't like it being so dark," she whispered shakily. She could feel Kekron still near her, and she huddled closer to him. "Kekron, would you hold me, please?" she asked fearfully.  
  
"Su-sure," Kekron told her, trying to remain calm, as he took her into his arms. Caline clung to him, as they neared Tayla's bed. Tayla continued to sleep, as the blue dome gave off what light it could, casting a faded blueberry light upon all of occupants.  
  
Rojal tried to push the elevator buttons, but again they would not work. "Curses, we're trapped," he grumbled. "Now what?"  
  
"Don't you people have emergency generators?" Dedron asked Naykiar.  
  
Naykiar sighed, "We're supposed to, and this hotel was running on one, but apparently that one must have died just now."  
  
"How will we get out of here now?" Caline wanted to know.  
  
"We may have to blast our way out," Dedron replied.  
  
"If we blast our way out, we'll be sending ourselves to an early grave," Kekron told him. "And Caline and Naykiar cannot fly. And what do we do about Tayla?"  
"Tayla's the least of my concerns," Dedron scoffed. "And as for Caline and Naykiar, we can carry them. I'll be happy to take Caline."  
  
Caline's scared expression told exactly what she thought about Dedron's last idea, and Kekron noticed it, even in the dim light, and spoke, "If we have to abandon the elevator, I will take her."  
  
"And I can take Naykiar," Rojal added. "One of us can blast a hole in the roof of the elevator, and then we can-"  
  
Caline interrupted, "What about Tayla? Who's going to carry her out? How will we get her out of here?"  
  
Rojal mumbled something unintelligible under his breath, and finally he spoke up, "She's right. How are we going to get Caline, Naykiar and Tayla out? It's going to take at least two of us to carry Tayla's bed out. And how are we going to get her out the elevator?"   
  
"Can't we just break that wretched blue thing covering her?" Dedron asked impatiently. He lightly tapped it with his right index finger, but the ki force field was solid, like a Shield Field. Sparks of electricity flew off of Dedron's finger, but of course, electricity could not hurt him. The electrifying dome, however, could easily shock Caline or Naykiar.  
  
Dedron growled and tried to stab it with his sword, but the ki dome was durable, and his sword would not even scratch the surface. Finally Rojal told him to give it up, and he turned to Kekron.  
  
"What are we going to do now?" Naykiar asked, after he tried to make an emergency call from the elevator with no success. The phone line was down. "I can't call out."  
  
Dedron said edgily to Kekron, "Kek, you're a technical genius; can't you fix the elevator?"  
  
"Not without electricity, I can't," Kekron pointed out, a bit impatiently. "It's not the elevator or the control panel; the electricity must have gone out in the entire building."  
Rojal and Dedron cursed, and Naykiar sighed in great frustration. Caline was still holding onto Kekron, and Tayla was still sleeping under her protective healing dome. Kekron finally sat down under the elevator panel, trying to think. Caline sat down with him, still clinging to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and began to tremble. Kekron took her hand and squeezed it gently to calm her-and himself.  
  
Caline hung onto his hand tightly, and she whispered shakily, "Are all of us are going to be able to get out of here, even Tayla?"  
  
Kekron smoothed her hair with his free hand and held her closer. As uncertain as he was, he said bravely to Caline, "We will, Caline, don't worry; we'll figure out something."  
  
Caline hugged him tighter and drew comfort from his presence. Kekron allowed himself a brief smile; he found Caline's presence as comforting to him, as his presence seemed to be to her. Rojal, who had now formed a small ki ball in his hand to give more light to the enclosed elevator, watched them intensely, and Dedron scowled, as he too made a ki ball and watched the pair. Exactly what did that weakling cousin have that he didn't? Caline should be clinging to him like that. Rojal was wise enough to know that Caline was still a little girl, and that she only saw Kekron as a good friend and older brother type, but even he envied his cousin Caline's attention and trust.  
  
"BOOM!"  
  
Suddenly, a giant planet-shattering explosion erupted, and the entire building began to shake and tumble, and the shakes were felt in the elevator.  
  
"What the in the universe?" Rojal cried, as the entire elevator shook violently.  
  
Caline screamed, "Someone help us, please!"  
  
"What's going on?" Kekron asked shakily.  
  
Naykiar fell to his knees, trembling, with his hands on the floor. Rojal kicked and pounded the walls in frustration, but of course that didn't do any good. Dedron looked around frantically, as the building continued to shake when another huge explosion erupted near the building, only much closer.  
  
"This is the end!" Naykiar cried. "Frieza's remaining soldiers must have found us!"  
  
"No-no," Kekron tried to assure him, but he, like the others, did not believe the words. Caline cowered closer to Kekron, nearly squeezing the life out of him, as she hid her face in his shoulder.  
  
The elevator continued to shake harder, as if a giant had stepped into the elevator shaft and started to swing the elevator like a yo-yo.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the same time, on the empty parking lot not too far away…  
  
Zarbon had just fired a powerful ki blast just less than fifty-feet from the hotel, and Bendros had just dodged that blast that was meant for him. Zarbon fired another powerful ki blast from both of his hands, once again missing Bendros, and this time the second one crashed only within twenty feet from the hotel. Bendros flew at him to confront him immediately; he couldn't risk having Zarbon destroy the hotel and its occupants.  
  
Zarbon rained punches and kicks upon Bendros, who was able to match him blow for blow and kick for kick. Zarbon had blasted Bendros's sword out of his hand, and Bendros had had no time to leave Zarbon to retrieve it. He was too concentrated now on keeping the powerful Zarbon at bay.   
  
Bendros shoved his fist into Zarbon's cheek, breaking his cheekbones, and a furious Zarbon punched Bendros hard in his ribs. The Sastorian warrior then fired a small ki blast that forced Zarbon to fall backwards, and when Zarbon fired a ki blast at him, Bendros used Mirror Shield to send Zarbon's blast at him. Zarbon's body was sent crashing into a big, bare tree, and his back collided with a solid trunk. Zarbon quickly recovered, wiping blood off of his lip.  
  
"I'll give you credit, young man; you're holding out much longer than I thought that you would. You're about as strong as the little Tayla is reputed to be; hmm…maybe Lord Frieza should take you as a fighter for him as well. How about it, young man? Someone like you could easily make it into Lord Frieza's Elite? Why, you probably could even compete with Vegeta and the other monkeys that we have working for us? So, what do you say? Let's end this fight, and you can join our side."  
  
Bendros hissed, his face contorting, "No."  
  
Zarbon sighed and smiled. "Don't say that I didn't offer. Shall we continue?"  
  
"Yes," Bendros said quietly.  
  
Zarbon sighed again, no longer smiling, as he crossed his arms majestically. "Young man, why don't you just give up while you still have a body left to breathe in? All you have to do is tell me how to get that dome off of Princess Tayla, and I will take her away and leave the rest of your people alone."  
  
Bendros said coldly, crossing his muscular arms in a manner similar to Zarbon's, "Even if I wanted to tell you, which I don't, I couldn't. She's under a spell that not even you can break. I suggest that you leave."  
  
Zarbon smirked. "I don't think so." And with that, he shot out both of his hands, and began to rapidly fire small ki packets at Bendros's body. Bendros flew into the air to dodge Zarbon's attacks, but Zarbon continued to fire the ki packets straight at him. Bendros deflected them easily with Mirror Shield, deflecting some of them right back onto Zarbon, who cursed when one of his own ki balls scorched his handsome cheek.  
  
He knew then that he would have to take harsher measures, so he fired a medium-sized ki blast at Bendros to distract him. While Bendros was preparing to deflect that attack with Mirror Shield, Zarbon shot a much larger, much more powerful ki blast, which hit Bendros hard, especially in his eye.  
  
Bendros's eye began to feel, as if it were burning in a forest fire. Bendros cried out in pain, covering his eye protectively. Taking advantage of Bendros's distraction, Zarbon zipped into the air and punched Bendros hard in his face before the Sastorian fighter could recover. Before Bendros could respond, Zarbon slammed his fist into Bendros's stomach, and then he flew higher into the air above him. Zarbon clasped his hands together, and then he sent them crashing into the middle of Bendros's back with the force of a falling spike. Bendros's body fell rapidly into the parking lot, crashing into the concrete, creating a hole five feet deep.  
  
Zarbon wasted no time in rapidly firing more ki blasts at Bendros, hoping to kill him. Finally, he opened the palms of his hands and shot out a giant ki blast that had the power of a small missile. The ki rocket shot into the ground-exactly where Bendros had crashed.  
  
"KA-BOOM!"  
  
The entire parking lot exploded into thousands of concrete pieces. Giant shards of blacktop, metal, and other debris scattered from the explosion. A giant, smoky, hazy gray cloud arose from the ashes. Zarbon turned on his scouter after the dust began to settle, and he smiled. His scouter was registering no ki of Bendros's.  
  
"Half-breed monkeys must be so much frailer than the full-blooded kind," he said, chuckling.  
  
Bendros's ki still did not register on the scouter. Zarbon smiled wider.  
  
"That battle was much easier to win than I thought. I didn't expect a monkey to be so easily destroyed. Now to go claim my prize."  
  
And satisfied with himself, he flew back towards the hotel for Tayla. 


	102. Zarbon Returns

Chapter One-Hundred-And Two: Zarbon Returns  
  
At the royal castle…  
  
Lektron and Alora couldn't find or sense the ki signatures of any of their family members anywhere, nor those of their friends. Alora was cursing and devising a thousand ways to torture Seductia, when she and Lektron finally reached a certain floor of the castle, and they noticed a slim body lying under a red and gold tapestry. Bright carroty-orange blood soaked the floor around the body, and Lektron and Alora crept closer to the corpse to investigate.   
  
After bending down, Lektron gently lifted the ornate tapestry and openly gagged. "Well, 'Lora, looks like someone beat you to Seductia. She's been stabbed or blasted to death, can't tell which." He kept the tapestry flap up, so Alora could see the results, and Alora nearly retched, even though she had seen dead people before.  
  
"I could have done without seeing that," she commented. "But at least the wench is dead, lucky for her."  
  
She turned her dark head away from the sight of Seductia's dead body, and she noticed another body covered by a blue and black velvety tapestry. Alora didn't want to know who was under that cloth, but she felt compelled to go find out. At least it couldn't be Bajal; the body wasn't large enough. She treaded away from Lektron and the deceased Seductia to check who was lying under the black and blue tapestry. She slowly knelt down near the body, hoping that it wouldn't be anyone that she knew.   
  
Determined to get this grisly task over with, she quickly threw back the cover, and she gasped in horror at finding Ridikar dead. Alora had never cared much for Ridikar, and she had fully agreed with Shalila and Dirkan that Tayla shouldn't have had anything more to do with him as a suitor, but she had not wished for the boy's death. She sighed sadly, as she surveyed Ridikar's slashed body.  
  
"Poor Tayla," she whispered. "Poor kid; how she's going to take this? Even this boy didn't deserve to die this way, no matter what he did in the past."  
  
Lektron came up behind her, and he nearly choked when he saw Ridikar's body for the first time. "Sweet Orchida, how did Ridikar die?" he asked, stunned.  
  
Alora sighed, "From the looks of it, someone cut him open. I just hope the end was quick for him." And she quietly laid the tapestry back over Ridikar's body, muttering a silent prayer for his soul.  
  
"What a waste," Lektron said. "The kid was finally starting to redeem himself, and it had to end like this for him. It's going to be hard for Tayla and Caline when they find out, poor girls."  
  
"Who should tell them?" Alora asked.   
  
"I will," Lektron told her. "I'll break it to them when we find them; I just hope that they're still okay."  
  
Alora looked back over at Seductia's body, which was once again covered up. "Now that that whore's dead, what has happened to Bajal and Dirkan? I can't sense them anywhere, or anyone else. Where did everyone go?"  
  
"We'll find out soon enough," Lektron said. "'Lora, I think that we ought to leave now; I have a feeling that everyone's left, except for a few folks, none of them we seem to know."  
  
"I'm with that," Alora agreed. She walked over to the window at the end of the hall, and she noticed that the entire city of Magan was unlit. The stars and two of Calmag's crescent moons were the only light that the city had. Not even a streetlight or torch could be seen in the engulfing darkness that seemed to envelop the forest around Magan, as well as the city. The castle was still lit, thanks to its own private generators, but the rest of Magan was dark.  
  
Alora shivered involuntarily; she did not like the dark in the outdoors, although only a handful of people knew of her secret fear of complete darkness. She had just managed to keep her calm in the labyrinths, and that had only been because of the ki balls that she and some of her comrades had made to light the way. She was also a little claustrophobic; she preferred open spaces at all times, and she definitely had not liked the labyrinths. Alora had never understood how Caline could have gone to play in them all the time, but then with a father like Amitar, Caline had to have some place to escape him.  
  
She looked at the darkened city again and wondered worriedly what in Orchida's name was going on there…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At Magan's main power plant…  
  
"Turnin' off all of Maggie's lights was pure genius, Baata," Guido told him, watching a grinning Baata turn off the last of Magan's switches at the power plant. "Cap'n's sure going to be proud of you!"  
  
"He should be," Baata boasted. "It's a good thing that this power plant was just around the corner from the sweetshop. The city of Maggie is going to be dark tonight!"  
  
The remaining Ginyu Force members were now inside the near-abandoned power plant, which had now been run by only a few electricians. Reccoom had knocked the few people there unconscious, and Jeice and Guido had stuffed them into a closet while Baata, who had a little technical knowledge, had found the main control room and began shutting down the power throughout the city of Magan.  
  
"But how are we going to fight the Astories, if Maggie's pitch black?" Reccoom wanted to know.  
  
"You can destroy Astories in the dark, Rec," Jeice pointed out to him. "Anyway, this plan of Baata's is great. We can flush out the Astories this way and take 'em down, only everyone remember that we have to spare-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, we know, spare the two blond Astorie women that you tried to make the moves on," Guido interrupted.   
  
"Um, Jeice," Baata pointed out. "There's no way that Lord Frieza's going to allow you to keep those Astorie women alive for yourself. He specifically said every last Astorie on this planet was to be destroyed, except for Princess Tayla."  
  
"He let Balair keep that Astorie woman for himself!" Jeice protested. "I don't see why he wouldn't let me do the same."  
  
"Astorie women are dangerous," Baata told him. "In fact, all Astories are. It'd be too risky to keep an Astorie slave; the Astories can be as deadly as the monkeys."  
  
"And we're stronger than Vegeta and his bunch," Jeice told him. "And monkeys are stronger than Astories, so I could easily handle two Astorie women."  
  
"Whatever, Jeice," Baata sighed. Apparently Jeice had forgotten that little Princess Tayla Chloe had taken down Prince Vegeta, and the other Astorians had defeated the other "monkeys".  
  
Now that Baata was certain that he had shut down off all of Magan's power, the Ginyu Force members decided to leave to find the Astorians. Unfortunately, none of the Ginyu Force members had figured that shutting off Magan's power would make it harder to find the Astorians anywhere, and unlike the Astorians, none of the Ginyu Force members could sense ki naturally. And the scouters couldn't necessarily tell whether a ki signature was Astorian or not…  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the Angori Hotel…  
  
The occupants of the hotel, both Astorian and Calmagian, panicked when the lights went out throughout the entire hotel. Hazel and Natala had arrived two hours ago, and both women grew worried when their family told them they had no news of their husbands. Natala cradled her swelling stomach protectively, as she and Hazel walked about the hotel lobby, trying to calm down the frightened guests.   
  
Many of the Astorians had created small balls of ki to use as lanterns, and the Calmagians had turned on flashlights and battery-powered lanterns. The mixture of frightened and worried sounds of people could be heard, as many hotel guests began to pour into the lobby from upstairs. And still, more people were trying to descend the stairs to reach the hotel lobby below. The bellhops and maids were ushering guests out of their rooms and floors.  
  
The two electricians in the hotel were cursing because the main generator that would have given the hotel light again had malfunctioned and blown out. They were working fervently to fix it, with the help of a repairman, but so far there was no success.  
  
Natala find her daughter, Arlina, kneeling in a corner, meditating and holding a small ball of ki in her small hands. Natala sat down beside her daughter, who stopped meditating the moment that she felt her mother's presence.  
  
"Mamma," Arlina whispered, embracing her mother.   
  
"Are you alright, my dear?" Natala asked her, holding her, as she sat near her daughter in the corner of the fancy hotel lobby.  
  
"Yes, Mamma," Arlina told her softly. "I am glad about the baby. You will have a beautiful little girl…I can't wait to meet Maylia, the first warrior in our family."  
  
"You saw that much?" Natala asked, amazed.  
  
"Oh, yes, Mamma, and she will be very strong, very lively. She will look just like you, with your beauty and good heart, and Father's strength and wisdom." Then Arlina suddenly frowned, and her young forehead creased in worry. "Mamma, Kekron and the others are in trouble."  
  
Trying to remain calm, Natala asked, "Who are the others?"  
  
"Caline, Rojal, Dedron, and Tayla, who is under Great-Aunt Toria's healing spell. I can see them now, Mamma, and the elevator had just stopped shaking. Tayla is still asleep…"  
  
As Arlina continued on, Natala tried to conceive a plan on how to rescue her son and the others. She hoped that the elevator would be able to hold out for a while.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later…  
  
Hazel was standing near the bar, which amazingly enough, was still operating. The bartenders could not use their special mixing machines to make their mixed alcoholic drinks, but they were serving liquors and other unmixed drinks. Hazel's end of the bar was empty and deserted, with most of the patrons that weren't at the bar gone.   
  
A tall, husky hotel security guard strolled up to Hazel, who had been watching Natala and Arlina for the last ten minutes. The guard had a battery-powered lantern with him, and even in the darkness, he noticed Hazel's beauty. He looked down upon her and decided to make conversation.  
  
"Hey beautiful," he slurred, for he was highly intoxicated, and Hazel drew away from him immediately. The smell of liquor on his breath repelled her.  
  
"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked her, slurring again. "Never see a sweet dark-skinned girlie like you before…how 'bout you an' me get a coupla o' drinks an' go down da hall…a maid just cleaned this room, an' me an' ya can make good use of it…"  
  
"No thank you, leave me alone," Hazel told him curtly. "I'm married. Go away."  
  
The huge guard was not about to be deterred, and he slung a thick arm around Hazel's trim waist. Hazel shoved herself away from him, but the guard just pulled her closer to him. Hazel tried to shove him away, but he seized one of her small, brown wrists.  
  
"Gimme a kiss…" he crooned, as he put his face and foul breath in her face. Hazel nearly retched at the smell.  
  
"Let me go!" Hazel screamed, struggling against him, as he put his lips to her neck and pulled her closer.  
  
The drunken guard didn't have a chance to finish his advances on her, for at that moment, he was roughly pulled away from Hazel and thrown to the floor with a hard thud. The guard leaped up to confront his attacker, but the attacker punched him hard in his face and threw him to the ground again.  
  
"Get out of here!" Hazel's rescuer ordered in a loud, commanding voice. "Don't you ever come near her again!"  
  
The guard crawled away, and then he scuttled to his feet. Even in his drunken stupor, he knew that he was outmatched, and so, he hurried away as quick as he could.  
  
Hazel's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her rescuer, a large, yet lean and muscular man with black hair and brown eyes. She threw herself upon him, sobbing into his shoulder.  
  
"Gohan!" she cried out. "Gohan, I've missed you so much!"  
  
Gohan drew his wife into his embrace and held her close, rubbing her back. "I'm back, sweetheart, and I won't be leaving you again anytime soon."  
  
"Gohan," Hazel whispered. "Gohan, Gohan…"  
  
And the Chief of Intergalacticpol and his wife held each other for a long time and cried between kisses and embraces at the deserted end of the bar.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Upstairs...  
  
Lelina and Petalia had been on the seventeenth floor when the electricity went out, and both girls were afraid, as they wended their way down the stairs in the dark, with only their ki balls as light. The two girls held hands for safety and comfort, as they used their ki balls in their other hands to light their way down the many flights of steps. Petalia was visibly shaking, as she and Lelina made it to the twelfth floor, and they felt the ki signatures of Rojal, Dedron, Tayla, Caline, and Kekron nearby. It was then that they realized that they were near the elevator shaft on the twelfth floor.  
  
The two princesses decided to leave the stairways for now, and Lelina opened the door leading to the twelfth floor hallways. She and Petalia entered the hallway and crept along the hall, using their ki globes for light. The shadows danced on their lovely faces, as they walked slowly along the hall.   
  
The only people on the floor were a Calmagian businessman and his mistress kissing and fondling each other openly out in the hallway, making loud moaning noises. Petalia gagged in disgust, witnessing this display, and Lelina's face colored in embarrassment, as the girls decided to hurry away from the couple.  
  
Finally, they reached the twelfth floor elevator shaft, where the ki signatures of their family members were strong. Lelina shouted through the crack of the closed elevator doors, "Rojal, are you in there?"  
  
"Lee? Lee, is that you?"  
  
"It's me-and Petalia. Can you get out?"  
  
"Do you think that if we could, we would have by now?" Dedron's icy voice replied.  
  
"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Rojal snapped at his best friend. He called to Lelina again, "Lee, we can get out ourselves, but we have a problem-Caline and her brother, Naykiar are with us, and they can't fly. And Tayla is here with us, but she's in her bed and under Great-Aunt Toria's spell. Can you and Petalia go get help on this floor?"  
  
"The only ones on this floor," Lelina called back, "are a man and his lady making out. I doubt that they'd be able to help. Maybe I could blast a hole in the door to see where the elevator is stuck at."  
  
"No, Lee!" Rojal cried through the elevator wall. "You could accidentally cut the cables holding the elevator shaft doing that!"  
  
In the elevator, Kekron called then, "Maybe one of us in here could make a hole in the roof the elevator with a ki blast, but we'd have to be careful where we shoot."  
  
"If we have to do that," Rojal added, "Lee, you and Petalia will have to back away for your own safety."  
  
"I wish that I could open these doors," Lelina called to her brother. Then suddenly she became quiet, and her entire body tensed up, for she could feel a familiar ki signature behind her and Petalia-a ki signature that was strong and powerful.  
  
And dangerous.  
  
"No," Lelina whispered. "It can't be-"  
  
She was cut off by Petalia's scream. "Someone help me!"  
  
Lelina whipped around, her long brown hair flowing with her like a rushing river. She cried out in horror, when she saw Petalia had become Zarbon's captive. Zarbon had crawled into the window that had been at the end of the hall and near the elevator shaft. He now had his hand over Petalia's heart and his large hand was glowing.  
  
"L-Let her go," Lelina ordered him, her voice shaking.  
  
"Help me!" Petalia screamed. "Please help me."  
  
"Be quiet," Zarbon snapped at her. "Not another word out of you, and I mean it!" He seized Petalia's throat to emphasize his point.  
  
"Let her go!" Lelina ordered.  
  
Zarbon smiled, still holding Petalia's throat, as he spoke, "I want Princess Tayla. Where is she?"  
  
"You won't find her here," Lelina told him fearfully. "We can't help you."  
  
"Oh, I think that you two can," Zarbon told her. He spoke to a frightened Petalia, as he released her throat, "Well, you can anyway. I didn't expect to see you again so soon, but you can help me. I'm going to keep you as a bargaining chip, my dear, until Princess Tayla is brought to me. If she's brought to me quickly, I will release you."  
  
"Please don't hurt me," Petalia whispered. "You and Commander Jaden and Commander Chestra released Caline and I before. You don't want to hurt me, do you? Surely, Commander Chestra wouldn't like that; would she be happy with you, if she thought that you had harmed me in any way?"  
  
"This is war, young lady," Zarbon told her. "And in war, you win any way that you can. You will never see Commander Chestra again, I can assure you, and in time, she will forget about you and the girl you call Caline. And Commander Jaden has better things to do than to worry about children. Now where is Princess Tayla?"  
  
"She told you that you wouldn't find her here," Petalia stammered. "Perhaps you should go downtown-surely, she'd be fighting with the others."  
  
"I know that she's here; I saw her earlier," Zarbon told her edgily. "Is she still sleeping under that blue dome? How do I get her out of it once I find her?"  
  
"Blue dome?" Lelina asked, puzzled. "What blue dome-"  
  
"LELINA! PETALIA!" Dedron's voice roared angrily through the elevator doors. "Why are you two still near the doors? Do you two want to get fried? Get the hell out of the way!"  
  
"You don't need to talk to them that way," Kekron's steady voice told Dedron firmly.  
  
"Stay out of this, Kekron!" Dedron ordered him.   
  
Lelina was about to cry for help, but Zarbon told her, as if he read her thoughts, "I wouldn't recommend warning them about me, not if you and your friend here don't wish to get hurt."  
  
"Please just let us go," Petalia pleaded.  
  
"Tell me where Princess Tayla is now," Zarbon commanded.  
  
A flash of light was seen between the cracks of the elevator doors, and then a loud, whirring noise was heard behind the elevator doors, and then a sudden "BOOM!" followed. The elevator shaft shook violently, and Caline's scream echoed throughout the shaft.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the elevator…  
  
"Dedron, it was supposed to be a small blast!" Kekron scolded Dedron. "That was too much power! You could have blown up the entire elevator shaft!"  
  
"I know what I'm doing!" Dedron roared. "I've been doing ki blasts since I was three!"  
  
Kekron snapped at him, "You could have killed us all just now!"  
  
"We've got a hole now!" Dedron shouted. "So let's get out of here!"  
  
"How are we going to get Tayla out?" Caline asked worriedly, still holding onto Kekron, as they both rose.  
  
The boys still didn't know. "There has to be a way to get her out of that blue dome," Kekron said. "There just has to be."  
  
"Well, you're supposed to be the genius out of all of us," Dedron sneered. "I say personally that we just worry about ourselves. That hole I made is not going to be big enough to get Tayla's bed through. Maybe this elevator will hold up until the electricity comes back on, so we'll just have to leave her here for now-"  
  
"We're not leaving her!" Caline screamed before she thought. "We have to take her with us!"  
  
Dedron snapped at her, "Well, you tell me just how we're going to do that!" He stared down at her menacingly, but Caline was not about to be dissuaded.  
  
"I-I don't know," Caline admitted, and then her voice grew firm again. "But I'm not leaving her behind."  
  
"Don't be stupid," Dedron growled. "We can't get her out of that dome, and we can't get her bed through that hole I made, so we'll have to leave her here until we get the elevator fixed."  
  
"What if one of Frieza's soldiers takes her away while we're gone? What if another quake happens, and the elevator falls down? She's helpless; she can't move! We have to figure out a way; we have to!" Caline wailed. She turned to Kekron and pleaded, "Couldn't we find Great-Aunt Toria and get her to remove the spell? One of us could leave to find her."  
  
"That would work," Rojal agreed. He cupped his mouth and called upwards, "LELINA! PETALIA! ONE OF YOU GO GET GREAT-AUNT TORIA-WE NEED HER TO REMOVE THE SPELL OFF OF TAYLA, SO SHE CAN WAKE UP! IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE CAN GET HER OUT OF HERE!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the twelfth floor…  
  
"ONE OF YOU GO GET GREAT-AUNT TORIA-WE NEED HER TO REMOVE THE SPELL OFF OF TAYLA, SO SHE CAN WAKE UP! IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE CAN GET HER OUT OF HERE!"  
  
Zarbon grinned then, and Lelina's face fell in despair. Petalia paled, and then she shrieked, as Zarbon suddenly threw her to the floor and leaped over her fallen body. He pushed past Lelina, and before she could stop him, he sent a small ki blast that blew a man-sized hole in the elevator door. Within minutes, the metal doors had a huge, molten, steaming hole in the center. He jumped through the hole before Lelina could intervene.  
  
"Stop!" Lelina cried.  
  
"Leave them alone!" Petalia screamed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the labyrinths…  
  
Bendros had survived-barely.  
  
But Bendros was feeling more refreshed and alive than ever, although no one would have believed it had they seen Zarbon blast him into the parking lot ground. Bendros had lain still, playing dead, hiding his ki, until he was absolutely certain that Zarbon had disappeared. Then he had climbed out of the hole that he had bee in under all the rubble to find a certain shrub.  
  
He was happy to see that this tough little bush had survived Zarbon's brutal attack.   
  
Apparently Caline's roses were as tough as an Astorian or a Saiyan or a Sastorian.  
  
It had taken Bendros for what it seemed to be an eternity to crawl along the broken parking lot to its edge to retrieve two of Caline's precious Bright Healer roses. Slowly and painfully, he used the oil from the petals to treat his wounds and refresh himself. He had regained most of his strength back and most of his precious ki, and he hoped that these things would be enough.  
  
Now he was hiding his ki, searching the labyrinth corridors, sensing for familiar ki signatures, hoping to reach Zarbon and the others before it was too late.  
  
He could feel himself coming closer and closer to the hotel again.  
  
"Hold on, Tayla," he said fiercely. "I'm coming; I won't let Zarbon or anyone else take you away."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in the elevator…  
  
"One of us should stay with Tayla," Kekron said. "And the other two can take Caline and Naykiar out of here to safety."  
  
"You stay here then," Dedron ordered him brusquely. He looked intensely at Caline. "I'll take her." Caline flinched at Dedron's intense stare; he reminded her too much of Filcor in some ways.  
  
"I can stay with Kekron and Tayla," she volunteered quickly, still huddling near Kekron.  
  
"No, Caline," Kekron told her firmly. "I will remain here, but I don't think that it's safe for you to do so. You go with Dedron and Rojal for now." He didn't like letting her go with Dedron but under the circumstances he didn't have much of a choice; it was Tayla who needed him now. At least Rojal would be with her, and Rojal would not let Dedron bother Caline. And Naykiar would be with them.  
  
Caline nodded hesitantly; she was uneasy around Rojal and Dedron, but they had not done her any harm so far, so she decided that she would have to take her chances with them. Noticing her anxiety, Kekron cradled her head in his hand, and then he leaned over and kissed her on her alabaster forehead. Caline blushed slightly; normally a kiss from any male would have been considered a threat, no matter where it had been placed. But Kekron's gentle kiss had only eased her anxiety instead of increasing it. He smoothed back a few wispy strands of pale gold hair.  
  
"You're very brave, Caline," he told her proudly. "Far braver than you think you are. Tayla will be okay, and so will I. We all will be."  
  
"You be careful, you hear me?" Caline insisted sternly. Kekron allowed himself a small grin, for it had been the first time he had ever known her to be daring enough to order anyone like that. He liked this part of her actually, as well as her shy, demure side that was more common. "Promise me that you and Tayla won't get in any trouble," she continued firmly.  
  
"I will," he promised her, holding up seven fingers. "Seven Moons Oath."  
  
"I'm afraid that Seven Moons Oath you won't be able to keep, young man," a steely manly voice said from above.  
  
Kekron cried out in horror when he heard that voice from above. Caline shook and trembled and huddled closer to Kekron. Naykiar balled up his fists, and Rojal and Dedron drew out their swords when they saw the speaker's face peering through the hole in the elevator roof.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Dedron demanded to know. He couldn't remember the stranger's name, but he knew that the intruder was one of Frieza's soldiers because of the armor that they always wore.  
  
"It's-it's Zarbon, Dedron-from the pictures that Dirkan showed us a long time ago," Rojal stammered. Rojal had always considered himself to be brave and heroic, but the sight of one of the deadliest warriors of Frieza's Top Elite figuratively brought him to his knees. Sweat rained down his face.  
  
"Very good, young man; I see that you've done your research," Zarbon said smoothly. "Now that I've been introduced, I suggest that you and your friends give me Princess Tayla immediately. I can carry her out of here myself; now hand her over to me. If you obey me quickly, I may spare your worthless lives."  
  
Kekron growled under his breath and balled up his free fist. He could only shake one fist at Zarbon, for he was holding Caline and rubbing her back to keep her calm. Kekron was scared and furious at the same time; he hated being so helpless, so unable to fight the enemy.  
  
Caline feared Zarbon; he had not harmed her during the two times that he had been one of her captors, but she knew how dangerous he was. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her or any of her friends to accomplish his goals.  
  
Rojal said to Dedron, "Dedron, we're going to have to fight him; we don't have a choice. We can't let him take Tayla; we need her."  
  
Dedron wisely kept his thoughts to himself about just how much he thought that they really needed Tayla. He still despised Tayla with a passion, but he knew that Rojal was right. For now they would need the troublesome girl that Dedron had tried to get rid of earlier. There would be plenty of time to dispose of Tayla later after the war was over. Dedron had no intention of allowing Tayla to be around to be superior to him in every way.  
  
"Fine," he grumbled. "Let's get him."  
  
Zarbon turned on his scouters and tested their power levels. The scouters beeped, and he smirked.  
  
"Both of you barely have ki levels of over fifteen-thousand apiece; not very high, but high enough for somewhat of a challenge. Who wants to face me first?"  
  
Dedron was the first to fly up to him, and Zarbon grinned.  
  
"First to fight me, first to die."  
  
And Zarbon raised his hand for a powerful ki blast.  
  
Kekron seized Caline and threw her to the elevator floor, shielding her body with his own. Naykiar fell to the ground and covered his head, as Rojal stood his ground behind Dedron.  
  
Zarbon's blast came at Dedron, a flash of blinding white light.  
  
Dedron placed his wrists in Mirror Shield position, hoping against hope that it would be enough. 


	103. Rojal And Dedron Vs Zarbon

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Three: Rojal And Dedron Vs. Zarbon   
  
Downstairs in the hotel lobby…  
  
"KA-BOOM!"  
  
An explosion had erupted in the elevator shaft, and the hotel employees had ordered an evacuation. Calmagians and Astorians were frantically trying to flee the hotel, but Lieutenant Balboun, Toria, Hazel, Natala, and Gohan had formed a search party to look for anyone who was trapped upstairs. Cirono, the Calmagian telepath who had warned them about General Norbrook's treachery, was going to accompany them, but when he heard from a CRP officer that the remaining members of the Ginyu Force were nearby, he abruptly left to go help fight them instead, despite the warnings from both Gohan and Hazel about how dangerous the Ginyu Force was.  
  
But Cirono was determined. The Ginyu Force and others like them had been terrorizing the people of Calmag for long enough. He knew that the Ginyu Force was as strong as the strongest Astorians on Calmag, if not stronger, but he had to do something. There were enough people searching for those left behind. It was time for him to go.  
He slowly made his way through the dark hotel lobby and out into the cool Calmagian night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the elevator shaft…  
  
"Not back, Astorie!" Zarbon grunted, after barely surviving Dedron's second Mirror Shield attack. Thanks to Dedron's last two Mirror Shield attacks, Zarbon had taken a little damage, and his handsome appearance was now disheveled, with his green hair tangled, and his nose bloody. "But it's not good enough!"  
  
But the last two attacks had been good enough to tear two enormous, man-sized holes in the sides of the elevator shaft, just barely avoiding the cables. Dedron had cleverly diverted Zarbon's devastating attacks to the sides of the elevator shaft walls.  
  
Dedron laughed arrogantly. "Don't be so sure, pretty man! I was just warming up!" The confident, husky Astorian prince was standing on the roof of the elevator. He looked at Zarbon and sneered, "Are you sure that you're not really a lady posing as a man, because if you are, you're doing a pitiful job of it!"  
  
Zarbon growled, as he crossed his arms, "Enough with the insults, Astorie. Why don't you save yourself and your friends the trouble and hand over Princess Tayla to me at once! If you do, I promise that I will let and the others live for a little while longer before we clear this wretched planet."  
  
"Forget that!" Dedron declared. "If anyone's going to make Tayla's life miserable, it's going to be me! Sorry, pretty lady, but I still have plans for her, and you don't figure into them. Now why don't you get your cute little bottom out of here and go back home and primp! You have quite a few hairs out of place. If those last two attacks were the best that you had, you better give up now; even the monkey who calls himself Prince Vegeta put up a better fight than you did!"  
  
Zarbon clenched his fists; he put up enough with insults about his excessive grooming and preening habits, and he didn't need a chunky Astorie boy adding to them. "You'll pay for those remarks, Prince!" he hissed. "Prepare to die!"  
  
Rojal, who was standing near Dedron on the elevator roof, added, "Go ahead, because Dedron and I here are ready for you! He won't be facing you alone, and not even you can take on two Astorian Princes of Chloe!"  
  
"Very well then," Zarbon told Rojal smoothly. "My next blast will destroy you, your cocky friend, and everyone else in this shaft! Not even your pathetic Mirror Shield attacks will be able to stall them-"  
  
"WAIT!"  
  
Rojal and Dedron turned around to see Kekron climbing out of the elevator hole that Dedron had made earlier. "Kekron, what you are doing here?" Rojal demanded to know.  
  
"You three can't fight here," Kekron pointed out. "Another blast from any one of you could kill us all. You three have to take this fight to another place, preferably outside of the hotel."  
  
"Stay out of this," Dedron snapped. "We know what we're doing."  
  
"No, Dedron," Rojal told him. "Kekron's right. We have to take this fight elsewhere. Another blast from that pretty boy up there, and he'll kill us all, including Tayla. Speaking of her, is she awake yet?"  
  
"No, I'm sorry," Kekron told them. "She's not. Caline and Naykiar have been shouting at her to awaken, but it's all been in vain. You two go on and take Zarbon with you; we'll figure out something."  
  
"You better soon," Dedron told him. "Tayla's been sleeping long enough; she needs to get her scrawny behind up!"  
  
"Leave her alone, Dedron," Kekron ordered. "She saved your life earlier from Vegeta! If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be alive right now! Father told me everything before he left!"  
  
"Enough with the talking," Zarbon's voice commanded them. "If you Astorie boys are going to continue this useless battle, I suggest that you do so now. I'm growing impatient. I'm becoming eager to finish off the fat boy here, now what in the world-"  
  
Zarbon's words were cut off from a sudden punch from Dedron, who had flown up into the air like a cork coming out of a bottle of champagne. Dedron began punching and kicking him, with Zarbon matching him blow for blow and kick for kick.   
  
"Dedron!" Rojal screamed. He cursed under his breath, mumbling, "We were supposed to take this fight somewhere else!"  
  
Kekron clenched his fists. "Dedron's going to doom us all!"  
  
Caline's frantic voice called from inside the elevator, "Kekron! What's going on up there?"  
  
"Everything's under control, don't worry," Rojal lied to her, answering before Kekron could. "You and your brother keep trying to wake up Tayla. Be careful not to touch that dome."  
  
While Rojal was speaking to Caline, Zarbon had sent a hard punch to Dedron's chubby face, a punch that sent him crashing into the wall. Dedron sprung off of the wall and landed a kick in Zarbon's abdomen, a kick that dented his stomach flanks. Zarbon then responded by punching the side of Dedron's neck, but Dedron sent a mighty blow to Zarbon's ribs through his armor. Zarbon screamed in pain, but then he recovered quickly and smiled, coming up with a new strategy.  
  
He flew back away from Dedron, and Dedron followed him. He allowed Dedron to land all of the kicks and blows that he wanted upon his handsome body. Dedron landed many sharp blows to Zarbon's face and chest, and a powerful roundhouse kick from him nearly broke Zarbon's jaw. Zarbon only responded with a minimal of self-defense. Zarbon's nose was bloody, and his face was covered with bruises, but he allowed Dedron to beat up on him. Dedron triumphantly kicked Zarbon in his torso, crotch, and legs, and then he landed a roundhouse kick to Zarbon's jaw.  
  
"'Bout to give up, pretty lady?" Dedron asked in a sickening, cloying voice.  
  
Rojal and Kekron watched Dedron assault Zarbon, and Kekron was concerned. "Rojal," he spoke worriedly. "Zarbon's much stronger than the average Astorian, and we all know that Dedron hasn't had his Awakening. How is he able to take Zarbon on so easily? Why isn't Zarbon fighting back like he should?"  
  
Rojal was worried too, and then he remembered one of Dirkan's pre-battle talks. "Sweet Orchida!" he gasped. "I know what Zarbon's doing!"  
  
"What's that?" Kekron asked, more alarmed than ever, as he and Rojal stood on the roof of the elevator.  
  
Rojal moaned, "Zarbon's deliberately holding back! He's going to let Dedron pound and kick away at him until Dedron uses up all of his strength! He's waiting for Dedron to run low on his ki and strength, and that's when Zarbon will strike back at full strength! Dirkan said before that some warriors have used that method before, on both sides!"  
  
Kekron cried, "Then Dedron has to stop and back off before it's too late!"  
  
Rojal screamed to Dedron, "Dedron, stop! Zarbon is holding back on purpose!"  
  
"Dedron, watch out!" Kekron shouted.  
  
Dedron landed a hard punch into Zarbon's face, which sent Zarbon crashing into the wall of the elevator shaft. The hulky Astorian grinned. "Relax, you two! I have this under control! Too bad Caline isn't watching this! In fact, I can't believe that everyone feared Zarbon so much-"  
  
Before Dedron could speak another word, a smirking Zarbon, who had been laying flat against the smooth wall of the elevator shaft, opened up his palms and shot out a huge burst of pale green light from his well-shaped hands. Dedron screamed, as the huge bolt of ki crashed into his huge body like a tidal wave of light.   
  
"DEDRON!" both Kekron and Rojal shouted.  
  
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Dedron cried in terror, as the ki blast from Zarbon engulfed his heavy body, burning him, as he fell back against the cable that was holding the elevator in mid-air. His mouth was open wide, as his body burned from both within his body and outside it. A scorched, near-unconscious Dedron fell off of the cable and started falling rapidly towards the bottom of the elevator shaft, like a meteorite falling to the surface of a planet.   
  
Rojal frantically leaped off of the elevator shaft and dived after Dedron, as Dedron's now-unconscious body fell towards the bottom of the shaft. Dedron fell almost ten floors before Rojal finally managed to sweep himself up under his friend's body and catch him in his arms. Dedron moaned with relief, managed a gargled thank-you to his friend, and with the blue irises of his eyes rolling to the back of his head, he passed out.  
  
"Dedron!" Rojal cried, trying to rouse his closest friend, as he stood mid-air in the elevator cradling him in his arms. Dedron's face was red and blistery on his left side, and his left eye was already swollen. His shirt had been burned away, and there were two long, puffy, sickening white blisters running along his wide chest. His right nipple was burnt black, and he was barely breathing, his chest fighting for every breath of air.  
  
Zarbon looked down at them from above, expressionless, with his arms crossed. His tattered cape floated behind him, a wave of pale cloth. Finally, a triumphant smirk crossed his good-looking features, as he said, "Now, do you see that it is foolish to challenge me? Even the half-breed monkey who called himself Bendros couldn't stand up to me, and I'm afraid he's having a private session with Enma Daiou at this moment. So sorry that I had to dispose of him so quickly; he did put up a good fight before I eliminated him for him.  
  
Rojal's jaw dropped, as he held Dedron close to him. He looked up at Zarbon, horrified. "You killed Bendros?"  
  
"He's not here to help you now, is he?" Zarbon asked  
  
Rojal clenched a fist and shook it at Zarbon the best that he could. His face contorted into an angry, menacing expression. "You'll pay for that, you bastard! And you'll pay for what you did to my best friend!"  
  
"Then come collect your payment," Zarbon responded coolly, with an amused smile.  
  
"And so I shall!" Rojal hissed, as he flew towards Kekron and landed on the roof of the elevator. He gently handed Dedron's unconscious body over to a horrified Kekron, who took their injured cousin into his arms. "Take care of him, Kek, please," Rojal told him quietly.   
  
"I will," Kekron told Rojal as bravely as possible. Slowly he floated down into the hole that Dedron had created earlier, carrying Dedron with him back down into the elevator.  
  
Caline and Naykiar cried out when Kekron brought Dedron's inert form back into the elevator and laid him tenderly on the floor. "Keep watch over him, please," Kekron told them. "I need to go help Rojal."  
  
"Help Rojal fight?" Naykiar asked Kekron in alarm. "You're not a warrior or a soldier! How do you expect to stand up to Zarbon? You couldn't take him before when he kept all of us hostage!"  
  
"He's very brave," Caline spoke up for her champion. "And he saved me from both Balair and Norbrook." She tiptoed over to Dedron's body, with an expression of pity on her young, pretty face. She had never liked Dedron much, but she felt sorry for him at that moment. And he had held out for a long time against Zarbon, something that very few people had been able to do.   
  
She knelt down beside Dedron and pulled out two blue Bright Healer rose heads. Quickly, she tore off some of the petals and began to dab them to Dedron's many wounds and burns. She gently felt along his huge, muscled legs for any wounds that were hidden by the burned and tattered pants left on his body, starting from his feet all the way up to his stomach. She then felt him convulse when she lightly touched his flat stomach. Caline slowly and hesitantly peeled down his pants to just above his crotch, and she winced when she saw a horrible gaping blister that had already busted open. Curls of white skin were at the edges of the softball-side wound, and there were patches of blackened flesh surrounding the open injury. Caline began to squeeze as much healing oil as she could out of one of the rose heads, hoping that it would be able to help. When a layer of rose oil had been applied to Dedron's wound, she lightly began to spread it with one small white finger.  
  
Within minutes, the wounds on Dedron's body, including that one on his stomach began to slowly disappear, as if they had never existed to begin with. Unfortunately, Caline's Bright Healers could not revive Dedron, and so he still lay unconscious. But at least his bodily injuries were completely healed.  
  
She looked up worriedly at Kekron, who had been deviating between watching her treat Dedron and watching Rojal up above fly into the air to challenge Zarbon. Finally, Kekron heard Rojal scream.  
  
"NO!" Rojal's voice from above cried out in horror, as Kekron quickly left the elevator through the hole that Dedron had made. He flew up into the air to see Zarbon mercilessly punch Rojal in his face and torso. Rojal was able to meet most of his blows, but Zarbon had quickly decided to go to full strength and finish off Rojal quickly.   
Rojal's fist crashed into Zarbon's jaw, but Zarbon retaliated swiftly by kicking Rojal in his crotch. He then slammed his fists repeatedly into Rojal's stomach, while Rojal vainly tried to punch him in his face.   
  
Then Zarbon butted his head into Rojal's chest while punching him hard in his stomach again. Zarbon was fighting at full power now, and Rojal didn't stand much of a chance anymore. Before Rojal could react, Zarbon flew up above him, clasped his hands together into fists, and then, with both fists together, Zarbon slammed his fists into the back of Rojal's back. Rojal tried to recover, so he could retaliate, but before he could do so, Zarbon punched him hard in the back of his head. Dizzy and disoriented, Rojal still tried to steady himself to fight his opponent, but then Zarbon landed an uppercut on his jaw and slammed his other fist into Rojal's throat. Rojal choked and gasped for air, as Zarbon began to punch him in his chest and stomach again. Then Zarbon shoved his fist into Rojal, knocking him out once and for all.  
  
Kekron stood on the roof of the elevator again, with his fists clenched, as he tried to figure out a way to help Rojal without getting them all killed. But before Kekron could carry out whatever plans to help that he had made, Zarbon seized Rojal by his collar and flung him down below. Rojal's unconscious body fell to the elevator roof, collided into Kekron, and sent both him and Kekron crashing through the roof of the elevator-almost right on top of Dedron and Caline!  
  
The two boys would have fallen onto Dedron, had it not been for Caline and Naykiar, who both quickly dragged Dedron's heavy body out of the way. Kekron fell down onto his back, with Rojal falling down upon him. Rojal's body rolled off of Kekron and onto his right side. Rojal's unconscious form was now lying pressed against the side wall of the elevator.  
  
Naykiar and Caline ran to Kekron and Rojal, as Kekron struggled to sit up. Caline threw her arms around Kekron's neck, as she looked over at Rojal. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "And is Rojal still alive?"  
  
Kekron slowly reached over to feel for a pulse on Rojal's tall neck. A soft pulsing beat greeted the pad of his index finger, and Kekron breathed a sigh of relief. He put one arm around Caline and patted her back. "We'll be okay," he tried to assure her, as Caline still clung to his neck. She finally released him to go treat Rojal's wounds with what rose petals she had left.  
  
"I wouldn't waste those rose petals on him, if I were you."  
  
Caline looked up to the hole in the elevator roof and screamed when she saw Zarbon's face peering through the hole of the elevator roof. Kekron abruptly jumped to his feet and clenched his fists again.  
  
"Leave us alone!" Kekron ordered him. "You've already hurt enough people, and Tayla's not able to fight you right now! Go away!"   
Caline hurriedly left Rojal after treating his wounds with what rose petals she had left, and she flung herself onto Kekron again, clinging to him tightly, pressing her face into his chest. Kekron kept one arm around her, as he shook his fist at Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon laughed, as he bent down closer to the hole. "You should tell Princess Caline not to bother treating those boys, for it's not likely they're going to live anyway. And from what little I know of you, boy, I know that you have little fighting ability. Why don't you just let me come down and take Princess Tayla back with me, and I may spare you, Princess Caline, and that other boy with you. You all don't have a chance of defending her at this point, and you all know it. Surrender the girl to me now, and I will leave."  
  
"You couldn't take her," Kekron retorted. "Just how do you plan to get her out of that dome? Not even we can do it. Even you can't carry that bed of hers very far before you wear yourself out. And she doesn't want to come with you; why force her into a life of servitude under Frieza? Surely, not even you can be completely happy working for that monster."  
  
Zarbon gnashed his teeth, for Kekron's last sentence had struck a nerve. It was true that he didn't always like the evil dictator whom he had worked under for many years. In fact, he had openly opposed Frieza at one time when Frieza had decided that he wanted Chestra for himself. Chestra and Zarbon had escaped Frieza for a short time and went into hiding before they were found again and brought back. Zarbon knew that he was lucky that Frieza had allowed him to live and be with Chestra, but he had never forgiven Frieza for trying to come between them. He no longer idolized his lord, although he continued to do his bidding. And he certainly didn't need some Astorie boy reminding of this!  
  
"My feelings about Frieza are no concern of yours," Zarbon snapped. "Now, I'm coming down! Get out of my way, and let me get to the girl!"  
  
"Caline, you're going to have to go to Naykiar now," Kekron told her firmly, as he eased her out of his arms. As Caline began to back away, Kekron stood up, tall and steady, trying to brave as possible.  
  
"If you want Tayla, fine."  
  
"WHAT?" both Caline and Naykiar cried in horror.   
  
"Why?" Naykiar demanded to know of Kekron. Tayla was important to the Astorian people; how could Prince Kekron just give her up like that. Naykiar knew that they didn't have a chance of protecting Tayla now, but still-  
  
Caline's eyes filled with horrified tears. How could this boy that she had come to trust and admire betray her best friend? How could Kekron just give up Tayla? Caline looked at Kekron in utter disbelief and horror. Kekron noticed Caline's devastated expression, and tears came to his eyes, but he couldn't comfort her now.  
  
Kekron said quietly, evenly, looking straight into Zarbon's golden eyes, "If you want Tayla, that's fine. But you will have to get by me first." Caline was openly relieved at these final words, as the tears flowed down her face. She reproached herself privately for having so quickly lost faith in Kekron; she should have known that he wouldn't have just given in like that. She favored Kekron with a grateful smile. Naykiar was also more at ease now, and he flashed Kekron a brief smile.   
  
Zarbon snorted contemptuously. "You Astories and monkeys have a lot in common, do you know that? Neither of your races knows when you're fighting a losing battle, but if you insist on challenging me, young man, I will accept. But before you stand off against me, I suggest you kiss your little blond girlfriend goodbye, because your next five minutes will be your last."  
  
"Don't be so sure," Kekron told him as steadily as possible, even though he knew that Zarbon was right. What in Kami Orchida's name had he been thinking? He looked at the blue dome where Tayla still lay, and then he looked over at the worried faces of both Caline and Naykiar. He then looked down on the floor at the unconscious bodies of Rojal and Dedron, and he sighed heavily. Both boys had been stronger than he had been, and neither one could even come close to holding off Zarbon for long. What chance did he, a mere Technician with limited fighting skills, have?  
  
He swallowed hard and stood up straighter than ever.  
  
*Caline, Tayla, everyone, I'm sorry. Caline, Tayla, I'm sorry that I can't do more to protect you two… *  
  
"I'm ready," he told Zarbon quietly.  
  
Zarbon smiled. He'd kill the boy with one punch or one ki blast easily.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Outside, on the cables that was holding up the elevator shaft in mid-air, a spark emerged from one of the wires, and smoke began to stream from the cable. Quickly, the spark grew into a small twist of orange fire, and the cable holding up the elevator began to burn slowly. Wires and metal strings began to unravel, as the cable began to steadily burn away.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Outside the elevator shaft…  
  
Lelina and Petalia were screaming down into the elevator shaft in vain when someone suddenly crept up behind them. The visitor had no ki that could be sensed, but Petalia heard him breath, and she slowly, fearfully turned around. The lovely girl was relieved to find out that Bendros had returned. She nudged Lelina, who also turned around. Both girls were happy to see Bendros Sahara once more.  
  
"Bendros! You're okay!" they shrieked.  
  
Bendros's battle gi was torn and tattered, and he looked somewhat exhausted, but he had no apparent wounds, for they had been healed with some of the oil from Caline's roses. He started to greet the girls, but then he smelled a slight acrid smell of smoke. His Saiyan genes enabled him to detect scents ten times better than his pureblooded Astorian counterparts.  
  
Petalia turned back towards the elevator, and she screamed when she saw that the cable was on fire. "Bendros! The elevator cable is burning! And Dedron, Kekron, Rojal, Tayla, and Caline are still trapped inside that elevator!" She and Lelina had been watching the battle between their brothers and Zarbon the entire time.  
  
"Move aside, girls!" Bendros ordered both Lelina and Petalia, and both girls did his bidding, as he pushed past them towards an emergency case holding a water hose. Bendros punched the glass out with his fist, and he ignored the bleeding cuts on his fists, as he dragged out the heavy water hose. He then noticed a spigot below the fire emergency case and turned it on with his free hand.  
  
"Stay near that spigot!" he ordered both Lelina and Petalia, as he gathered as much of the hose in his arms as he could. "When I say turn it off, do so!"  
  
Bendros held onto the hose steadily, a rapid burst of white water shot forth from the hose and towards the burning cable. Within a minute, the fire on the elevator cable had been extinguished, and a long, gray puff of dirty smoke emerged from the scorched cables. Lelina panted, as she turned off the hose.  
  
Bendros heaved a sigh of relief, but his relief soon turned to worry.  
  
He felt Zarbon's ki too close to the trapped occupants in the elevator.  
  
And the sudden increasing of…Tayla's ki?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A glow of soft, pale blue light streamed into her mostly closed eyes, as she was able to hear voices for the first time in a while. She could hear the strong, steady voice of Kekron telling someone that he was ready. Ready for what?  
  
And then she heard Zarbon's menacing chuckle, and her small, slight body trembled. He was still after her? She then heard Caline crying and begging Zarbon not to take Tayla away or harm Kekron, but she then heard Zarbon tell the Calmagian princess that her pleas were of no use.  
  
Her eyelids felt heavy, but gradually the heaviness began to ease, and her saucer-shaped eyes slowly peeled open, revealing doll-like irises the color of rich mahogany. Her button nose twitched, and she emitted a yawn, as she stared up into the clear blue dome that had been protecting her during her sleep and healing.  
  
Despite her grogginess, she felt almost completely reenergized, thanks to Aunt Toria's healing spell. The sleepiness began to dissipate, as she felt her ki return to her in full strength. She felt reborn, in a new body and a new spirit. She had not felt this strong or this well in a long while.   
  
She began to sit up slowly, lowering her head, so she would not brush against the ceiling of the healing dome. But it would not be necessary for her to duck, for at that moment the blue dome ceiling began to fade away into nothingness, as if it had never been there to began with.  
  
Her time of hibernation had ended.  
  
  
A/N: Now that Tayla's awake again, Zarbon may have a harder time taking her away than he thinks. But does Tayla really stand a chance against one of the most powerful of Frieza's Top Elite Officers? Even Bendros, Rojal, and Dedron had been unable to defeat him, but don't count Bendros out yet. Can he and Tayla defeat Zarbon, or will Zarbon be the one who gets the honor of bringing Tayla to Frieza?  
  
And will the other occupants in the elevator survive? Or will they be destroyed before Tayla has a chance to battle Frieza's Head Commander?  
  
And where are Shalila, Dirkan, Bajal, and Raakon? They are about to face down the remaining members of the Ginyu Force, and Raakon has gone back to find Gorna. Cirono is on his way to help Shalila and her family. Will he be able to help? And do Shalila and her family really stand a chance against the Ginyu Force members, even though Ginyu is out of the picture?  
  
And whatever happened to Gorna? Is she still alive? Will Lektron and Alora, who are still in the castle, find her in time?  
  
Stay tuned!  
  
Gooden boden fro noy  
  
Sawnya 


	104. Tayla Renewed

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Four: Tayla Renewed  
  
Back at the castle…  
  
Lektron and Alora were now on the roof of the castle, and they had been preparing to leave when they felt a weakened ki signature and heard a hard, feminine groan.  
  
They had were at the area where Ginyu and Gorna had been battling earlier, and where Ginyu had been sent to his defeat down below. Now, in a huge pile of rocks and rubble not ten feet away, the rocks in the pile began to roll off, and something-or someone-was crawling out from the pile.  
  
"Gorna?" Lektron asked, recognizing the ki.  
  
As a crippled Gorna Chloe slowly began to climb out of the rubble, Raakon Chloe could be seen flying above the roof of the stone castle in the darkening, deep purple night. Raakon slowly landed onto the roof, just as Alora and Lektron were rushing to Gorna's aid. Raakon joined them, and within several minutes, Gorna had been pulled from the pile of rubble and debris. Lektron gently cradled her, as Gorna lay exhausted in his arms.  
  
"Where's Ginyu?" she moaned. Her face had several large blue bruises covering it, her dull brown hair was snarled and tangled, and her clothes were tattered and burned. Her hair and her body were coated with gray dust, mixed with dried blue blood. One of her boots was missing, and half of her shirt was torn to shreds. Her huge, bulbous nose had a mustache of dried indigo blood resting under it. Unknown to her relatives, several of her ribs were cracked, and her left ankle was twisted.   
  
Raakon pulled out his battered healior's kit case and began to attend to what wounds he could do. He began to clean her facial and bodily wounds gently with sanitizing wipes, and then he began to softly dab medicine onto her many wounds and burns. Lektron, by then, was sitting on a stone bench, still holding Gorna in his lap.  
  
None of her relatives could answer Gorna's question, and no one could sense Ginyu's ki.   
  
"Hopefully dead," Alora quipped, brushing a lock of dark hair out of her eyes.   
  
"Gorna, are you okay?" Raakon asked her.  
  
Gorna groaned wearily, "Suppose…so, Raakon. Where did everyone go? I can only sense the ki signatures of us four."  
  
"Seems that everyone has left," Lektron observed.   
  
Raakon gasped, "Except for one!"  
  
"Who?" Alora asked. "Anyone we know?"  
  
Raakon said wearily, as he shivered, "Bhodie Lett…one of Frieza's soldiers."  
  
"Where is he?" Lektron asked. "What species is he?"  
  
"Human. And he's downstairs."  
  
"A human?" Lektron said. "Good. I've heard that most humans are weak physically; he shouldn't be hard to destroy."  
  
"No need to," Raakon told him. "I tied him up and left him in a closet."  
  
"What happened with you two?" Alora wanted to know.  
  
Raakon, as briefly as possible, gave them the story of him and Natala saving Hazel from Bhodie.   
  
Gorna wheezed, "You should have killed him. It's not safe to let any of Frieza's people live, no matter how weak they are. Anyone who works for him needs to be destroyed."  
  
"That's not fair, Gorna," Raakon argued. "You know as well as I do that not all of Frieza's workers are voluntary. Nama has told me about Pork and Crystalis, who were kids that had been forced to work for that monster. And Pork is Steak's son. Should he have been destroyed because he had been essentially Frieza's slave?"  
  
Gorna said quietly and cynically, "I suppose you're right, Raakon, but those like this Bhodie should have been killed on the spot."  
  
"I have to agree with Gorna on that one," Alora added. "Why was he allowed to live anyway?"  
  
"Because he can lead us to Frieza-and possibly Jay-Jaypros's murderers!" Raakon's voice shook at the end of his sentence. Raakon clenched his fists, as he continued with tears in his eyes, "And I want to find Dodoria! He is Jaypros's killer!"  
  
Lektron patted Raakon's shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Raakon-and Gorna."  
  
Gorna whispered hoarsely, "Dodoria killed Jaypros?"  
  
"Yes!" Raakon hissed fiercely. "That fat creature confessed all in front of Natala, Hazel, and little Caline. No remorse, no regret."  
  
Gorna said as calmly as possible, trying to conceal her grief, "Jaypros has done wrong, but he did not deserve what happened to him."  
  
"What happened to Farla?" Lektron asked Raakon. "Have you heard anything about my sister?"  
  
Raakon said quietly, "I am sorry, Lektron, but Natala told me of Marya's vision of your sister's death-possibly a suicide. I doubt she is alive at this point either."  
  
Alora kindly took Gorna from Lektron's trembling arms, and then she laid Gorna on the stone ground, cradling her head. Lektron slammed his fist into the stone bench that he had been sitting on. He put his face down into the dirty, muscled palms of his huge hands and began to weep before he could stop himself. Raakon sat down near Lektron and placed a shoulder around him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lektron," Raakon whispered.  
  
Lektron said in an unnaturally shaky tone for him, "Why? Why? Why her? Why? Who or what could have…driven my sister to take her own life, if that's what happened? Farla! Farla, I am sorry!"  
  
He looked up into the dark, relentless black sky that contained stars that heartlessly seemed to continue to twinkle and sparkle, ignorant of the pain going on down below on a planet called Calmag. Lektron's whole body shook violently; despite his deep disapproval at what Farla had done, he had still loved her dearly. Farla and Jaypros had not deserved their cruel fates at the hands of Frieza's forces. He couldn't help but weep and howl, and his howls of grief could be heard throughout the blackness of the night. Raakon hugged him as a brother and close cousin would, patting his back.  
  
"Lektron," he whispered chokingly. Lektron rested his huge, golden head on Raakon's shoulder.  
  
"Why did your brother and my sister have to leave, Raakon?" he sobbed. "Why did they have to get involved with each other? Why couldn't they have stayed?"  
  
"They thought that by leaving Astoria, they would be free to live their own lives together," Raakon told him practically.  
  
"And their folly led to their doom," Gorna said glumly. A tear or two was dangling on her lashes for Jaypros. She did not celebrate Farla's death, but she had never had thought much of her flighty cousin, even before Farla and Jaypros's affair, and so all of her grief went for Jaypros.  
  
Alora asked quietly, "I know that the point is moot now, but wouldn't it have been easier in the end, if Nama-lan had given Farla her divorce?"  
  
"Nama thought that she was doing right at the time, and I don't blame her," Gorna said in defense of her grandmother. "Legally, Farla had no reason to leave Cletos; Cletos may not have been perfect, but then who is? And Nama had a valid point: if everyone was allowed to leave their spouses just because they fell in love with someone else, there would be several requests for divorce a day, instead of a year!"  
  
"But why should someone have to stay with someone that they don't love?" Alora demanded to know. "It makes more sense to part ways, if the parties involved are no longer in love, especially if they are not bonded."  
  
"Alora," Gorna said coolly, as she felt her ribs ache. "Marriage is for life, no matter what, for better or worse. A spouse is not a toy to tire of and exchange for something else. Your Clan believes in that thing you call a Saiyan bond; do bonded mates in your Clan ever separate?" Gorna thought that the Saiyan bond was more of a psychological concept than a true lifelong union, but she knew that most Sastorians fiercely believed in it. Alora and her immediate relatives certainly did, and there had been no talking them out of their strong beliefs about the Saiyan bond.  
  
"No," Alora said firmly. "Bonding is for life. My sister, Gran Mauria, nor I have ever known a pair with a Sastorian involved to end in divorce in any Clan." She looked at Raakon and Lektron and spoke sadly to them, "I'm sorry about Farla and Jaypros."  
  
Raakon nodded and told her a quiet thank-you. He and the others fell into a quiet silence for the next twenty minutes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in the elevator at the Angori Hotel…  
  
She was sitting up fully, with her small, budding breasts gently heaving through the thick, warm material of her Aunt Toria's rose-colored nightgown. She saw Caline turn towards her and cry out in delight. Naykiar whooped, and Kekron just looked at her astonished with his jaw hanging open.  
  
"Tayla…" he whispered hoarsely.  
  
"Tayla!" Caline cried out in delight, running from Naykiar towards her friend and leaping on the bed. Caline was now sitting next to Tayla, squeezing Tayla tightly. Tayla hugged her back briefly.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked Caline. "How did I get here? And why is Zarbon so close?"  
  
Zarbon swiftly leapt into the elevator, nearly landing on top of Dedron's inert body. He swept his cape behind him majestically, as he declared with a toss of his emerald hair, "Well, nice meeting you again, Princess Tayla. I'm glad that you're awake now, so that you can leave with me at once."  
  
"Forget it, Zarbon," Tayla said steadily with a renewed strength and courage in her young voice. She looked directly into his eyes, with mahogany eyes defying golden ones. Her frown deepened, her eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened.   
  
Zarbon looked at her staring so intently and so defiantly at him, and just for a few seconds he was unnerved. How could a young girl, a mere Astorie child, worry him so? He dared to glance into her mocha irises once more, and what he in saw them intimidated him for a few moments. Deep in Tayla's dark eyes, a storm seemed to be gathering together. She was sitting up straight, with her small hands resting stiffly on her sides, the palms laying flat against the mattress.  
  
She said to her enemy in such a icy tone that sent a shiver or two down Zarbon's normally steely spine, "I will tell you only once, Zarbon: you will leave now. Now. I am not going anywhere with you."  
  
Zarbon gnashed his teeth at Tayla's now more open boldness. He hissed, regaining his courage, "Listen, little girl, you don't have a choice. Get up and come with me. Lord Frieza has been waiting for you."  
  
"He'll be waiting until Enma Daiou calls his name, which hopefully will be soon," Tayla said edgily. She climbed out of bed and stood on the floor. A brief shiver or two passed through her petite frame, as she felt the cold floor beneath her bare feet.  
  
Zarbon smirked. "Listen, child; I don't really have time to play, but I'll tell you what: I will be on the roof of this hotel in ten minutes, and we can fight there. I am eager to see why Lord Frieza wants you for his forces so badly, and if you can actually defeat me, you may go free. But that won't be happening, little girl, for none of your people have ever been able to defeat me. Your Namek guardian, Dirkan, defeated me at one time in the Battle of Chloe, but I have become stronger since then. It would be easier on you, if you were to surrender now."  
  
Without hesitation, Tayla replied bravely, "I accept your challenge."  
  
A collection of gasps echoed throughout the elevator.  
  
"Tayla…" Caline began hesitantly.  
  
"Tayla, I think that we should wait…" Kekron began.  
  
"We can't," Tayla told him sadly. "He won't wait, and neither will I."  
  
Zarbon laughed. "Bold little thing, aren't you? Lord Frieza will be most pleased at that, child. Twenty minutes, little one, and no more, or I will come to take you away!" And before he left for the hole in the elevator roof, he said in a condescending tone to her:  
  
"If I were you, I'd at least change my clothes. It's going to be hard fighting in that nightgown of yours!" And after that, he soared out of the elevator, with his wicked laughter being heard, as he arose further and further up.  
  
Tayla looked down at her comfortable nightgown. Zarbon was right about this one thing; fighting in a nightgown probably would not be her best option.  
  
But how was she going to change in time? And where was she going to get a set of clothes at least semi-appropriate for fighting?  
  
She looked at the unconscious forms of Dedron and Rojal lying on the floor. She knew that they would not appreciate it, if she took their clothes to fight in. And she wasn't certain about Naykiar…so their remained only Kekron, who was at this point, dressed in a pair of light gray trousers and a sleeveless dark blue shirt.  
  
"Kekron…" she began, as she walked up to him. "I have a BIG favor to ask of you." And she whispered her request into his ear. Kekron's eyes widened in horror at her suggestion, but finally, reluctantly, he agreed to her appeal.  
  
Kekron told Caline and Naykiar, "You two might want to turn away for a few minutes. And do me one favor: when Tayla and I are done, try not to laugh." He was blushing furiously already.  
  
He then closed his eyes himself. "Okay, Tayla, whenever you're ready." He sighed heavily.  
  
Within less than five minutes, Tayla was dressed in a pair of trousers that were two sizes two large for her, tightly fastened with a belt, and she also wore Kekron's too large shirt and boots.  
  
And poor Kekron was the one stuck wearing Tayla's rose-hued nightgown, which only went down to his ankles. He sighed, as he looked over at Dedron and Rojal, still unconscious. He was thankful that his cousins weren't awake to see his embarrassment; it was going to be bad enough having Caline see him that way. He could hear Dedron and Rojal mocking him now.  
  
But then Tayla's fight against Zarbon was more important than his mortification.  
  
Finally, Caline and Naykiar turned around, and Naykiar snickered before he thought. He then fell to the floor of the elevator and burst out into laughter.  
  
"Naykiar!" Caline scolded him reproachfully.  
  
Naykiar tried to stop laughing, but he couldn't. "I-I can't help it! He-he just looks so funny!"  
  
Caline took another look at Kekron, and she turned away to hide a smile. And before she knew it, much to her shame, she started to giggle. So did Tayla. Kekron put his head in his hands.  
  
"Sorry, Kekron," Tayla told her nephew apologetically between giggles.   
  
Kekron sighed.  
  
Caline laughed softly. "Kekron, we're sorry!" she exclaimed. "It's just, well…it's not every day that we see a man that looks as good in a rosy, lacy nightgown like you do!" Before she could stop herself, she fell into Tayla's side, and Tayla fell into hers, as they both laughed harder.  
  
"Ohhhhhh…" Kekron moaned, more embarrassed than ever. "Tayla, are you sure that you can't fight in this thing?"  
  
"It'll restrict my-my movements!" Tayla shrieked, trying to restrain her uncontrollable laughter.   
  
Caline, her laughter ebbing away, tiptoed up to Kekron and beckoned him to bend down towards her, which he slowly did. She then kissed him on his cheek, smiling. "It's not every day that I meet a man with a sense of humor! Kekron, don't worry; you still look very handsome, no matter what you wear."  
  
"I don't know, Caline…" Kekron groaned, although a part of him was secretly flattered. He couldn't help, but be a little thrilled that Caline thought of him as a man. But then he supposed a sixteen-year-old boy would seem like a man to an eleven-year-old girl. But no matter what, he was pleased that she thought of him as a grown-up.  
  
"Think of it as contributing to the war effort," Caline said softly, unconsciously batting her long lashes. Her childlike, whispery voice temporarily took on a more mature, womanly tone, a soothing, melting voice that usually only an adult woman could manage. Caline rested her small, snowy hand on Kekron's dark olive arm, as she looked up into his face. She was getting used to making eye contact with a male and getting comfortable with it. Turquoise eyes melded with dark denim-blue ones that could become black at times. Kekron found himself blushing before he could stop himself, as Caline's smile grew, a womanly smile.   
  
Caline, despite having been married, knew very little about the ways of being a woman, except for what had been forced upon her. She did not realize at the time that she was flirting with Kekron, for she had never flirted in her life, nor had she cared to. For a few moments, she had given herself, Kekron and everyone else (those were conscious) in the elevator a glimpse of her future self, a self, that if were allowed to grow and blossom, would become a healthy, loving young woman capable of living a happy life.  
  
Kekron studied this brief part of Caline carefully, allowing his smile to mirror hers. Never in his life had a girl paid him much attention, nor had he paid much notice to girls. The few times when he had not been attending to his studies or inventions, he had been too shy to try to flirt or court a female. Not that it would have done him much good at that time, for almost all of the Clan of Chloe girls under twenty that Kekron could have courted either thought of the awkward Technician as either an older brother type or a good friend type, never a potential suitor or boyfriend. To most of the young girls in his Clan, Kekron Chloe was strong, steady, and reliable, but not exciting to be around, as he was always talking about his inventions or devices that he had created, or that someone else had created. Most of Kekron's female peers were attracted to men like Rojal, Arlon, Lukan, and Bendros, and yes, even Dedron. Kekron was normally passed over, and up until a couple weeks before he had left for Calmag, it had not really bothered him.   
  
It had only been then that Kekron learned that girls never thought of him as a potential suitor or boyfriend…after Brandesa. Brandesa had been a lovely and flirtatious brown-haired, green-eyed servant girl who had faithfully attended to Kekron's mother. Kekron had met her and liked her a lot, but she had fallen immediately for Kekron's Uncle Arlon before Kekron could tell her how he felt. Arlon and Brandesa had parted ways shortly afterwards, with Arlon promising the girl that if they still felt the same way when they returned to Astoria, Arlon would consider courting her seriously.   
  
"Kekron?" a soft, deep, still whispery voice asked.  
  
Kekron shook himself out of his emotional cloud, as he made himself return to the present. Caline's kiss on his wrist helped. Kekron blushed again, and he said, forgetting about his feminine apparel at the moment, "What was that for?" Caline's face was now flushed.  
  
Naykiar laughed and answered before Caline could, "She likes you! A Calmagian female kissing a male on his wrist is a sign of her respect and admiration for him. Sweet Ankor, but would ol' Filcor Sedemeyer be jealous! And so would Alberm, for Caline never did that with him that I know of!"  
  
Caline blushed now, her face a bright peach color, and she looked down.  
  
"Caline, I didn't know you knew how to flirt!" Tayla teased.  
  
"I was not flirting!" Caline declared indignantly, as she quickly returned to her normal self. Once again, she was a little girl, not quite a woman. "I don't flirt! I don't even know how to flirt!" she wailed in protest, her voice growing frantic.  
  
"Okay, Caline, okay," Tayla said in a soothing tone.  
  
Caline continued, "I was just kissing Kekron's hand as a sign of friendship, you know, friendship!"  
  
"Okay, Caline, calm down," Kekron told her. "We believe you."  
  
"I'm not sure, if I do," Naykiar disagreed, but he caught Tayla glaring at him, and he then added, "But Caline has never told a falsehood that I know of."  
  
"Umm…I better go now. My time's about up, I think," Tayla said quickly. She began to float up into the air up near the hole that Dedron had made earlier. "Gooden boden, everyone! Wish me all the luck you can 'cause if I'm facing Zarbon, I'm going to need it!"  
  
"Good luck, Princess Tayla!" Naykiar called.  
  
"Farewell, Tayla, be careful, please!" Caline cried. "Don't get killed!"  
  
"I won't," Tayla assured her as bravely as possible. She looked down at Caline, and then to her horror, she remembered about Ridikar! Did Caline know that Ridikar was now dead? Tayla realized that she had not told Caline what happened to her brother, and it seemed that Kekron had not either.   
  
What was she going to do? Should she tell Caline now, or wait?  
  
Better to wait…if she had to be the one to tell Caline, it would be best to do so, if she was still alive and around to help Caline through her grief that would come.  
  
Tayla sighed and wiped away a tear for Ridikar. And then she shoved all thoughts of her suitor out of her mind for now. She had to go on; she had to fight. There would be time to grieve more for Ridikar later. Ridikar would have understood; he would have wanted her to focus on saving both her people and his.  
  
"Good luck, Tayla," Kekron told her softly. "Please, please come back to us."  
  
"I-I will do my best," Tayla told him. "Get out of here safely, all of you. Gooden boden fro noy! My prayers are with all of you and Dedron and Rojal!"  
  
And within seconds, she was gone out of the elevator, boosting into the still, stale air of the elevator shaft like a humanoid female rocket.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When Tayla had left, Kekron lifted Dedron onto his shoulder with Naykiar's help. "I'll be back," he told them. "I am going to take Dedron and Rojal out of here first, and then I'll come back for you two."  
  
Five minutes later, he returned without Dedron and with some news. "Bendros has gone to help Tayla, from what Lee and Petals have told me when I brought Dedron to them! He left before Tayla did!" Kekron exclaimed a bit breathlessly. "Bendros is alive!"  
  
Caline was visibly relieved. "Good. Then Tayla won't be fighting Zarbon alone!"  
  
"But how did Zarbon get past Bendros the first time?" Naykiar wanted to know.  
  
"Never mind that now," Kekron told him briskly, although he himself was wondering the same thing. "Help me pick up Rojal."  
  
Naykiar did, with all the strength he could muster. At least Rojal was lighter than Dedron; Naykiar had nearly pulled his back muscles trying to help Kekron lift up Dedron earlier. Rojal was now resting on Kekron's broad shoulder. Kekron then left the elevator with Rojal.  
  
Another five minutes later, Kekron had returned without Rojal. And within two minutes, Naykiar was perched onto Kekron's back, and Caline was nestled in Kekron's arms. Kekron decided that he could make it out of the elevator carrying both of them safely. Naykiar's arms were around Kekron's neck, and Caline's arms were around Kekron's torso, clinging tightly.  
  
And within the next five minutes Kekron was out of the elevator, carrying both Naykiar and Caline. And within those five minutes, an event that could have turned out to be tragic occurred.  
  
For the cables holding up the elevator shaft suddenly snapped and broke completely. The huge metal box that had contained Tayla and her companions for a while plummeted rapidly, falling to the bottom.  
  
"CRASH! BOOM!"  
  
Caline shrieked, and Kekron and Naykiar could barely restrain themselves, as all three witnessed the final demise of the elevator. A huge cloud of dark gray cloudy smoke emerged from the wreckage of the smashed elevator. Caline buried her face in Kekron's chest, as Kekron hurriedly flew up faster with his passengers.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the twelfth floor  
  
Lelina and Petalia's screams when they had heard the elevator fall and crash awoke Dedron, who growled, "What the hell is going on here? What was that crash?"  
  
Dedron apparently had a harder head than everyone thought he had. He seemed fully revived already.  
  
"What in the hell happened?" Dedron repeated.  
  
"We're all alive, Dedron." Kekron's steady voice could be heard as he flew through the hole in the elevator doors that Zarbon had made earlier. He landed gently on the carpet in the hallway, and Naykiar climbed off of him. A trembling, shaken Caline was still holding onto Kekron, and he was stroking her hair, speaking words of comfort in soothing tones.  
  
"We're safe now, Caline," Kekron assured her softly. "All of us are safe now. Kami Orchida, the East Kai, or the Supreme Kai must have been watching over us." He rubbed her back in slow circles until Caline's body relaxed. She continued to remain in his arms.  
  
"It's been a miracle that the battles between your cousins and Zarbon didn't send us to our deaths sooner," Naykiar told him, as he mopped his brow. "You Astorians can sure be as fierce as Saiyans. No wonder Frieza considers your race a threat."  
  
"Not enough of a threat to get him to leave us alone," Kekron said ruefully, as he continued to rub Caline's back. Caline rested her head against Kekron's stomach, as she held onto him.  
  
Lelina and Petalia glanced at Kekron's new apparel, and Kekron said firmly, "About the nightgown…don't ask, please."  
  
Petalia looked at Kekron--and Caline, who was still in Kekron's arms, strangely. "Since when did you two become a couple?"  
  
Kekron and Caline both blushed, embarrassed. Kekron was the one who had the nerve to speak first, and it took him great effort. "Caline and I have become close friends, but it's not anything romantic, just friendly."  
  
"He's right, but he's still my hero," Caline piped up. "He saved me from Norbrook and Balair and even Julien, my brother! But we're just good friends, not a couple. I'm too young to be part of a couple yet. I'm only eleven."  
  
"True…" Petalia said slyly. "But you two look very cozy together. If you two are secretly seeing each other, you don't have to hide it! I think you two make a very charming couple."  
  
"PETALIA!" Kekron exclaimed.  
  
"We're just friends!" Caline wailed.  
  
Petalia grinned. "So you are, you are…hmm. Wonder how that nasty Filcor Sedemeyer's going to take it, not that it matters. Kekron's much better than that old Filcor anyway. Looks like he has a rival. You do look very nice with her, Kekron, even if you are wearing a nightgown."  
  
"That's enough, Petalia," Kekron scolded her.  
  
"Filcor is going to have a fit, if he believes what she believed earlier," Naykiar spoke up. "Especially since Julien's reinstated his engagement to Caline. Jules isn't going to like the idea either. In fact he-"  
  
Caline's face paled until it was almost translucent, and Kekron's body tensed. He abruptly released Caline and whipped around towards Naykiar. His eyebrows knitted together, and a deep frown fell upon his face. He walked almost angrily towards Naykiar and stopped when he was right in front of him. Kekron towered over Naykiar, who was not much taller than Caline, by a good foot and a half. Naykiar began to tense when Kekron looked down on him with a scowl on his face. Kekron crossed his arms and stared down at Naykiar. Naykiar could barely meet Kekron's eyes now, for he realized what he had now said.  
  
Kekron said edgily, trying to remain calm, "Naykiar, why would Julien be able to reinstate Caline's engagement to Filcor-oh, sweet Kami Orchida! Of course! Julien is-"  
  
"In charge of all of us now," Naykiar said icily. He now remembered that he was angry with Prince Kekron Chloe. "Kekron, isn't there something that we should both tell Caline-or rather, something that you should have told her, much earlier."  
  
Caline looked at Kekron. "What is it that you were supposed to tell me, Kekron?"  
  
Kekron hung his head down, deeply ashamed. He said quietly to Naykiar, "How did you find out?"  
  
"Filcor Sedemeyer at least had the decency to tell us the truth," Naykiar told him in a new steely tone. "You didn't, Prince Kekron, and I wonder why. Maybe Julien is right to reinstate Filcor's engagement to Caline, after all. I don't like the idea or approve of it, but maybe Caline needs to be with someone who has been honest with us. At least Filcor hasn't let us down. I'm not sure that I would want to see my sister with a deceiver, such as yourself."  
  
"Deceiver?" Caline asked, puzzled. "Kekron's never lied to me."  
  
"No, he probably hasn't," Naykiar told her quietly. "But he has a kept a secret from you."  
  
"I didn't intend to!" Kekron protested. "I was waiting for the right time-"  
  
"The time is now, and I will save you the trouble of telling her. I am her brother, and I have that right over you," Naykiar told Caline's hero coldly. He walked over to Caline and rested a hand on her shoulder, saying quietly, "Caline, I am sorry, but Ridikar has died. That was originally why I came looking for you earlier before Zarbon showed up."  
  
Lelina and Petalia both gasped. Dedron groaned, as he tried to rise.  
  
Caline whispered, "No, no, Ridikar can't be. HE CAN'T BE!" Her whisper rose to a loud, horrific shriek. "How did he die? How did he?" Her blue eyes welled up with tears.  
  
"He was killed in battle, protecting Tayla," Naykiar told her simply, barely able to restrain his own grief.  
  
"So Tayla knew that Ridikar had died?" Caline asked frantically. "And she didn't tell me? Why? And Kekron knew too? Why didn't they tell me?"  
  
Kekron began, "Caline, I-"  
  
Before anyone could stop her, Caline flung her past Naykiar and at Kekron. She was furious and hurt, her grief for Ridikar combined with her anger at both Kekron and Tayla for not telling her sooner. She came at Kekron, preparing to hit him with her small fists. Kekron looked at the angry, grief-stricken young girl, and he lowered his ki significantly, so that she wouldn't injure herself, if she assaulted him. As dismayed as he was, he could understand her anger and pain.  
  
Caline was now standing right in front of him, but she couldn't bring herself to hit him. Instead she lowered her fists, unclenched them, and broke down into tears. No matter, how angry she was with Kekron (and Tayla) right now, she couldn't hurt him physically, never. But why hadn't Kekron told her earlier? Why? Why hadn't Tayla told her?  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Caline screamed at him. "Why didn't Tayla tell me? I had a right to know! Ridikar was my BROTHER! And Tayla saw him die, and she didn't tell me? And why didn't you and her tell me that Ridikar was dead? WHY? WHY?"   
  
"Caline…" he whispered, reaching out to her, but Caline shoved herself away from him.  
  
"Leave me alone!" she cried in her agony, as she turned to run away down the hall, away from him and everyone else. She was in no condition to be rational.  
  
"Caline, wait!" Kekron cried, but Caline was already so far away. Lelina and Petalia called after Caline as well, but Caline answered no one. Naykiar chased after her, but Caline was too far ahead of him now. Both siblings were now gone.  
  
Dedron finally managed to rise. "So Ridikar is gone," he said evenly. He shook his head at Kekron. "Kami, Kekron, you and Tayla sure made a fine mess of things. Tayla couldn't keep Ridikar alive, and you screwed up your chances with sweet little Caline! Not that I blame her for abandoning you, especially since you've taken a new interest in women's clothes."  
  
"Shut up, Dedron!" Kekron snarled.  
  
"Dedron, that's enough!" Petalia screamed.  
  
Dedron chuckled, ignoring Petalia. "Well, that leaves you out of the running for Caline, eh? I understand that Rojal's had an interest in her as well. It looks like I just have to worry about my best friend and that old Filcor Sedemeyer. Not that I would ever do anything to Roj, of course; he is my best friend. But I'd find a way to get rid of Filcor in a heartbeat. Caline needs a strong man, such as myself."  
  
Kekron snapped at Dedron. "Are you saying that you have an interest in Caline now?"  
  
"That's right," Dedron said with a smirk. "I can understand why you and Rojal like her, but I have the best chance with her. After all, I have more experience with females. I am an experienced man, something Caline needs. And I prefer…initiated ladies…girls who have been used and trained beforehand, shall we say?"  
  
"Dedron!" Petalia cried in horror.   
  
"You've lain with women before?" Lelina asked, horrified.  
  
Kekron stomped up to Dedron and swung his fist at him, knocking one hard punch to Dedron's fat face. Dedron fell back, stunned. Kekron had done a good job of hitting Dedron, for aqua blood seeped gently from Dedron's nostrils. Petalia and Lelina gasped at the sight of a normally peaceful and gentle Kekron attacking Dedron outright.  
  
"You stay away from Caline, do you understand me?" Kekron hissed. "If I ever find out that you bothered or touched her in any way, shape, or form, I won't hesitate to kill you! And that threat also goes for Filcor and any other man who plans to hurt her!" And with that, Kekron turned away from Dedron and began to fly away down towards the hallway.  
  
Dedron growled, "You weakling bastard! You're going to pay for attacking me!" He shook his huge fist in Kekron's direction, but Kekron neither saw nor cared.  
  
Up on the hotel roof…  
  
"Tayla! You're awake! You're okay!"  
  
"Bendros!" Tayla shrieked, as she flung herself onto him, hugging him tightly, nearly knocking him down. Bendros held her tightly, as he tried to steady herself.  
  
"Take it easy! Save all that strength for facing that pretty boy 'cause he's very strong, little Tayla!" Bendros was laughing however, as he hugged her. They were now standing on the hotel rooftop, in front of an old, forsaken, tall black chimney."  
  
"Yes, good advice," a smooth voice said coolly.  
  
Bendros turned around with Tayla in his arms towards their enemy-Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon smirked. "A touching scene. Too bad you two won't be together for long. Shall we begin? Do you both plan to fight me at once?"  
  
"Yes!" Tayla replied vociferously.  
  
"That we do," Bendros said firmly.  
  
Zarbon laughed, as he tossed off his tattered cape. "I can see that this battle's going to take a while."  
  
Tayla climbed off of Bendros and stood as tall and proud as she could for her short height. Bendros straightened up in an offensive position.  
  
"If we win today," Tayla said evenly. "I have a nice little message that I would like for you to take to Frieza…and it won't be a pleasant one, either."  
  
Zarbon merely snorted. Very few had ever defeated him yet, and he didn't count on Tayla and her "monkey" boyfriend to be among the first. 


	105. Beginning Of The Showdown With Zarbon

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Five: Beginning Of The Showdown Against Zarbon  
  
In downtown Magan…  
  
"Cirono?" Shalila asked, recognizing the quiet, young man who had helped them in the labyrinths earlier.  
  
Cirono bowed towards her politely. The Superior Gran, her husband, and her grandson were now crouching down behind a huge garbage dumpster, as they watched the Ginyu Force members, sans Ginyu, practicing their pre-battle poses in the middle of the street. He had just found them when he had heard the Ginyu Force members shout their battle cries, and he was now bending down towards Astoria's female ruler.  
  
"I am here to offer my assistance, Superior Gran Shalila," Cirono told her. "Will you accept?"  
  
"Yes, absolutely," Shalila told him gladly. But she added quietly, "You do realize how dangerous the Ginyu Force members are, am I correct?"  
  
"Yes, Superior Gran, and I can tell you something about one of them. Have you ever had to fight against the short, green, four-eyed creature called Guido?"  
  
"No, I haven't," Shalila admitted. "We've fought against the other members before; Guido must be new."  
  
"He doesn't appear or feel to be that strong," Dirkan told him.   
  
"He doesn't need physical strength," Cirono told them. "Before I came here, I shadowed Guido around the city for quite a bit. He was by himself, looking for a place that had cheese and chili, but he couldn't find any restaurant that was still in good enough condition to serve them. Some CRP officers tried to arrest him when they caught Guido looting an abandoned cheese shop, but Guido turned on this strange device that he called a scouter. Apparently the scouter told him what he needed to know, because he took a deep breath and managed to hold it for a while. The strange thing was that I froze in place, unable to move for practically forever, unaware of my surroundings! And when I came to, it seemed that time had not passed at all, and when I was able to move again, all of the cheese from the cheese shop had disappeared. I couldn't remember what happened at all, and Guido was gone. It was like I was frozen in time, and those CRP officers that tried to arrest Guido told me that they had felt the same way."  
  
"Frozen in time?" Bajal asked, puzzled.  
  
"Yes," Cirono told him. "And I realized that I really was frozen in time."  
  
"How?" Shalila asked him.  
  
"I was a very good scholar at one time, and I had studied different races before. Guido is from a peaceful race called the Basin. I was at this seminar where an Intergalacticpol officer gave a lecture, and he talked to us for a while about several planets that Frieza had conquered, but allowed the races on those planets to live. Planet Bas, where Guido is from, is a planet that is currently under Frieza's control. The Basin race is normally a peaceful, gentle people, who have telepathic and telekinetic capabilities, but their most interesting talent is the ability to stop time for as long as they can hold their breath."  
  
"Sounds like a skill that would come in handy," Bajal noted.  
  
"And one that could easily be misused," Dirkan observed. "I can see how Guido was able to restrain you and the others, Cirono."  
  
"Yes," Cirono affirmed.  
  
"So, it is this Guido that we should attack first," Shalila said, already planning.  
  
"I'll take that green thing on," Bajal insisted. "If I catch him off guard, it still shouldn't be too hard."  
  
"And then your grandmother, Cirono, and I can deal with the other three," Dirkan said, agreeing. "I'll take Reccoom."  
  
"And I will handle Baata," Shalila added quietly. "That leaves Jeice for Cirono, if he doesn't object."  
  
"Not at all," Cirono told her.  
  
Dirkan warned him, "Jeice is not as strong as Baata or Reccoom, but he maintains a good balance between speed and strength. He and Baata usually like to fight together, so don't be surprised, if those two decide to fight you and my wife at once."  
  
"I'll remember that," Cirono replied.  
  
"You won't remember much when we send ya to the next dimension!" a smooth, debonair voice called out.  
  
Shalila, Dirkan, Bajal, and Cirono gasped. They had been absorbed in their planning that they had not taken time to feel for ki signatures.  
  
Jeice had found them! He was standing behind Cirono, grinning.  
  
"Good time I picked to take a leak!" he said cheerfully.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the hotel lobby at the Angori Hotel…  
  
"Where is my granddaughter?" King Kitchator demanded to know of a convalescing Gracina, who had just awakened. The blue dome that Gracina had been healing under had now dissipated, and she was fully awake, almost reenergized. Gracina's room had been on the first floor of the hotel, and Riccan and his siblings had wheeled their mother's bed out into the hotel lobby before Gracina awoke. Gracina was sitting up in bed.  
  
Riccan and his siblings had been staying with their mother, with Riccan wondering and worrying where his father and Tayla were. He had wanted to go visit Tayla, but when he had learned of what happened to his mother, he had decided to wait and remain with his parent instead. Riccan felt about worried, for he could sense that Tayla's ki was now very far away, above him.  
  
He hoped that Tayla was okay.  
  
But now he had to get rid of these annoying people who were pestering his mother about where Caline was. King Kitchator, Filcor Sedemeyer, Prince Julien, and Queen Kildara had just arrived at the darkened hotel, carrying flashlights and searching for Caline and Naykiar.  
  
Why couldn't they leave Caline alone?  
  
Why did they have to be so mean to her?  
  
He hoped that Caline was okay too.  
  
"Stop bothering my mother!" Riccan ordered his great-uncle. "You all go away and leave her alone!"  
  
"Riccan," Gracina said quietly, resting a hand on her son's shoulder. "That is enough. I will be alright." Calmly, she addressed King Kitchator, "I have no idea where that poor child is. Is she okay?"  
  
"She better be!" Filcor Sedemeyer, who was with the Calmagian king, growled. "She is my fiancée after all! Now where are you hiding her?"  
  
"I am not-wait a minute! Caline is not your fiancée! Ridikar broke the engagement between you two. Did Ridikar-"  
  
"Ridikar," Queen Kildara said sadly, "has died." Gracina looked down into her lap and whispered:  
  
"Poor Tayla and Caline."  
  
"And I am now to become king in his place," Julien informed her. "And I have reinstated Caline's engagement to Filcor. We are looking for her and Naykiar. Where are they?"  
  
Gracina said indignantly, "Wait a minute! Do you mean to tell me that Caline will once again be forced to marry Filcor?"  
  
"Forced?" Filcor declared angrily. "She should be happy to become my wife! You act, as if we are preparing to drag her down the aisle in chains and shackles to make her mine!"  
  
Gracina hissed, "That's pretty much how her wedding to Alberm went, wasn't it?"  
  
"What?" King Kitchator exclaimed.  
  
"How much did Caline tell you?" Queen Kildara asked.  
  
Gracina said evenly, trying to remain calm, "Caline has told me many things about her life since we've become close, like mother and daughter. It took me a while to convince her to talk to me, but she eventually trusted me enough to do so. She told me how she ran away from home to escape that first horrible marriage to Alberm. According to her, that bastard, Alberm, went to her bedroom one week before their wedding day and stole her from there to take her to his bedroom. He raped her several times that night, she told me. The things that he made her do…" Her voice faltered, as she took a deep breath. Tears clouded her sky-blue eyes, as she continued:  
  
"The things that Alberm did to Caline and forced her to do with him included many perversions that I have never heard of…things that I never thought a couple could do in bed. Alberm Dunlop took an innocent eleven-year-old girl and used her like a toy, making her do whatever he wanted, no matter how much she told him no. She screamed for help, but no one would come to her aid. The next day, she said that she had told Ridikar and her father, and both of them turned against her, telling her that Alberm had the right to do what he did. She also went to her grandparents, is that true?"  
  
"She did tell us," King Kitchator acknowledged. "And she upset my wife unnecessarily too. Your Aunt Kildara wanted me to break the engagement between Caline and Alberm, but Alberm would have taken the girl on their wedding night anyway, so what difference did a week make? I agree that Alberm had gone too far that night, but he had already taken the girl, and what was done was done."  
  
"She ran away after that night," Queen Kildara said with a catch in her soft voice, "without saying goodbye. She hid out for close to four weeks before she was found again."  
  
"Yes," Gracina told her stiffly. "Did she ever tell you or anyone where she had been hiding or what she had been doing during those weeks on the run?"  
  
"No, never," Kildara said quietly.  
  
"Did you even bother to ask her?"  
  
"I tried to once," Kildara faltered. "But she was completely changed, especially after her marriage to Alberm. She became quiet and passive, only speaking when necessary. It was like she died the night that Alberm had taken her, and I wanted to do something, but I didn't. None of us did."  
  
"No," Gracina said in a cold tone, "You didn't, Aunt Kildara. You are an Astorian Princess of Chloe, a race that treats women as equals to men, and you stood by and did nothing when Caline came to you and the rest of her family for help. She didn't feel that she could trust anyone, and so she ran away."  
  
"When she had been brought back, her father had beaten her almost to death, and the next day, with bruises, belt and whip scars all over her body, not fully healed, she married Alberm. She cried and begged you and your husband to stop the ceremony and not make her marry that awful man, but you didn't. In fact, your husband told her to stop holding up the ceremony. So, with two huge black eyes, a ladder of scars on her back, and tearstained cheeks, she married her rapist, with no one caring enough to save her, not even the few people that she thought that she could trust. And you stood by, Aunt Kildara, Uncle Kitchator, and allowed it to happen. Why?"  
  
Kildara held her golden head down, deeply ashamed and guilt-ridden. Kitchator was unable to look into the steady eyes of his niece-by-marriage. Filcor had his fists clenched, and Julien was sulking. Filcor had refused to attend Caline's wedding to Alberm out of protest, but Julien had been there, along with the rest of his siblings. None of them were denying what had happened to Caline, but none of them could tell Gracina the reason that they stood by and did nothing.   
  
Gracina arose out of her bed in a pale blue nightgown, as she said in that icy tone, "All of you failed her when she needed you the most, and now all of you intend to force her back into that same situation with another man that she does not wish to be with." She looked right at Filcor, staring straight into her eyes. "Are you Filcor Sedemeyer?"  
  
"Y-yes," Filcor told the tall, beautiful blond woman. He tensed them; not many women could unnerve him so the way that this willowy Princess of Chloe was doing.  
  
Gracina said in her harsh tone, "Caline has told me much about you, the man that wishes to be her second husband. You were married once before to a girl named Carie Ryce, am I correct?"  
  
"That's correct," Filcor told her, a bit more bravely. "I married her before, and it was after she died that I offered for Caline. Caline was her closest friend, but I had to forbid any contact between them after Caline had hidden my wife fro8m me for three months. Apparently losing Caline affected Carie more than I thought that it would because Carie jumped off a bridge and drowned shortly after I forbade her ever to see Caline again."  
  
"So do you think that with a reputation for making a girl's life miserable, do you really think that you deserve her best friend?" Gracina asked severely. "Do you intend to 'discipline' Caline the same way that you used to do this Carie, if Caline displeases you?"  
  
"I want her," Filcor told her stiffly. "Her grandfather and brother have promised her as a reward for my services, and I will have her."  
  
"No, you won't," Gracina told him in a tone that could shred steel.  
  
"What?" Filcor growled.  
  
"You heard me," Gracina told him icily. "Caline is one Calmagian girl that won't be forced to become someone's legal sex slave, especially yours. She is right; you are no better than her last husband. You are nothing more than a legalized child molester, and Alberm was just like you. You won't touch Caline or bother her again, and my family and I will do everything that we can to prevent her history from repeating itself."  
  
"You have no say here!" Julien insisted. "My grandfather and I determine Caline's fate, not you, and not your family!"  
  
"True," Gracina told the snotty prince quietly. "You are right about that, but there is one thing that we can do to prevent Caline's next forced marriage."  
  
"And what's that?" Julien hissed.  
  
Gracina said solemnly, "We can refuse to ally with your planet."  
  
"That's not your call to make, young lady!" King Kitchator snapped. "Only your grandparents, your sister, Gorna, and your nephew, Rojal, decide that."  
  
"Again, that's true," Gracina told her uncle calmly. "But my family is a scrupulous one, and I am sure that my grandmother and her husband would not want their people to ally with a planet that forces young girls to become legalized concubines for perverted older men. I pity the women and girls of your planet, Uncle Kitchator, and I wish we could do something to ensure happiness for all of them. But we will at least do something for Caline; we all love her as one of our own, and we protect those we consider our own. Caline is not going to be forced to marry Filcor Sedemeyer, if she does not wish it."  
  
"You don't decide that!" Julien roared at her. He turned to his grandfather. "Grandfather…tell her!"  
  
"Julien, I will handle this!" King Kitchator growled. He turned to Gracina and said, "Young lady, Caline is of my family, and I can take care of my own! And you dare to threaten to have your family refuse to ally with our planet! You may be my niece-by-marriage, but you have no real influence here-"  
  
"You're right, Uncle Kitchator, but I do," said a stony female voice.  
  
All of the parties discussing Caline's fate involved turned towards the entrance of the hotel lobby-and a large, plump woman with dull brown hair and duller green eyes resting upon the back of a tall, muscular golden-haired man. Even in the darkened hotel lobby, Gracina happily recognized them.  
  
"Lektron! Gorna!" Gracina exclaimed, running towards them.  
  
"Pappa!" Riccan and his siblings shrieked, joining their mother.  
  
"Hey, Gracie, you're okay!" Lektron crowed joyously, as he carried Gorna towards her sister. He gently tried to settle Gorna in a comfortable chair, but Gorna refused to sit down. Instead, she tottered to her huge feet. She was battle-scarred with tattered clothes, but she had an air of authority and majesty at this moment appropriate for a future ruler of Astoria. She held on to the arm of the chair to steady herself. It had, of course, been her, who had addressed King Kitchator and those with him just now.  
  
Gracina was enveloped in Lektron's strong arms, kissing him passionately and longingly. Riccan was squabbling with his siblings over who would get to hug their father first. Tila had attached herself to the back of her father's leg, and Tayka had leapt onto his back, almost knocking her parents down. Finally Riccan and Nikon contented themselves with hugging their parents around their waists.  
  
While this warm family reunion was taking place, Gorna addressed her Uncle Kitchator, "What is going on here?"  
  
Julien snapped, "Your sister, Gracina, thinks that she can convince all of you to refuse to ally with us just because I reinstated Caline's engagement to Filcor Sedemeyer!"  
  
"She can," Gorna said quietly. "And she did."  
  
"WHAT?" King Kitchator exclaimed.  
  
"That's right," Gorna said evenly. "I had Steak the Meatian breathe in my ears before I entered the lobby, and Lektron and I had been listening for the past ten minutes. And my signature is required on the alliance papers, Uncle Kitchator, because if I don't sign them, the alliance between our planets ends upon my grandmother's death, assuming that she would even want to sign the papers herself. I don't believe that she would to either, especially when she eventually learns that Caline would once again be forced into another unwanted marriage."  
  
"So, Uncle Kitchator, if you still wish for our planets to ally with each other, I would think seriously before forcing Caline, a brave young girl who helped to save you and your people, to marry against her will. All of us owe her our lives, and a second forced marriage is how you intend to reward her? If that were how your family shows gratitude, I'd hate to see how they show anger or contempt. As for me, I am not signing any of the alliance papers, if your poor granddaughter is forced to marry without her consent. And since Rojal is my son, and his signature is needed as well, I will see that he doesn't sign either. Think about this carefully, Uncle Kitchator. I will give you some time to consider this, but not much. Decide soon."   
  
Shortly after this speech, Lektron and Gracina managed to pry their children off of them, so that they could go help Gorna walk away. Gracina shot Uncle Kitchator and the others one last look of contempt before they escorted Gorna to find Toria to heal her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the roof of the Angori Hotel…  
  
"So," Zarbon said smoothly. "Who wishes to face me first?"  
  
"Let's attack at the same time," Bendros told Tayla.  
  
"I'm with that," Tayla agreed.  
  
And after that, they both leapt off of the ground and flew in the air towards Zarbon. Zarbon flew at them with his fists outstretched. Before Tayla and Bendros could strike him, Zarbon punched both of them in their stomachs hard, his two fists crashing deep into their abdomens. And before Bendros could recover, Zarbon launched an uppercut straight into the Sastorian warrior's jaw. Zarbon decided to get Bendros out of the way first, and he landed a series of punches onto Bendros's face and torso, with Bendros barely holding him off.  
  
Just then, Tayla's small fist collided with Zarbon's cheekbone, and when Zarbon turned around to retaliate, Tayla's other fist landed into Zarbon's golden eye. Zarbon then kneed her in her stomach, and afterwards, he elbowed her in her ribs hard. Tayla fell back, and then she dashed forward with her left foot outstretched to land a roundhouse kick into Zarbon's jaw. Her attempt failed immediately, however, as Zarbon reached under her knee and punched it, throwing her off guard. Tayla fell backwards to the ground, and Zarbon began to jump down upon her with his elbow headed towards her ribs.  
  
But before Zarbon could finish his assault, Bendros intervened with a punch to Zarbon's cheek. He then punched Zarbon in his ribs with his other fist, causing Zarbon to fall to the ground. Zarbon leapt to his feet and launched himself upon Bendros. His fist collided with Bendros's fist, and the two men were able to match each other blow for blow and kick for kick. Bendros kicked Zarbon in his stomach while Zarbon punched Bendros in his cheek. Bendros turned around to hit him, but before he could do so, Zarbon punched him in his nose with one fist and used his other fist to sock him in his shoulder. He then shoved Bendros away and came up from behind him with both of his fists clenched. Before Bendros could escape, Zarbon pounded the middle of Bendros's back with both fists.  
  
"Bendros!" Tayla shrieked, flying towards both him and Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon then abandoned Bendros at the moment, deciding to focus his attention on Tayla. He landed one final punch in Bendros's head, and then he left Bendros for Tayla. Tayla flew up to meet Zarbon, and Zarbon wasted no time in socking her in her face. Tayla then sent her tiny fist crashing into Zarbon's ribs, but Zarbon kneed her in her stomach once more. He then slammed his fist into Tayla's nose, causing it to bleed. Tayla kicked Zarbon in his ribs, crushing his armor, as she took a brief moment to wipe her bloody nose. Zarbon then seized Tayla by her shoulders and shoved his right foot into her ribs, and he began kicking at her repeatedly. Tayla could barely hold him off, for he was so strong, one of the strongest of Frieza's Top Elite. But finally, Tayla was able to land a hard punch to Zarbon's right amber eye, and Zarbon shrieked. He then slammed his fist into Tayla's shoulder and kicked her hard in her stomach at the same time, finally knocking the girl to the ground onto her bottom. Tayla panted for air and wiped her bleeding nose again.  
  
"Not bad!" Zarbon laughed, dusting himself off. "Not bad at all. The Saiyan monkeys were right about you being so tough after all. Who'd ever thought that a small fry such as you could hold off against me for so long. I am truly impressed, Princess Tayla, but I am afraid that all of your combat skills won't be enough to defeat me, young lady. I suggest that you surrender now before you get yourself any more injured than you already are. I would hate to have to destroy such a fine potential soldier for Frieza's forces, and Frieza would not be happy, if I hurt you too badly."  
  
Tayla struggled to her tiny feet, as Zarbon continued:  
  
"So, you rise again, eh? Again, I am impressed, little girl. Are you sure that you wish to continue to attempt to fight this useless battle against me? As a matter of fact, I am-"  
  
Before Zarbon could say anymore, he felt a hard, angry fist crash into the back of his head, as he fell forward. Zarbon didn't fall down, however, and he turned around to confront his attacker.  
  
"Well, so the half-breed monkey wishes to rejoin the fight again? Ah, very well."  
  
And so he launched himself upon Bendros, who was more than ready for him. He and Zarbon began to punch and kick at each other, matching each other blow for blow and kick for kick. Zarbon's fist pounded Bendros's jaw while Bendros's fist broke into Zarbon's armor in his rib area. Bendros then kicked Zarbon in his shin, but Zarbon took that opportunity to use both of his fists to hit Bendros at the same time, with one fist slamming into Bendros's jaw and the other fist crashing into his stomach. Zarbon then began to punch and pummel at Bendros mercilessly, and his assaults were now at full force, full strength. Bendros could barely hold Zarbon off, and he landed a hard kick into Bendros's ribs, forcing him to the ground.  
  
On the ground, Bendros was quick to draw his sword, and he managed to pull himself to his feet again with sword in hand. He decided to take care of Zarbon with a blade, figuring that it would be a faster way to go.  
  
But before Bendros could launch his sword at Zarbon, Zarbon shot a small ki blast that knocked Bendros's sword out of his hand. Bendros's sword whirled through the air and its point fell and sank into a brick wall that bordered the hotel roof. Zarbon then fired another ki blast at Bendros, hitting him hard in his ribs before Bendros could use Mirror Shield. Bendros cried out, but he managed to roll away before Zarbon launched another ki blast onto the roof.  
  
Zarbon then fired a fourth ki blast at Bendros with one hand, but this time, Bendros was on his feet, and he managed to deflect the attack with Mirror Shield, forcing Zarbon's attack back onto him. Zarbon screamed, as his own attack sent him crashing into the ground near the edge of the roof. While Zarbon was struggling to his feet, Tayla joined Bendros's side.  
  
"Bendros, are you okay?" she asked.  
  
Bendros panted, "I-I think so, little Tayla." He then added, "Little Tayla, we can't fight Zarbon here anymore…we have to move this fight to another location. The next ki blast could destroy this hotel and everyone in it."  
  
Tayla nodded in agreement.  
  
Zarbon was on his feet by then. Bendros called out, "Zarbon, how about finishing this battle somewhere else, somewhere outside of the city?"  
  
"It doesn't matter to me, monkey," Zarbon told Bendros coolly, as he dusted himself off. "I could care less about the people of this hotel or this city, but I will gladly defeat the two of you anywhere. I personally would choose that lovely little cliff just five miles away from here." He then pointed towards a little white cliff just ten minutes outside of the city of Magan.  
  
"Fine with us," Bendros told him. "We'll see you there."  
  
Zarbon smiled and replied, "You know that not all of us will be coming back alive, right?"  
  
"Don't count your corpses before they're buried!" Tayla retorted, using a phrase of Dirkan's that her Namek guardian liked to use occasionally.  
  
Zarbon chuckled. "Don't be late, you two. I will meet you two fools at that cliff!" And with that, Zarbon flew away. Tayla and Bendros took their time to gather their breaths, as Bendros went to retrieve his sword from the brick wall where it had landed. 


	106. Far From Over

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Six: Far From Over  
  
At approximately the same time on the Medical Cruiser from Frieza's fleet, in Jaden and Chestra's hospital room…  
  
"Jaden," Frieza told his Rybanese Top Elite Officer edgily, "Couldn't you have just given Alberm Dunlop a beating instead of killing him? Do you realize how hard it is to find good spies? It's even harder than finding good warriors."  
  
Frieza had just arrived on the medical cruiser two hours ago to see which of his soldiers were still alive and recovering. He was also trying to decide whether he should send any of them back to fight. He was visiting Jaden and Chestra in their room first, since they were the highest in rank. He had not been too pleased when he had finally managed to squeeze a confession out of both Jaden and Chestra about Alberm's demise when he had inquired about the Calmagian interplanetary diplomat and spy for Frieza's forces. Alberm had been one of Frieza's favorite spies, and Frieza had greatly valued him for helping to bring Tayla's family to Calmag.  
  
"Sorry, Lord Frieza," Jaden said calmly from her hospital bed, "but it was Alberm's incompetence that got us exposed. He was caught talking on his scouter, and his own people arrested him for treason against Calmag, along with Reccor, your Arlian spy for Astoria."  
  
"It was because of him that our plans were discovered," Chestra added to Jaden's slight altering of the truth. "And he was trying to flee on his own, too involved in his own personal plans instead of his duties to you. So Jaden thought it best to punish him by killing him." She was sitting next to Jaden's hospital bed in a soft, leather recliner, but she was not relaxing. Her body posture was as rigid and tense as Jaden's now was. Frieza's presence never contributed to high levels of comfort for anyone, not even his Top Elite Officers.  
  
"If I went too far, I am sorry," Jaden continued brusquely. "But I thought at the time that such idiocy should be punished severely, since it was revealed that Alberm had revealed our plans after his arrest. He was a weak link, and you told us a long time ago that all weak links must either be strengthened or destroyed, so in this case, I chose to destroy. Alberm simply couldn't be trusted, and his stupidity has caused this great delay in your plans."  
  
Frieza sighed, and then there was no expression on his face, as he crossed his arms. Jaden wasn't sure, if that was a good sign, or a bad one; with Frieza, one could never tell. Finally, Frieza crossed his arms and said curtly:  
  
"Jaden, next time you come across this situation, you are to try to contact me first before killing any of my spies. I prefer to deal with them personally, and any executions with spies I would rather handle myself, is that clear?"  
  
"Yes, sire," Jaden said in a low tone. Chestra sighed with relief, for it was clear that Frieza was going to spare her best friend.  
  
Frieza continued, "I suppose that you did do me a favor, now that I think about it. At least I have Narvo Norbrook, although I have not been able to reach him for some time. Has he tried to contact either one of you?"  
  
"It's Zarbon who has been keeping in touch with him," Chestra explained. "Jaden and I have not talked to him in weeks."  
  
"I see. Well, have either one of you heard from Dodoria or Diamonique?" Frieza wanted to know. Jaden and Chestra told him that they haven't heard from them in some time.  
  
At that moment, Dr. Patina entered the room, carrying a tray of pill-filled cups. "Lord Frieza, my apologies for interrupting, but Commander Dodoria and Commander Diamonique have been recovered alive."  
  
"And of Seductia and Bhodie Lett?" Frieza wanted to know.  
  
"We are unable to find them," Dr. Patina replied. "Would you like to put them as missing and presumed dead?"  
  
"Not yet, Doctor, thank you. Are Dodoria and Diamonique still alive?"  
  
"Yes, sire, just barely. My orderlies and the three Low-Levels on your orders had found them an hour ago. Commander Dodoria was found on the brink of death in an empty lake, thanks to the tracking devices set in his scouter. The same method was used to find Commander Diamonique as well, and she herself was near death. Another hour, and she would have perished. Both of them are in the healing tanks now as we speak. And Commander Balair's body has also been recovered. Cause of death has been entered as severe electrocution, so it is likely that an Astorian has killed him."  
  
Frieza was quiet for a few moments. Balair had been one of his favorite Top Elite officers, in spite of his crudity, drinking, and his appetite for young women. The brutal Sistrai warrior would not be easy to replace, although Balair had two older brothers, Hectar and Rectaurus…  
  
Frieza put aside thoughts of Balair for now. "What about the others? Have any more bodies been recovered? Chestra, Jaden, have you two women heard anything lately?"  
Chestra replied, "Lower Elite Officers Arachnor and Redusa have been reported dead by Commander Zarbon. Shalila Chloe was the one reported to have killed both Arachnor and Samsonite. Her granddaughter, Gorna Chloe, was the one said to have killed Redusa. Pork, Crystalis, and Flirtius are missing at this time; no one has been able to contact or locate them, even though we have tried several times. We've also tried to contact and locate Splitz, but he too was unreachable. And I believe Zarbon told me that Dirkan, Shalila Chloe's Namek husband, was the one to have destroyed Knightmare, and Knightmare's followers are gone as well."  
  
Frieza nodded calmly, a bit perturbed over the deaths of fine potential Top Elite officers, but he didn't remain that way for long. He had plenty of other fine Mid and Lower Elite officers to take their places eventually. He asked his next inquiry in a casual tone used to discuss the weather, "What about Captain Ginyu?"  
  
"He was brought back a few hours ago," Jaden explained. She then looked straight at Dr. Patina. "Okay, Doc, what's his status so far?"  
  
"He'll live this time, Commander Jaden," Dr. Patina replied wryly, "although he won't be able to practice any of his poses for a while to come."  
  
That bit of news was met with unmixed relief from everyone else in the room.  
  
"My orderlies were fortunate," Dr. Patina added. "They were nearly captured earlier by CRP officers, but thankfully the Ginyu Force's activities further in downtown Magan distracted the officers. Good thing the tracking devices on the victims' scouters were still working, otherwise they would have perished."  
  
"And they all are in the healing tank rooms, Doctor?"  
  
"Yes, sire."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the cliff where Zarbon, Tayla, and Bendros had chosen to fight…  
  
Finally, Tayla and Bendros arrived at the cliff of their next stage of the battle with Zarbon. Zarbon was lounging calmly against a tall, white tree, smiling. Leisurely, he moved away from the tree and walked towards the two fighters from Astoria with a smooth confidence. As soon, as he was within ten feet of them, he levitated into the air gracefully until he was at least fifteen feet above them.  
  
"Welcome, welcome," Zarbon said congenially from the air. "I was wondering when you two were going to show. Shall we begin again?"  
  
"Yes," Bendros asserted.  
  
"Good," Zarbon purred, as he easily fired a gold stream of ki from one palm. Bendros quickly deflected it with a one-handed Mirror Shield Attack, but Zarbon dodged the backfiring laser. Then he and Bendros flew at each other, with fists flying and feet kicking. Bendros delivered an uppercut to Zarbon's jaw while Zarbon's fist punched Bendros in his ribs. Zarbon then seized Bendros by his neck with his free hand and tried to throw him to the ground. The Head Commander of Frieza's forces managed to do so, but Bendros only fell so far.   
  
Bendros then flew back up and launched a strong ki blast into Zarbon's side, piercing his armor, leaving a smoking hole in the side of Zarbon's protective wear. Zarbon then responded with a sudden rapid shower of ki packets all aimed at Bendros. The ki packets fell towards Bendros like hail, and when some managed to hit him, they stung and burned. Bendros cried out, as he tried to escape the ki shower that Zarbon was now raining down upon him. The Sastorian warrior managed to deflect some away with one-handed Mirror Shields, but it was not enough, for Zarbon's ki balls from above keep hitting him harder and faster.  
  
Tayla knew that it was time for her to intervene. She then flew into the air, just a few feet above Zarbon's level, and she opened her hands and put them in Blitzer position, crossing her wrists in an X position, as her palms formed into the shape of clamshells. A few seconds later, she cried, "BLITZER!" and shot her now-famous attack at Frieza's Head Commander with the two silver-blue bolts of ki. Tayla's Blitzer attack crashed into Zarbon's body and knocked him out of the sky, sending him crashing into the ground, creating a huge hole about five feet deep.  
  
Bendros panted with relief, as Tayla flew back down towards him to see if he was okay. He had been on his knees when Tayla helped him back up. He clung to her gratefully. "Thanks, little Tayla, I appreciate that!" he wheezed.  
  
Tayla dusted him off the best that she could and panted, "No-no problem!"  
  
"Oh, I'm afraid that it will be, little girl."  
  
The speaker, Zarbon, began to crawl out of the hole that Tayla had sent him into. Tayla's Blitzer attack had slowed him down temporarily, but it had not disabled him enough to stop him significantly. Some of his armor had been burned away now, but Zarbon was still in good shape. Zarbon dusted himself off casually and laughed, although the laughter now caused a rib or two to hurt.   
  
"Good shot! I'll give you credit for that one, Princess, but it won't be enough!" Zarbon mocked her.  
  
"Time for the next round," Bendros told Tayla.  
  
Tayla nodded, as she and Bendros both rose into the air. Zarbon arose into the air, following them, and within seconds, he was across from his opponents. Bendros and Tayla crouched down in the air in combat positions.   
  
But before they could act, Zarbon shot two huge pillars of ki from his slender, cultured hands at each of them. One ki pillar rammed into Tayla's small body, shoving her out of the sky, and the second pillar crashed into Bendros, shoving him out of the sky as well. Both of them screamed, as the ki bolts knocked them out of the air, sending them both smashing into the ground on the cliff. Their bodies created a huge six-feet deep hole, as they sank through the earth.  
  
Zarbon then wasted no time in firing another couple of large ki bolts after them before they could rise back up to meet him, or even deflect the attacks. He took pleasure in their screams, as he began to rapidly fire his shower of ki balls at them. Columns of dusty gray and brown smoke emerged from the hole that Tayla and Bendros had created.  
  
He continued to shoot his ki packets at them repeatedly, not giving them a chance to crawl out.  
  
"Give my regards in the other dimension!" he called after them cheerfully. He knew that Frieza wouldn't be happy about Tayla dying, but he'd get over it.  
  
Finally, Zarbon stopped firing, deciding to take a breather for a few moments. He crossed his arms and smiled, well pleased with himself, as he turned on his scouter. He expected to find very low, or nonexistent ki readings.  
  
But the ki readings that he found were just as high as ever!   
  
"WHAT?" he screamed in horror, as he flew over the hole that the bodies of Tayla and Bendros had made.  
  
Deep down in the hole, he then saw a huge dome of pure ki-what the Astorians called a Shield Field-and Tayla and Bendros were under it, panting, but smiling smugly at Zarbon.  
  
"How can that be?" Zarbon screamed, although he knew better.  
  
He then finally shouted, "Come on out, if you want to finish this pathetic fray! I don't have time to play all night!"  
  
"Fine with us!" Bendros told him, as he and Tayla slowly dropped the Shield Field that they had created together so quickly.  
  
Zarbon smirked, this time allowing Tayla and Bendros to come out of the hole without trouble. They began to rise into the air again to come after him, and then he began to power himself up. His body began to glow, as he increased his ki. He could have gone into his famous second form, but he hated the disfiguring results that would affect his handsome face and body.  
  
He'd save that method as a last resort.  
  
But he still believed that he could easily defeat Tayla and her half-breed monkey boyfriend.  
  
"Round three?" he asked pleasantly, as Tayla and Bendros charged to attack him once more. Zarbon flew at them. Tayla and Bendros were more than ready for him, this time determined to attack him at once.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Out in the Medical Wing corridors, twenty minutes later…  
  
Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz had quickly tired of being confined to their beds, so when they were certain that Dr. Patina wouldn't return for a while, they hit the attending nurses in the backs of their heads and had snuck out. They decided to pay a visit to Journa's room before that annoying Gemstarian "woman-doctor" made them go back to bed. Journa, tired of being bedridden herself, decided to join her male counterparts in sneaking out-to the kitchen, and maybe even some escape pods to return to Calmag. Vegeta desperately wanted to return to Calmag and settle the score with Tayla. A short, stubby, pink froglike nurse with frizzy yellow hair tried to prevent Journa from leaving, but Journa had promptly thrown her into the closet after knocking her out.  
  
Now they were raiding the huge refrigerator in the kitchen, eating better food that they had been receiving in their beds. None of the kitchen staff had dared to intervene, or even attempt to tell on them, for they were wise enough to know how dangerous Saiyans were. Vegeta was munching on a huge bird leg, while Journa was gobbling down on some wings from the same bird, as Nappa and Raditz fiercely fought over a roast. Nappa's hands were greedily pulling on one end of the roast while Raditz's teeth were sunk deep into the other end.  
  
"I saw that roast first!" Nappa hissed. "Oldest gets first pick!"  
  
"Youngest gets the choice-and the last laugh!" Raditz declared triumphantly, after he took another huge bite out of the already cooked roast. He chewed and swallowed with relish. "And besides, it wouldn't hurt for you to lose a few pounds."  
  
"Pounds? That's a lot a talk from someone who had to have his armor resized to a larger size before we raided Calmag! Your hair alone adds fifty pounds to the scale!"  
  
"At least I have hair!" Raditz retorted. "And at least my head stays warm at night! Actually, now that I think about it, your nose hairs are almost longer than that strip of fur that you call a mustache! I don't know how Eclipse manages to kiss you without her lips getting chafed every time!"  
  
"I've heard no complaints from her!" Nappa snapped, pulling the roast away from Raditz.  
"That's because she complains to us instead!" Raditz lied easily, as he snatched the food back from Nappa.  
  
"Why, you little-"  
  
"Hey, the only thing that's little is that randy little fellow between your legs! You know, the pal that hasn't been getting much action, even before Calmag?"  
  
"You're dead, rug-head!"  
  
"Not before you will be, baldy! At least, I'll have this roast to myself!"   
  
"The roast is mine, Raditz! I'm above you in rank!"  
  
"You want it that badly, Nappy? Come fight me for it!"  
  
"With pleasure!"  
  
Journa shook her head at this petty quarrel. Saiyan men could act less immature than two-year-olds, especially when it came to food. One more reason that she was thankful for being a female.  
  
Vegeta said coolly, "There is one way to settle this quarrel over the roast."  
  
"What's that?" both men asked.  
  
Vegeta deftly snatched the roast away from both of his comrades. "I get it! I rank above both of you, and I am the youngest-not to mention the strongest." And with that being said, he triumphantly began to devour on his prize. Nappa and Raditz glared at him, but they dared not do anything else.  
  
"Nice to see that all of you monkeys have recovered."  
  
All four of the Saiyans turned around reluctantly at the sound of Frieza's cool voice. The tyrant had his arms crossed, and a malicious smirk played upon his face.  
  
Vegeta put down the roast; Frieza's presence had suddenly cost the Saiyan prince his appetite. Journa, Raditz, and Nappa no longer felt like eating either.  
  
Frieza said wickedly, "Now tell me this, monkeys: how were all of you once again defeated by a scrawny Astorie girl and her family?"  
  
Vegeta's sister and comrades moaned; Vegeta glared darkly at their liege, but even he dared not to do anything beyond that.  
  
"Well?" Frieza asked.  
  
Vegeta glanced at the others with a look ordering them to keep quiet. Quickly, reluctantly, he began to tell the story of his humiliating defeat.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the healing tank room…  
  
The healing tank room was large and gray with five healing tanks. Dodoria's huge body was hovering in regeneration fluid in one tank, and Diamonique and Ginyu were in other tanks. Jaden and Chestra strolled casually into the room, more out of curiosity than of much real concern. Jaden was whistling happily; ever since she had heard of Balair's demise, she was in an unusually good mood. She just couldn't wait to tell Dodoria.  
  
"I'm afraid that Dodoria already knew," Chestra reminded Jaden.  
  
Jaden cursed in her native language.  
  
"Of course my fun would be spoiled one way or the other."  
  
"MISS CHESTRA!"   
  
Chestra and Jaden turned around to see little Kaydra Chloe run into the room, with her long, pale hair streaming behind her like a golden cirrus cloud. She ran up to Chestra and hugged her legs.  
  
"I missed you, Miss Chestra!" Kaydra wailed. "My mother died, and she died 'fore I could get to her!"  
  
Chestra bent down towards the child and stroked her soft, flaxen hair. "I am sorry, little one," she told Kaydra softly, as she drew her close. Kaydra hugged Chestra's neck and suddenly began to weep again.  
  
"Now I have no one!" she said. "I just know that Pappa and Darcos are gone…they're dead, and I just know it!"  
  
"How?" Jaden asked, horrified.  
  
"I can't see who killed them, but he's big and pink and nasty!"  
  
"Did anyone tell you, little one?" Chestra asked gently.  
  
"No, Miss Chestra. I saw them in my mind. I had a bad dream on the way here. I was sitting in Uncle Frieza's lap in his space pod, and I fell asleep, and I dreamt of Pappa and Darcos being killed! Now I have no Mamma or Pappa or baby brother! They're all dead!"  
  
"I am sorry, sweetheart," Chestra told her in a voice full of regret and guilt. Regret that she had not done anything to help Kaydra's mother, poor Farla, and guilt over having being part of an army that would take a family away from an innocent little girl.  
  
"Uncle Frieza says that his army's going to be my new family, and that I shouldn't worry about it, but I can't help it, Miss Chestra! I can't even go to sleep right anymore 'cause Mamma's not there to sing me to sleep!"  
  
"I'll sing you to sleep, little one," Chestra told Kaydra gently. "And I won't leave you."  
  
"Kid, can I ask you something?" Jaden asked Kaydra. The little Astorian princess looked up at Jaden quizzically.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Umm…why are you calling Lord Frieza uncle?"  
  
Kaydra's voice brightened slightly, as she wiped at her chubby, tearstained face. "He told me to! He says that he likes me, and he's going to help me get bigger and stronger! He says that he and Miss Chestra and Mr. Zarbon are going to take good care of me, and he'll probably someone named Jaden train me. Who is Jaden?"  
  
"I'm Jaden," Jaden replied. "Commander Jaden."  
  
"What are you going to train me in?" Kaydra wanted to know.  
  
"Umm…I'll have to discuss that with…Uncle…er, I mean, Lord Frieza."  
  
"Uncle Frieza says that you're a good trainer, even though you have a dirty mouth," Kaydra said, not to be rude, but to be curious. "What makes your mouth dirty? Is it cause you didn't brush your teeth?"  
  
Jaden counted to twenty before answering. It was only because Kaydra was a child and didn't know better that Jaden was able to keep her temper. She glared at Chestra, who was smothering a laugh. Finally, she replied evenly, "He probably said that because I cuss and say a bunch of naughty words that little kids aren't supposed to be saying."  
  
"You cuss--I mean cursed?" Kaydra asked, amazed and fascinated. "Some soldiers on planet Dijon cursed, and I said what they were saying, but Mamma said those words weren't nice to say, and I couldn't say them."  
  
"What did you say?" Jaden asked.  
  
Kaydra looked around the huge room cautiously, as if her mother could still come rushing in and scold her. She whispered the naughty phrases, all of which included nasty words concerning the parts between a woman's legs. Jaden laughed, and Chestra sighed.  
  
"Well, your mother was right about those words," Jaden declared. "You really shouldn't say them, although you'll catch me saying them from time to time. But I'm a bad example when it comes to that sort of thing, and I don't want you quoting me, or else I'll have to hear it from Lord Frieza and Zarbon. Chestra here doesn't like it when people say those words either, so you'll have to watch your mouth around her too."  
  
"So you're going to train me then?" Kaydra asked eagerly. "Uncle Frieza says that you can teach me how to blow up planets."  
  
Jaden said uncomfortably, "Umm…that won't be for some time yet, kid. You still have a long way to go before you learn that."  
  
"Blowing up planets is not always a good thing, anyway," Chestra told Kaydra quickly. "And there are other things that you would need to learn like-"  
  
"Hey, don't get soft, baby!" a gruff voice echoed from the doorway.  
  
"Yeah, blowin' up planets is fun!" another rough voice added.  
  
Jaden frowned heavily, and Chestra instinctively gathered Kaydra closer to her for protection. They had good reason to do so, for two Sistrai Elite Officers entered the room. Jaden's frown deepened, for she recognized them, as Balair's annoying and equally chauvinistic brothers, Hectar and Rectaurus. Hectar was the oldest of Balair's siblings, and he was a bright orange color with yellow eyes; Rectaurus, the second oldest of Balair's brothers and family, was a bright, yet sickly shade of yellow, and even when his eyes were open, no one could really see them.  
  
"Where's Bali?" Hectar asked, as his breath hit the three females. All of them wrinkled their noses, for Hectar had been drinking heavily; the smell of a substance similar to vodka floated within his hot breath. Hectar was a transfer from Coola's forces, and he had been considered to be the strongest Sistrai warrior in the Cold Empire, even stronger than Balair.  
  
"Dontcha remember, Hec, Bali died," Rectaurus, who was sober at this time, told his older brother. "Some bastard Astorie killed him, and when I find who it is, I'm going to blow him to bits!" Rectaurus was also a transfer from Coola's forces, and he and Hectar had been in Coola's Top Elite. Frieza had agreed to allow them to have the same positions in his forces; the two brothers had transferred to be closer to Balair and Samsonite. Rectaurus, three years older than Balair, was also stronger than he was.  
  
"Can't believe that Bali was taken down by an Astorie," Hectar declared. "He was the strongest of all of us next to me."   
  
"And now our lil bro, Sams, is gone too," Rectaurus said, a bit mournfully.  
  
"Not much of a loss," Jaden mumbled before she thought.  
  
"What did you say?" Rectaurus growled, turning towards Jaden, whom he and Hectar had met in the past. Like Balair and almost all Sistrai, they were fiercely prejudiced against anyone of Rybanese blood.  
  
"She said that it was very much a loss," Kaydra fibbed.  
  
Rectaurus glared at Kaydra, trying to determine if the humanoid brat was telling the truth. Kaydra looked back at him a bit defiantly, her clear blue eyes darkening, as she stood close to Chestra. Finally Rectaurus grunted and turned away from her. Chestra was visibly relieved, and even Jaden was calmer. Jaden had been able to hold her own against Balair when she had been alive, but Balair's older brothers were going to be harder to deal with, particularly since together they were both stronger than Balair.  
  
Rectaurus cast Kaydra another suspicious look before nudging his older brother. "C'mon, Hec," Rectaurus told him. "Let's go to the morgue and pay Bali our last respects. Maybe they even found Sams's body by now."  
  
Hectar grunted, as he and Rectaurus turned to leave. The floor shook, as the two huge, burly Sistrai warriors exited the healing tank rooms. All three females were relieved to see them go.  
  
Jaden looked down at Kaydra. "Thanks, kid," she told her. And then the normally unaffectionate Jaden did something a bit out of character-she went over to Kaydra and patted her golden head.   
  
Kaydra nodded. "You really don't like Sistrai people, do you?"  
  
"Not really," Jaden admitted gruffly. "Particularly anyone's who related to Balair."  
  
"Was Balair that mean red monster who wanted my mother for his slave?" Kaydra asked. "Was he the red monster in my dream that was hurting Mamma?" Her clear voice grew teary at this point.  
  
"Yes," Jaden said in a low tone, "he was."  
  
Kaydra turned her face into Chestra's white leg and wept for her mother. Chestra stroked her hair. Jaden sat down on the floor to meditate, and she closed her heavy blue-lidded eyes.  
  
"Don't fear, little Kaydra," Chestra assured her. "Balair won't hurt anyone ever again. He's gone to meet Enma Daiou." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jaden grin to herself.   
Before Jaden could prevent herself, she broke out into a chuckle.  
  
"I bet all of Bali's victims are roasting him over an open fire! All the women that he's hurt must be celebrating in heaven! Why I bet that Bali's probably--"  
  
"Jaden…" Chestra said reproachfully. "Kaydra." Kaydra was looking at Jaden with her large blue eyes wide.  
  
Jaden managed to sober herself-barely. "Oh, yeah, right."  
  
But just before Jaden settled herself into a trance, Chestra and Kaydra could hear her singing under her breath, "Happy days are here again…now that Bali's been sent below to the garbage bin…"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the Angori Hotel in the stairways on the fifth floor…  
  
Caline was openly crying and sobbing, huddling in Naykiar's arms. Naykiar was rubbing her back, as he shed some tears himself. They were sitting on the stairs leading down to the fourth floor.  
  
"Ridikar…Ridikar…why…why?" Caline cried, with her face buried in Naykiar's chest. Her tiny, snowy fists were clenched, as her small body shook violently.  
  
"Ridi may have had his faults…but he was a good brother…most of the time," Naykiar said shakily, holding his little sister tighter.  
  
"Ridikar and I became friends again, and now he's gone…why, why?" Caline wailed.  
  
"Cali, I'm sorry, so sorry…'bout some things," Naykiar said in a trembling voice.  
  
"'Bout what things?" Caline asked him, looking into his face, into his eyes. Naykiar was nonplussed by her giving him eye contact; Caline acting as if she an equal towards him was going to take some getting used to. Huge, cobalt blue eyes stared intensely into dark brown eyes that were almost black.  
  
Naykiar sighed, still uncomfortable yet with this slowly emerging new Caline, "'Bout the way we've all been treating you…especially me and Ridi. None of us should have treated you the way that we did…you didn't deserve any of what happened to you. I should have spoken up for you, and I didn't. So should have Ridikar, especially Ridikar…we were all wrong to treat you like we did."  
  
Caline nodded, too stunned to speak or reply. Fortunately for Naykiar, she was usually a very forgiving soul towards most people. She slowly put her small, milky arms about his dark neck and kissed him on his cheek. A peach stain of blush touched Naykiar's chiseled cheeks.  
Naykiar abruptly arose, with Caline in his arms, saying firmly, "I'm not going to allow this."  
  
"Allow what?" Caline wanted to know, a bit alarmed.  
  
"Allow Julien to carry out his plans. Are you absolutely against marrying Filcor Sedemeyer?"  
  
"Absolutely!" Caline declared with new strength in her voice. "I'd sooner go back to Norbrook!"  
  
"I'm not going to lie to you anymore, Cali," Naykiar told her. "Julien wants to be rid of you as soon as possible, now that he's going to become the next king of Calmag after Grandfather. He doesn't want the responsibility of you as his ward. You know that he's always been jealous of you-"  
  
"I know," Caline whispered sadly.  
  
"But this time he's gone too far. I know that we'll have to put up with Julien ruling over us for the rest of our lives, but that doesn't mean we have to buckle to his every demand and whim. He plans to force you to marry Filcor, and he's already reinstated his engagement to you."  
  
"How am I going to get out of it? I guess I'll have to run away again," Caline said worriedly.  
  
"No," Naykiar told her. "You're not running away because this time you're not alone."  
  
"He's right, Caline," a kind, masculine voice said from behind.  
  
Caline and Naykiar turned around to see Kekron standing three steps up behind them. They had been so absorbed in their grief that they had not heard Kekron quietly following behind them. Kekron had flown down the stairs instead of walking. Kekron had left Petalia and Lelina to tend to Rojal and Dedron. He was now standing there, using one hand to make a ki ball to light the stairway.  
  
"K-Kekron," Caline said shakily.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kekron asked her softly.  
  
"I-I think so."  
  
"Caline and Naykiar, I'm sorry about Ridikar," Kekron told them somberly. He then looked directly at Caline, "And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier."  
  
Caline was calmer now-and ashamed of her behavior with Kekron earlier. She looked at him sadly, forlornly. "I am sorry for yelling at you like I did," she said in her usually whispery voice. "But why didn't you tell us right away? You knew for a long time, and you didn't tell even me that our own brother died. Why, Kekron?"  
  
Kekron sat down on the steps, still in Tayla's nightgown. "You're right, Caline, I should have told you much sooner. It was just-well, I know there's no real excuse-you looked so happy and so relaxed, so peaceful after we left Norbrook. I didn't want to make you so sad again so soon. I-I just wanted you to be happy, and I guess I was trying to put off hurting you for as long as I could."  
  
"You still should have told me," Caline said firmly. "And Naykiar and Julien."  
  
Kekron nodded. "Yes, I should have. Again, I am sorry, Caline. Can you ever forgive me?"  
  
Caline was silent for a few seconds, and then a small, wistful smile curved on her sweet little face. "Y-yes," she whispered, stepping up the steps towards him. She cautiously sat down next to him and hugged him slowly. Kekron put his arm around her and held her close. Caline buried her face in his shoulder, as he stroked her soft, wispy hair. Kekron's other arm was still maintaining the small globe of ki to give them light in the darkness.  
  
Naykiar stood there, watching them from a few steps down, with a thoughtful expression.   
Finally, he said gruffly, "I am sorry myself that I yelled at you earlier, Prince Kekron, but I was upset about Ridikar's death and the fact that you kept it from us. You saved both of our lives, Caline's and mine, and I want to thank you for that. We wouldn't be living right now, if it hadn't been for you. Thank you, Prince Kekron, for saving our lives, and for saving my sister earlier from Norbrook."  
  
"You're welcome," Kekron told him quietly. "But you can just call me Kekron."   
  
Naykiar continued, "If Caline ever wishes to marry again, I believe that you would make her a good husband, much better than Filcor."  
  
Caline's white face blushed to peach, as she was embarrassed and alarmed by Naykiar's statement. She didn't think that at her age, she would ever want to marry again, even someone as nice and kind as Kekron. She didn't want to dwell upon getting married again anytime soon, and she wished that Naykiar had not brought the subject of Kekron's prospects as her husband up.  
  
"That's up to Caline," Kekron told Naykiar firmly, much to Caline's relief. "She's a bit young for that now. She needs to just be a little girl for right now. Her next husband should be her own choice when she's older, whether it's me or not. We don't marry children in our culture, or force them into marriages against their will."  
  
Naykiar flinched at Kekron's last sentence, growing uncomfortable. Kekron noticed his discomfort, and at first he thought of saying something consoling, but he then thought that maybe Naykiar needed to learn something from Caline's experiences. Maybe Naykiar would think back on this time when it came for him to choose a bride.  
  
Caline looked at Kekron gratefully from where she was sitting in the crook of his arm. A small part of her agreed with Naykiar, but Caline was still too fearful right now of being married. To her, marriage represented being bound to an abusive husband and being raped or beaten. It would be a while before she would come to realize that both marriage and sex could be wonderful things, and that not all husbands were like Alberm, Filcor, and her father. For now, Caline was just content to have Kekron for a friend and protector. Unconsciously, she snuggled further into him, feeling safer, like she always did these days whenever he was near.  
  
"I miss Ridikar," she whispered suddenly.  
  
Kekron stroked her hair again, trying to find the right words to say, but he couldn't. Instead he just held her tighter, as Caline burrowed herself into his chest.  
  
Naykiar said abruptly, as he sat down two steps below Kekron and Caline in the darkness, "We still have to figure out what we're going to do about Julien and Filcor. I'm not allowing them to force Caline to marry Filcor, if she doesn't wish it."  
  
"Neither am I," Kekron told him. "We'll find a way to stop them, no matter what." He took Caline's hand and squeezed it firmly.  
  
"Stop them from doing what?" asked a familiar, velvety voice.  
  
"Mamma?" Kekron asked, seeing his mother, his Great-Aunt Toria, Great-Aunt Hazel, Great-Uncle Gohan, and Lieutenant Balboun come up the stairs. The Astorians in the group were each holding out small balls of lighted ki in one of their palms.  
  
"Are all of you okay?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Most of us are," Kekron replied. "But we need to go back upstairs. Rojal and Dedron have been treated for their injuries, but they may need help getting out. Petalia and Lelina are with them."  
  
Natala excused herself, gently pushing past the others to reach Kekron and Caline. She sat down on the other side of Caline and touched her back. "Are you okay, Caline?" she asked softly.  
  
"Somewhat," Caline replied. "I-I just found out that Ridikar has died." Tears began to fill her eyes again, and Natala gently wiped away the falling ones with her thumb. She then leaned over and kissed Caline's forehead.  
  
"I am sorry, Caline," she said tenderly.  
  
"Th-thank you," Caline whispered. She looked at Natala, greatly relieved that Natala was alive and safe. Kekron looked at his mother that moment, as if his mother were a Kai coming especially to see him.  
  
Kekron rubbed Caline's back, as he addressed his mother, "Now that Ridikar has died, Julien, the brother of him, Caline and Naykiar here, has reinstated Caline's engagement to Filcor Sedemeyer."  
  
"Engagement?" Hazel asked indignantly. "You mean after all she did to save both her people and ours, her family's going to make her marry another old fart?"  
  
"What is a fart?" Naykiar wanted to know. The Calmagians called their farts "butt-burps", and whenever someone passed gas, they would say that person's butt had burped.  
  
"Someone like Alberm and this Filcor," Gohan replied.  
  
"It's also the same thing as a butt-burp," Hazel told him, for she had heard some CRP officers use that word before.  
  
Caline looked up from Kekron's arm and asked Toria directly, "Princess Toria, you can see into someone's future right? Kekron told me that you could."  
  
"Sometimes," Toria replied. "I usually do so better with a blood-and-hair reading from the person involved. My mistress, Kami Orchida of Astoria, is much better at seeing the future than I am. My skills more lie towards seeing what's happening in other places in my mind at the same time, and casting an array of spells."  
  
"If I gave you some of my blood and hair, could you tell my future?" Caline asked her.  
  
Toria smiled. "When this war is over, yes, little one, I can try. But I don't need your blood and hair to tell you that you will eventually come to live a happy life with people who love you, my dear. Your future, little Caline, is whatever you make of it."  
  
"Filcor's not going to be in my future, is he?" Caline asked worriedly.  
  
Toria smiled again. "Now that part of your future, I can, for the most part, tell you…no. You won't be forced into another bad marriage, not if we can prevent it."  
  
Happily relieved, Caline snuggled into Kekron's arms again.  
  
"Do your visions tell you how we intend to pull that off?" Hazel asked Toria.  
  
"Truthfully, no," Toria replied honestly. "But I know with all of us behind Caline, it would take Frieza himself to force her into marrying Filcor, and even Frieza wouldn't waste his time with that. I am afraid, Hazel, that we will actually have to cultivate a plan this time."   
  
Natala then noticed her son's new apparel. A wry smile formed on her lovely face, as she asked, "Excuse me, son, but I didn't know that it was the style on Calmag for young men to wear nightgowns." Kekron wished at that moment for the steps to open up and swallow him whole. He wished that at least his mother hadn't seen him in his attire. What if Father saw? What would he say?  
  
"Pink is his color," Caline teased. "It brings out the highlights in his hair."  
  
"I...see," Natala told her, amused. "Do you or him mind telling me where he…acquired his new nightwear?"  
  
"He traded with Tayla," Caline told her. "Tayla couldn't fight Zarbon in a nightgown, and-"  
  
Natala nearly shrieked, "Tayla is fighting ZARBON? BY HERSELF?"  
  
"Natala, calm down," Gohan consoled her.  
  
"CALM DOWN! MY LITTLE SISTER-IN-LAW IS FIGHTING ZARBON BY HERSELF, AND YOU EXPECT ME TO REMAIN CALM?" Natala's clear velvet voice was now at full volume. She then took Kekron by his shoulder and nearly shook him. "Kekron, how could you let Tayla go off like that?"  
  
"I-I…" Kekron stammered.  
  
"Don't blame him, Natala," Toria told her calmly. "Even if Kekron had tried to stop her, Tayla would have gone anyway."  
  
"I'm-I'm not blaming him, it's just that-"  
  
"You know how Tayla is, Natala," Gohan commented. "Nothing short of Mamma could have stopped her from going, and at this point even my mother probably couldn't have held her back."  
  
"And Tayla's not fighting alone," Caline added. "Bendros is with her."  
  
Natala was relieved-slightly.  
  
"But still, why couldn't she have waited until at least Nama-lan, Dirkan, and my husband and some others could have joined her? Not even my husband was able to defeat Zarbon alone! What in Kami Orchida's name had that child been thinking?"  
  
"Of saving her people," Caline said softly. "And mine. She is a fighter, you know, Natala, and she's just doing her job." Natala looked at her quizzically, not expecting Caline, who had become so close to Tayla, to be this pragmatic about her friend risking her life.  
  
"The little one is right," Toria added gently. "Tayla is destined to become a great warrior, Natala, and destiny is not always a kind mistress."  
  
"Will Tayla and Bendros win?" Natala asked anxiously.  
  
A chilling silence followed her earnest question. Toria was quiet, very, very quiet.  
Everyone looked at Toria worriedly. Toria's long hush was not a good sign.  
  
Toria said chokingly, tears in her aged voice, "I-I am sorry, Natala, but this is one of the things in life that I cannot…tell the future…about…"  
  
"What are you saying, Aunt Toria?" Gohan demanded to know.  
  
Toria could not even see Tayla and Bendros in her visions right now. Sometimes fate would not let her see certain things until it chose to do so. She tried to concentrate her mind on seeing Tayla and Bendros, but all she could see was a huge, thick gray fog in her mind, where she could see nothing.  
  
"Well?" Gohan pressed.  
  
Toria hung her golden head down. "I am saying," she murmured in a low voice, "that for one of the few times in my life…I…don't know."  
  
A heavy silence fell over the group. Caline buried her face in Kekron's shoulder, and Kekron held his head down. Natala bit her lip to keep from crying, and Hazel clung to Gohan, who had his fists clenched. Tears freely streamed down Toria's face, as she silently prayed.  
  
Uncertainty was always harder to endure than verification.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the cliff where Zarbon, Tayla, and Bendros had chosen to fight…  
  
Things were not looking good for Tayla or Bendros. Zarbon was a merciless, powerful fighter, and so far, he was winning. His last powerful ki blast that had been aimed at Bendros from the sky had sent Bendros almost six feet into the cliff. Tayla, furious, had retaliated for him with a Blitzer attack, which unfortunately, Zarbon managed to deflect away from him into some nearby mountains. Several of the mountains had been permanently destroyed, reduced to rubble.   
  
Zarbon stood in the air with his arms crossed. "Give it up, Tayla; you and your monkey boyfriend don't have a chance to win. Why don't you surrender to me now, and maybe I'll spare that pathetic half-breed who insists on-"  
  
He didn't get to finish his sentence, for at that moment, Bendros, who had arisen from the hole, came up behind Zarbon in a blur and smashed both of his fists into the middle of Zarbon's back. Zarbon rapidly plummeted towards the grassy ground, where Tayla wasted no time in giving Zarbon a swift kick in his ribs.  
  
Bendros then drew back away from Zarbon and flew into the air, and he put his hands together, side-by-side, with palms facing down. Within a second, small, but quick ribbons of pale green ki shot out from his palms towards Zarbon. There were six in all, and all of the small streams of ki zipped through the air towards Zarbon's body. Before Zarbon could escape, each one of the small ki ribbons wrapped themselves around Zarbon's neck, waist, both wrists, and both ankles. Zarbon struggled, but when he did, the thin strips of ki electrocuted him at a voltage similar to that used in an Electric Quake attack. Zarbon screamed in horror, as the bands of ki entrapping him electrocuted him. Strings of pure ki wove in and out of his body, and then all of the ki ribbons left their parts to join together into one huge rope. The rope then wound itself around Zarbon several times, electrocuting him every few seconds or so. Then the rope split back into six ribbons and attached themselves to the same body parts that they were at before and electrocuted Zarbon again.  
  
Bendros had called this attack that he used often simply Ribbon Coil, and so far this attack, one of his most powerful, seemed to be working.  
  
"Tayla," he told her. "Use that Blitzer attack again! I believe that it should finish him off, now that he's being held!"  
  
"Okay!" Tayla declared, as she drew her hands back with wrists crossed once more and palms in clamshell position. She screamed, "BLITZER!"   
  
Tayla's Blitzer attack once more crashed into Zarbon's body, as he was being fried by Bendros's Ribbon Coil attack. Zarbon screamed when Tayla's powerful attack hit him, knocking him out of the sky and sending him plummeting to the cliff's surface.  
  
"NO!" Zarbon screamed. "What's happening to ME?"  
  
Zarbon's body crashed deeper into the cliff, until his body had created a hole nearly ten feet deep.  
  
Zarbon's screams could be heard for several more minutes, and then…  
  
Silence. And no trace of ki could be sensed.  
  
Had Zarbon been defeated?  
  
"I can't feel him anymore," Tayla whispered, as Bendros drew closer to her.  
  
Bendros rested a large hand on Tayla's small shoulder. "I-I think that he's gone now…I hope."  
  
He quietly drew Tayla into his arms and embraced her, not as a lover, but as an older brother hugging a little sister. Tayla rested her head against Bendros's chest and closed her eyes, as she put her arms around his waist. She buried her face into his body.  
  
"Bendros…" she whispered. She felt so safe with him, as she nestled herself against him.  
  
"Is it okay, if I touch your hair?" Bendros asked her.  
  
Tayla nodded soundlessly, and Bendros stroked her matted hair. Tayla's body relaxed, as she allowed herself to rest against him. She then opened up her eyes slowly, allowing herself to look into his face, as Bendros brushed back some hair from her face. He lightly kissed her dusted forehead.  
  
She realized something then.  
  
She did love him; she always had.  
  
She then remembered Ridikar's words, just before he died:  
  
*Tayla…please…don't worry…he loves you too…you won't be left alone. *  
  
Had Ridikar been talking about Bendros?  
  
Had he?   
  
Would she ever know?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Down in the hole where Zarbon had fallen…  
  
Zarbon was barely alive, but he had just enough energy to try a last resort.  
He hated to do this, for this method of his made him look so ugly.  
  
He wondered how Chestra could have ever stood seeing her beloved in this form before, but she loved him anyway. She had long ago told him that it had not mattered to her.  
  
Desperate times called for desperate measures.  
  
And Zarbon slowly arose to his feet, struggling, barely able to stand, as his hideous transformation began.  
  
His face began to expand and stretch, bloating and blowing up horizontally until it resembled the face of a green Oozaru. His trim, muscular body began to widen, and what remained of his armor began to expand with it. His slim legs and arms enlarged until they were the size of small columns or pillars. His feet increased to three times their size, and his boots grew larger to meet the new size.  
  
The transformation was painful, and he was glad that he did not have a mirror nearby, for this transformation made him look horrible. He hated how his face looked like Frieza had been pulling it into two directions at once. His eyes were bulged, his lips were flabby and wide, and he was starting to drool. His nostrils were also three times their size.  
  
But he was twice as strong as before (as well as twice as large), and he knew two certain opponents, one a defiant brat, and the other, a half-breed monkey, who would pay for his humiliating, albeit temporary disfiguration.  
  
His ogre-like face looked up towards the sky, where he was certain that Princess Tayla and her monkey boyfriend were just waiting for him.  
  
He'd capture that brat yet and take her to Frieza.  
  
And no half-breed monkey was going to get in his way of accomplishing his goal, or even a scrawny, yet powerful little girl.  
  
He grinned maliciously, and his cruel smile only added to his now frightening appearance.  
  
*Here I come, Princess Tayla. You better start packing your bags and kissing your monkey man goodbye. *  
  
He then shot up from the hole like a green, muscled rocket, towards the almost impenetrable darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see heavy, black-gray clouds gathering quickly.  
  
And a distant rumble of thunder, accompanied by a small streak of lightening. 


	107. Darkest Hour

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Seven: Darkest Hour  
  
In downtown Magan…  
  
Shalila, Dirkan, Bajal, and Cirono were having as hard a time with the Ginyu Force, as Tayla and Bendros were having with Zarbon. Shalila was currently fighting Baata, who proved to be more than a worth challenge for the Superior Gran. Baata had launched his Blue Comet Attack upon Shalila earlier, which Shalila had successfully deflected back onto him using Mirror Shield. Baata's backfiring attack had sent the huge blue minion crashing into a five-story unoccupied apartment building. When Baata crashed into the building, the entire building was destroyed on impact  
  
Unfortunately, Baata didn't remain down for long, for he wasted no time in emerging from the building wreckage to attack Shalila again. He fired his Blue Comet Attack once more, and as the blue ki attack shot after Shalila, Shalila once again used Mirror Shield, but this time she was not as lucky as before, for Baata managed to dodge his own attack, and his ki blast smashed into a bakery and demolished it on contact.  
  
"KA-BOOM!"  
  
Shalila waited a few moments for the dust to settle, and then she flew after Baata again. Baata met her in the air, and a melee of punches and kicks began.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Dirkan was fighting Reccoom in hand-to-hand combat, with Reccoom having the upper hand; Reccoom was holding Dirkan in a headlock, with Dirkan fighting to get free. The huge giant repeatedly pounded Dirkan hard in the middle of his back with his ham-sized fist, and then he shoved his knee into Dirkan's crotch. Dirkan cried out, as he struggled to break free of Reccoom's viselike grip, but it was useless, especially after Reccoom punched Dirkan hard in his face with his free fist.   
  
The Namek warrior fired several ki blasts at Reccoom's feet, but they didn't seem to affect the giant in the slightest. Reccoom then decided to swing Dirkan around by his neck, using both hands. The Superior Granden was unable to free his hands from Reccoom's tight grip, as Reccoom swung him around and around, as if the Namek was a yo-yo. Reccoom then flung Dirkan into a garbage dumpster, and afterwards, he fired a huge red ki blast after the Namek before he could escape.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
While Dirkan was trying to survive Reccoom's next attack, Cirono was swinging at Jeice with his sword. He even managed to deflect two of Jeice's Red Comet Attacks with his blade, sending one blast at Jeice and another blast colliding into an armored bank car. Jeice was physically stronger than Cirono, but Cirono was equally as fast. However, Jeice did manage to slam both of his fists upon Cirono's arm, forcing Cirono to drop his sword to the ground.   
Before Cirono could retrieve his blade, Jeice landed an uppercut to Cirono's jaw, and when Cirono tried again to regain his sword, Jeice punched him hard in his cheek.  
  
But Cirono was equally adept at hand-to-hand combat, as he was at sword fighting, so he obliged Jeice with a nice, swift kick to his ribs. Jeice did cry out, for Cirono's steel-toed boot had managed to dent the side of his armor and crack Jeice's middle rib. Cirono then landed two punches to Jeice's face, as Jeice kneed Cirono in his crotch. Cirono fell back, and then he threw his slight body weight upon Jeice with all of his weight, knocking the red minion off of his boots. Jeice quickly recovered, as he leapt off of the ground and upon Cirono. Cirono then kicked him hard in his shins, but Jeice then seized Cirono's neck and shoved him hard. Cirono was now balancing on one foot, and before he could steady himself, Jeice flew at him, with both fists. One fist crashed into Cirono's jaw, and the other fist landed straight into Cirono's stomach. Cirono fell back, and he tried to block Jeice's attacks, but now Jeice had increased the speed of his punches and kicks, and the Calmagian prizefighter was now hard-pressed to defend himself. He was still holding his own, but Jeice now clearly had the upper hand.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bajal was the one who was faring the best out of all of his comrades, but then Bajal had the weakest Ginyu Force member to tangle with. He had easily beaten Guido to a pulp, and now the Basin fighter was on the run from Bajal. Guido flew swiftly through the empty streets of Magan, with Bajal in hot pursuit of him, firing various ki attacks. Finally Guido managed to elude Bajal long enough to hide behind a huge garbage truck and hold his breath.  
  
Then time stopped, and Bajal was suspended in mid-air, his palm open with a ki blast only halfway leaving his hand. His jaw was stuck open, and even his hair was standing still. It was as if Bajal was no more than a statue placed in a huge diorama depicting a battle.   
Guido tried to hold his breath for just a few more seconds, as he swiftly dashed through the alleyways, trying to get as far away from Bajal as he could. Guido's face was bruised and bloody, and he was missing three teeth. Two of his four eyes were swollen to the size of Earth golf balls, and his mouth was bleeding. Two of his ribs and his thumb were broken. Guido was holding onto his ribs, as he tried to hold his breath for just a little longer.  
  
But finally Guido couldn't hold his breath any longer, and he was forced to breathe again. At that moment, time began again, and Guido was once again on the run. Unfortunately, Guido didn't get to run for long, for at that moment, when he ran into another alleyway, Raakon and Alora were standing there, as if they had been expecting him all along.  
  
"Hello, fish-face," Alora said triumphantly with her slim hands on her slender hips. A wicked smirk rested upon her stern features, as she walked confidently towards Guido.  
  
"He's mine," Alora called to Raakon. "If he gets past me, then he's yours. Okay with you?"  
  
"Fine with me," Raakon told her. "Just don't underestimate him."  
  
Alora laughed. "Believe me, I won't."  
  
Guido paled, especially when he saw Alora's little Saiyan tail. Guido had a secret fear of the Saiyans because any Saiyan had more physical strength than he did, although they did not possess his time-stopping abilities. Guido wisely decided that it was once again time for him to flee, and he turned away from Alora and flew out of the alley, with the Sastorian female warrior in hot pursuit. Raakon followed behind her, even though he would not be fighting Guido himself yet.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the cliff where Bendros, Tayla, and Zarbon are battling…  
  
Tayla was paler than her own teeth, for she sensed the sudden huge increase in Zarbon's ki. Bendros was now tense and rigid, for he had sensed the rising of Zarbon's power as well. He and Tayla stayed near each other; they were hovering in the air.  
  
And at that inopportune moment, a huge, pale green monster leaped out of the hole where Tayla and Bendros had sent Zarbon into earlier. Tayla nearly shrieked at the sight a huge, hulking Zarbon, who was drooling and growling. Zarbon's armor had amazingly expanded along with his heavy form. He rose into the air immediately to join them.   
  
Lightening crashed in the background, with pink and green streaks dancing and streaking across the dark, threatening sky. Thunder roared loudly, a sound resembling a planet exploding, and then it began to rain heavily upon the three fighters.  
  
"You two will pay for forcing me to do this!" he roared with clenched fists. "Transforming like this takes so much time and energy, not to mention it makes me look like a green Oozaru…ugh! Now who wants to challenge me first?"  
  
Nearly soaked already, Bendros and Tayla both crouched in combat positions. "Tayla," Bendros whispered. "It would be better if we once again attacked him at once-this time with ki attacks. You use either your Blitzer attack, or your Double Janus Bolt attack, and I will either use my Ribbon Coil, or some other strong attack. If we both shoot at him at the same time, we may have a chance."  
  
"Have you ever fought against someone like him before?" Tayla asked.  
  
"Not anyone as strong as him before," Bendros admitted. "He is much stronger than any Saiyan, even me, but together I believe that we can take him. Ready?"  
  
Tayla nodded; she trusted Bendros implicitly. He had been a lieutenant in Intergalacticpol for years, and he knew about strategizing and battle planning better than many of her peers her age. Bendros had been known to save many lives during his Intergalacticpol years because of his brilliance and cunning. Many of his fellow officers would have perished during that time, if it had not been for him.  
  
Bendros held out his hands, launching his Ribbon Coil attack once more, and Tayla launched her Blitzer attack upon Zarbon. Zarbon stood there and smirked, as both powerful ki blasts flew at him and landed upon him. Then Zarbon's smirk turned into a scream of horror, as he was engulfed in a blinding blast of pure light.  
  
"BOOM! CRASH!"  
  
Tayla and Bendros flew into the sky  
  
A huge mushroom cloud arose from the ashes, as the rain continued to pour down from the dark heavens, as if someone up above was wringing a giant rag that was heavily saturated. The rain quickly put out any fires that would have spread from the attacks that Tayla and Zarbon had launched upon Zarbon. The smoke slowly began to dissipate, as heavy raindrops continued to pelt the fighters and the landscape.  
  
"KA-BOOM! CRASH!" The lightening grew louder and louder.  
  
And to make matters worse, Zarbon was standing in the dusty mist, in his second form with his column-like arms crossed. He was grinning, and very little damage had been done to his massive body. He threw back his head and laughed harshly, his cruel laughter mixing and blending in with the deafening thunder. His face was distorted and twisted, and his malicious laughing only added to his ugliness. His eyes now seemed to resemble windows into purgatory. His green hair was now darker, almost black and dirty. The sight of him sent a shiver snaking down Tayla's spine.  
  
"He's-he's barely hurt," she whispered.  
  
"Yes, yes, he is," Bendros gasped in horror. "Our attacks hardly touched him at all."  
  
Zarbon chuckled. "Good try, both of you, and if I had not been in this form, you two might have defeated me. But…it didn't turn out that way. Now it's my turn."  
And Zarbon rose into the air, higher and higher above Tayla and Bendros. He put his hands together facedown, and before they could dodge or retreat, two giant streaks of yellow light the size of logs burst forth from his hands and crashed into Tayla and Bendros. And Zarbon didn't stop there; he continued to fire smaller ki blasts upon them.  
  
Tayla and Bendros screamed during the ki assaults, which knocked them both out of the stormy sky back into the cliff. Their bodies crashed into the ground, sending them many feet into the solid earth and rock. Zarbon laughed, as he continued to fire more and more ki blasts upon them, and then to top it all off, he re-released his huge first attack in this round of the battle.  
  
"Say hello to the next dimension for me!" Zarbon cried out, as he continued to shoot ki blasts at them on the ground, like a machine gun.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Under an awning at the Angori Hotel…  
  
"Julien and Filcor, have you gone insane?" King Kitchator roared. His voice matched the rhythm and intensity of the thunder now cracking and booming outside. "We need the Astorians on our side! We must convince them to ally with us!"  
  
"I understand your feelings, Your Majesty," Filcor told the king smoothly, as they stood outside the hotel entrance with Julien. Queen Kildara had gone to join her family a few feet away. "But if it weren't for the Astorians, Frieza's forces would have never bothered us. They mainly came here to Calmag, so that they could take the Princess Tayla for use as one of their soldiers. Your Majesty, if you will remember, I did tell you a few days after this war began that we should have just agreed to surrender Tayla to Frieza's forces. What is one little girl to us when millions of lives were-and still are-at stake? We could still turn the girl over to them."  
  
"Because Tayla was engaged to Ridikar; if Ridikar had lived, Tayla would have been Calmag's next queen!" King Kitchator hissed.   
  
"Sire, thousands to millions of lives of our people have been taken because Frieza's forces were after the Astorians. The Astorians brought this plague down upon us, even if it was indirectly."  
  
Before King Kitchator could respond, Julien spoke up, "Grandfather, Filcor is right! I say that we just let the Astorians finish off Frieza's soldiers and then make them leave Calmag once the war is over!"  
  
"I agree," Filcor told the king. "As long as we are allied with Astoria, we will continue to be a target for Frieza's forces. Frieza's soldiers had never bothered us before, and they wouldn't have came had it not been for Princess Tayla and her family being here on Calmagian soil." Filcor and Julien were unaware that Frieza had planned to have Calmag cleared long before the Astorians had arrived on the planet; the evil tyrant had just been waiting for the right opportunity with Alberm Dunlop's help. With the help of Shalila, Dirkan and Raakon, they had correctly surmised that Alberm Dunlop had purposely led the Astorians onto Calmag, so that Tayla could be abducted and her most powerful family members destroyed. To this day, they still found Caline's story about Alberm wanting to become King of Calmag very hard to believe since Alberm had not been related to the royal family by blood at all.  
  
"No," King Kitchator argued. "If anyone is to blame for this mess, it is Alberm Dunlop of Rendor. His greed for power has led to our potential doom. Our weapons and soldiers and warriors have been useless against Frieza's soldiers. It is only because of the Astorians that we have survived this long."  
  
"But Grandfather," Julien argued. "They are now blackmailing us by refusing to sign the alliance papers just because they don't want my sister to marry Filcor. That's ridiculous, and I don't want to give in to blackmail, and you shouldn't either, Grandfather."  
  
King Kitchator was very quiet, and then he turned to Filcor and said, "Filcor, are you certain that it is that important to you to have Caline? I can easily find you another bride. We need Astoria as our ally, and you would have no trouble obtaining someone else as a second wife."  
  
"I want Princess Caline," Filcor said evenly. "I realize that it is your and Prince Julien's decision to make, Your Majesty, but Prince Julien is right; we shouldn't give in to blackmail. I don't think that it is a good idea to have the Astorians remain after the war ends, if any of us are left alive. Think about it, King Kitchator, of how much Calmag would change should the Astorians start visiting here regularly. Our women and girls would see the overly liberated attitudes of the Astorian women and would want to become like them. They would start to want to work outside of the home, choose their husbands, divorce their husbands, if they are displeased with them, and break engagements. Young girls would feel free to refuse perfectly good engagement and marriage contracts. A female's place is in the home, Your Majesty. And may I also remind you of that ridiculous women's right movement demonstration that took place almost a week before Caline finally married…Alberm." Filcor scowled heavily when he spat out Alberm's name. Alberm had taken Caline's virginity, something that Filcor had wanted to take himself.  
  
"Ah, yes," King Kitchator sighed. "Not one of our best times, especially since little Caline herself participated in it during her weeks on the run. That was how we finally found her, when she was disguised and marching with the other girls and women demanding women's rights. It was a messy time, I remember, when we had to send the CRP officers to break the demonstration up. The women and girls resisted, and things then became violent, with the CRP men eventually having to shoot. Twenty females died, and so many more were arrested before their husbands and fathers came to retrieve them. It was a huge embarrassment to all of us, especially with one of my family members involved. I had to keep Amitar from murdering his daughter, even though Caline had it coming to her. That little girl is very sweet, but she is so troublesome! I was hoping that marriage to Alberm would settle Caline and make her into a polite, obedient, meek young woman, but then Alberm had to have turned out to be a spy for Frieza."  
  
"And what if the women and girls here decided to hold another women's right demonstration, and the Astorians decided to intervene and help?" Filcor inquired fiercely. "Your Majesty, they could upset the entire social order here, and cause problems in many marriages throughout Calmag. If they see how our little Caline behaves, more and more wives may go to the Astorians begging for asylum and freedom from their husbands. What if other girls and women refuse to honor their engagement and marriage contracts, and defy their fathers? I know that Caline wishes to leave Calmag with the Astorians, but if she's allowed to do that, then other girls and women will want to leave for Astoria. We must put our boots down, Your Majesty. Surely Frieza's forces will not bother us again once the Astorians leave Calmagian soil. Your Majesty, even if you don't allow me to marry Caline, at least don't let her go home with the Astorian people."  
  
"I never intended to let Caline leave in the first place!" King Kitchator roared. He then lowered his voice, as the thunder rumbled in the background. "But you have made some valid points, Filcor, and I will consider them seriously. I admire the Astorian people for the most part, for they have done so much for us, and we would not be here, if it hadn't been for them. But you are right in that they could cause problems among our people, particularly between wives and husbands. And I am not letting a little girl go off by herself with people from another planet, even if they are my in-laws. I am king here, and I run my family and my people, not the Astorians! If they wish not to ally with us, it is their choice to make, although of course, we won't tell them until the war is over."  
  
"Good for you, Grandfather!" Julien cheered excitedly. "And you know what, Grandfather…" A sly grin formed onto Julien's face. "I think that if we win this war, we should have Filcor and Caline marry right away. I understand that the people may be mourning their dead, but a big wedding between a Princess of Calmag and one of the heroes of Calmag should be just what our people need to have a reason to celebrate and get on with their lives. We have a planet to rebuild, Grandfather, and we need to give our people a reason to be happy again. And what could be better than a wedding?"  
  
King Kitchator frowned, and then he finally said, "Very well, we will have Filcor and Caline's wedding-but only after we are certain that Frieza's forces have either been driven off of Calmag, or destroyed. When we are sure that we are safe, then Filcor…" King Kitchator put his huge arm companionably around Filcor's shoulders. "…Will be married to dear Caline. Filcor, I believe that you will make Caline a fine husband."  
  
"Why thank you, sire," Filcor told his king. Then Filcor knelt before King Kitchator to kiss his ring finger to show his loyalty and respect. King Kitchator touched Filcor's cheek in a gesture showing approval and friendship. Julien did the same, and then King Kitchator left to join his wife.  
  
Filcor smiled, as if King Kitchator had handed him the throne of Calmag. Julien was grinning widely too. Filcor commented happily to Julien, "I want to thank you, Prince Julien, for this."  
  
"My pleasure," Julien said. "And I thank you, Filcor, for taking the burden of my sister off of my hands. I will have enough to do to learn all of Father's and Ridikar's duties without having the responsibility of raising my sister as well."  
  
Filcor chuckled softly. "I don't consider dear little Caline a burden-in fact I view her as the grand prize! Oooh, I have been waiting for her for a long time, my prince! I can't wait until she is officially my wife! Not only will I have a sweet little girl bride in my bed every night, but also I will have everything that she will inherit from her husband's estate. Thanks to Alberm's immense fortune, Caline is going to be a very rich young lady. And all that is Alberm's shall be mine, along with his wife, for of course, Caline's property and wealth will be mine after we say 'I do'. Am I being a bit too greedy, my prince?"  
  
"Not at all," Julien chuckled. "Not at all. After all the grief my sister's been giving you and us lately, you deserve a little reward. May you and my sister stay together forever, even though she will be a handful! She is very defiant now and disrespectful, but I know that you can tame her and make her behave."  
  
"That part is going to be fun!" Filcor said wickedly. "I like a challenge, and unlike Alberm, I will be able to meet the challenge of taming Caline."  
  
He and Julien laughed loudly, at that moment ignoring the chaos and conflict surrounding them.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in downtown Magan…  
  
Shalila and Baata were still battling against each other, and it was coming out evenly. Baata punched Shalila hard in her jaw while Shalila's foot landed into Baata's knee. Baata fired a small ki blast at her, but Shalila deflected it away from her with one hand. But while she was distracted with Baata's ki attack, Baata landed his fist hard into Shalila's cheekbone, and Shalila fell out of the sky.  
  
Before Shalila could steady herself, Baata flew after her with both fists poised, and he clasped them together. Shalila was falling facedown, and before she could turn back up, Baata pounded both of his fists into the small of Shalila's back. Then Baata punched Shalila hard in the back of her head, and Shalila's body crashed into the street, through the metal and concrete in a loud, deafening boom.  
  
Baata then shot his Blue Comet Attack at her before Shalila could emerge from the wreckage of the streets. The rain was pummeling Baata's tough blue skin, but Baata ignored it. A streak of lightening slipped past Baata, and he barely managed to dodge it, as it landed into a pile of garbage on the sidewalk and set it afire. The hammering rain quickly put out the fire.  
  
Baata then sustained a rapid series of ki blasts upon the hole in the street where Shalila had fallen.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dirkan had narrowly dodged Reccoom's attack, and he was now behind an office building, planning his next strategy before Reccoom could find him. He had lost his Light Blade during the battle some time back, and he fervently wished that he knew where it had disappeared. Finally, he had recovered enough to come out from behind the building to find Reccoom once more.   
  
Reccoom was now hovering in the sky above Dirkan, and the huge minion of Frieza's lowered his head and stuck out his elbow. He began to fly down towards Dirkan like a huge, living comet, with his fist stuck out. Dirkan flew up into the air to meet him, and he shot out his Tri-Force attack, which collided into Reccoom and knocked him out of the sky. Reccoom's jumbo-sized body fell towards an alley and fell into a pile of rotting crates.   
  
Dirkan then came after Reccoom and launched a second Tri-Force attack, but this time Reccoom managed to recover in another time to escape. Reccoom then flew into the air again and fired a series of huge, pillar-like ki blasts as Dirkan. One of these Dirkan was unable to deflect with Mirror Shield, and it slammed into his face, shoving him out of the sky.  
  
The Namek warrior's body crashed into a nearby apartment building into a once-luxurious penthouse apartment. Reccoom was already coming after him, firing more ki blasts as he went. The huge soldier of Frieza then fired a ki ball towards the building where Dirkan had crashed.   
The ki ball collided into the brick building, and the building exploded on contact-with Dirkan inside!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Take that, Calmagie!"  
  
PUNCH! SLAM!  
  
"I don't think so, pretty boy!"  
  
Kick went Cirono's foot into Jeice's jaw.  
  
"Pretty boy! I'm not Zarbon!"  
  
Punch went Jeice's fist into Cirono's ribs.  
  
"I almost decided not to fight you because I mistook you for a woman!" Cirono taunted, as his fist rammed into Jeice's eye. "With all that long, pretty hair, it was an easy mistake to make!"  
  
"You're going to pay for that, boy!" Jeice screamed, as he head-butted Cirono and knocked him off of his feet. Cirono fell backwards into the dirty, muddy gutter, but he quickly leapt back up.  
  
"Please, put it on my charge," Cirono responded, as his fist slammed into Jeice's nose. Jeice, with his nose bleeding, flung himself upon Cirono and pushed him into the dirt. The two fighters wrestled each other, punching and kicking whenever they could, as they rolled around in the muddy streets, as the rain continued to shower upon them. A ray of lightening struck twenty feet away from them, but neither one of them paid any mind to it.  
  
Cirono managed to land one good punch to Jeice's face once more, but then Jeice decided to aim a small ki blast towards Cirono's face. Cirono dodged it barely, by turning himself away from the minor blast.  
  
But Jeice used Cirono's being distracted to his advantage, for at that moment, the red and white Ginyu Force fighter slammed his fist into the back of Cirono's head, and Cirono passed out into the mud and muck. Jeice arose from the ground, wiped his hands on his armor and grinned triumphantly.  
  
"Not a bad battle for a Calmagie! But, I have better things to do, so see you later, weakling! You'll probably get hit by lightening sooner or later, so you're pretty much done for."  
  
And with that, Jeice flew off into the stormy night to find Baata and the others while Cirono lay in the mud, alive, but barely breathing.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"'Lora, come on now, we've got frog-face to find!"  
  
"Oh, just one more kiss, handsome, come here!"   
  
"Ah, well, why not?"  
  
Bajal seized Alora in his arms and gave her a huge, sloppy kiss, which his wife happily returned. Alora slipped her tongue into Bajal's mouth, and their tongues danced together in a quick tango while Raakon was anxiously feeling about for Guido's ki.  
  
"C'mon, you two…" Raakon pleaded, but the two lovebirds were oblivious to him now, too lost in their passion.  
  
When their lips finally tore free, Alora gasped, "Bajal Chloe, I love you-and I better never catch you panting after another woman again!"  
  
"'Lora, that wasn't my fault!" Bajal protested. "Seductia enchanted me, although I think that the wench had a fixation on Dirkan."  
  
Alora laughed. "Lucky for you that you were under her spell! I guess it's hard for women to keep their hands and spells off of you! But if any other female even thinks of trying a Seductia on you, I'll hold her down and pull out all of her hair! It's too bad that Seductia went to Enma Daiou before I could find her-how disappointing! I had wanted to kick the little pink-haired whore about a few times before I killed her myself!"  
  
"Ah, well, 'Lora, don't worry about it now! I'm just glad that you're not going to kill me!"  
  
"I will, if you ever chance another female like you did earlier for real!" Alora declared, and both of them laughed.  
  
"C'mon, you two!" Raakon ordered his relatives. "Guido's not too far from here!"  
  
The three warriors quickly found Guido, after the last time that Guido had stopped time. When Guido had been forced to allow time to continue again, it was then that Alora and Raakon had caught up with Bajal. Now Guido was still flying away from his pursuers desperately, and his pudgy green body was tiring. He knew that he couldn't keep his pace up for much longer, so he now had to resort to desperate measures.  
  
Grinning to himself, he led his pursuers on a merry chase until they reached a monorail tunnel. Alora, Raakon, and Bajal chased Guido down into the monorail tunnel, and Guido once again held his breath to stop time. All three warriors from Astoria were suspended in time once more, as Guido escaped from the tunnel.  
  
He then concentrated hard just before breathing again, but Alora, Raakon, and Bajal still could not move. Time was continuing once more, but they were frozen in place, able to breathe, but not able to move. All three of them were suspended in mid-air just a couple of feet above the tracks.  
  
Guido then swiftly flew to the nearby monorail station that had a monorail that was supposed to have departed for another city three hours ago. Guido then concentrated hard and used his mind (like Chestra, he was an expert in telekinesis) to move the monorail along the tracks without a conductor. The conductor had abandoned the monorail a long time ago, along with the other monorail employees.  
  
Guido laughed, as his mind powers moved the monorail along the tracks. In a few minutes, it would reach the tunnel-and crash into the Astorian warriors, killing them once and for all, smashing them up!  
  
He laughed triumphantly at his own brilliance. And to think he was not highly thought of in Frieza's Top Elite! He would make sure that would soon change.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the cliff where the battle between Tayla and Bendros vs. Zarbon is taking place…  
  
Tayla and Bendros were faring badly now that Zarbon was in his second form. After the two now badly wounded warriors had emerged from the hole where Zarbon had sent them, things had gone downhill from there. Zarbon had given them just enough time to come out of the hole before he attacked them again.   
  
Zarbon and Bendros had been battling for some time now by themselves, and they had been evenly matched for a while. Bendros had managed to use his Ribbon Coil attack on Zarbon once more, but with very limited success. Zarbon escaped the attack, recovering much faster than he had the first time that Bendros had ever used Ribbon Coil on him.  
  
While Zarbon had been distracted, Tayla had tried to lasso him with a Rings of Saturn attack, which Zarbon had dodged. To punish Tayla, Zarbon had sent a medium-sized ki blast at the girl, which had actually pushed her off the edge of the cliff. Tayla tumbled almost fifty feet to the ground below before she could steady herself again and come back up. When she had reemerged, Zarbon and Bendros were battling it in hand-to-hand combat, using hard blows and sharp kicks that cracked ribs and various other bones.  
  
Zarbon had punched Bendros hard in his sternum, but Bendros recovered just hard enough to slam his fist into Zarbon's now-wide jaw. Zarbon fell back, and he head-butted Bendros in his stomach, throwing the Sastorian warrior off of his feet. Zarbon decided to fight dirty now; he was through playing with the "half-breed monkey", whom he was now finding almost as much troublesome as before. He punched Bendros in his face, and before Bendros could retaliate, Zarbon punched him hard in the back of his head, nearly causing Bendros to pass out. Zarbon then stood up and kicked Bendros hard in that same spot, and then he kicked Bendros hard in his ribs.  
  
Bendros had just barely managed to keep himself from passing out, and he tried desperately to sit up. Zarbon then seized Bendros by his tail and squeezed it hard. Bendros screamed in horrific pain.  
  
"NO! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Bendros cried. Zarbon neatly wound Bendros's tail around his fist, twisting it as much as he could. Bendros screamed louder and louder, as Tayla flew towards both of them.  
  
"LET HIM GO!" she screamed at Zarbon, who used a free hand to fire a small ki blast to keep her at bay.   
  
He then went back to twisting and winding Bendros's sensitive tail around his huge fist, enjoying Bendros's screams of agony.  
  
"STOP PLEASE!" Bendros cried in terror, as tears streamed down his face. "TAYLA, HELP ME PLEASE!"  
  
Tayla then launched herself upon Zarbon, firing a ki blast at his arm to force him to release Bendros's tail. Zarbon managed to deflect her attack with his free hand, but then   
  
Tayla aimed her next ki blast towards Zarbon's eye, and now it was Zarbon's turn to scream. He was finally forced to release Bendros's tail, as he clung at his eye.  
  
Zarbon growled at Tayla, "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, YOU SNEAKY LITTLE WENCH!" He then fired a medium-sized ki blast at Tayla with one hand while holding his eye. Tayla couldn't deflect it with Mirror Shield, because the deflected attack would hit Bendros as well as Zarbon, so she was forced to leap to the side and dodge.  
  
Zarbon was furious now, for Tayla's little ki blast attack had burned his eye severely. He would make the brat pay for that! He completely abandoned Bendros, as he went after Tayla. Bendros struggled to his feet, clutching his ribs with one hand.  
  
Bendros was about to leap into the stormy air to fly after Zarbon, but a bolt of lightening pierced the ground three feet away from him, with the light, blinding him. The lightening couldn't hurt Bendros, since he had the Astorian immunity to electricity, but it blinded him for a few moments, as he covered his eyes.  
  
While Bendros was blinded, Zarbon was unleashing his full fury upon Tayla. He had just fired a huge ki blast at her, which Tayla had just dodged within inches. While she was dodging the attack, Zarbon flung himself upon her, landing swift punches to her face and body. Tayla tried to electrocute him, but Zarbon was resistant to Electric Touch. He fired two small ki blasts at Tayla after pushing her to the ground. One of the ki blasts punctured Tayla in her torso, causing her to scream in agony. Zarbon took advantage of her pain to punch her hard in her face. Tayla retaliated by slipping her foot under Zarbon's legs and kicking his behind; the pain that Zarbon had caused earlier significantly reduced her effectiveness.   
  
Zarbon then seized Tayla by her long hair and forced her to her feet, dragging her along. He then grabbed her throat and hissed into her face, "Ready to surrender yet?"  
  
"NO!" Tayla screamed, as thunder boomed in the background. Her hair and Kekron's clothes were now plastered to her small frame like a second skin.  
  
"Then take this!" Zarbon commanded, as he flung her away by her slim throat. Her body flew into the air, but Tayla was able to stop herself before she went any further. By then, Bendros was at her side, and both of them charged at Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon found a boulder behind him, a huge boulder twice as large as he was. He then easily picked up the three-ton boulder and threw it at Tayla and Bendros. The boulder came at them, but Bendros blew it up with a ki blast before it reached them. He threw Tayla to the ground and shielded her with his body, as falling rocks and debris rained upon them, most of which hit Bendros's muscular body. Tayla was tucked safely under Bendros's strong form.  
  
"Thanks," she wheezed to her crush.  
  
"No-no problem," Bendros groaned. He and Tayla struggled to their feet after the debris had finished falling, and they were greeted by a horrific surprise.  
  
For at that moment, a huge ball of ki the size of a comet came crashing towards them. They tried to deflect the ball of powerful light with Mirror Shield, but the ki globe was too strong for them. It had come too fast for them to even form a Shield Field.  
  
Tayla and Bendros screamed, as the pain and light engulfed their bodies, burning them, causing their body temperatures to rise. Bendros seized Tayla and threw her to the ground again, shielding her with his body. But when they fell, Tayla's head hit a huge piece of rock, and the ki blast, along with Bendros's weight, caused Tayla's head to crush against the rock, knocking her out.  
  
The next thing that Tayla felt and saw was a comforting black void, as she heard Bendros's cry of agony and Zarbon's cruel laughter in the background… 


	108. Beginning Of The End

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Eight: Beginning Of The End-But For Whom?  
  
Back at the Angori hotel…  
  
Natala, Kekron (who was now wearing a CRP officer's borrowed clothes instead of Tayla's nightgown), Naykiar, and Caline stepped outside of the hotel entrance; Toria was inside the now dimly lighted lobby with Rojal and Dedron on couches under her healing domes. Gohan and Hazel were staying near Gorna in a dark hotel lounge where Gorna too was under one of Toria's healing domes. Gohan had been tense ever since he saw Gorna again; he was trying to figure out how to tell Gorna the news about her husband's death. Hazel had stayed with him and Gorna to give them moral support.  
  
Now Natala and the young people with her came across Julien and Filcor, who were standing outside of the lobby watching the thunderstorm. Filcor was the first to spot the four, and he swiftly marched over directly to Caline with a confident stride and a huge grin.   
  
Caline's face grew paler, even for her, and she instinctively crept closer to Kekron. Kekron's stance became rigid and tense, as he came closer to Caline and hovered over her protectively, standing near her. He kept two wary deep blue eyes upon the smarmy, stout Filcor, as Filcor boldly came right up to Caline until he was inches away from her. Then suddenly, before Caline or Kekron could react, Filcor made a grab for Caline, but Caline kicked at his shin and ran out of his reach. She hid behind Kekron, with her little heart pounding wildly.  
  
Kekron growled, "Leave her alone!" His blue eyes were almost black.   
  
Filcor waved him away, as if Kekron were no more than a fly, and laughed at Caline hiding behind her sworn protector. "You can run from me a little while longer, my sweet Caline, but not for much longer! You see, little love, your brother and your grandfather have already agreed to our immediate wedding after the war ends."  
  
"I'm not marrying you!" Caline screamed at him loudly. "Leave me alone!"  
  
Natala and Naykiar were already behind Filcor, and both Naykiar and Kekron stepped in between Filcor and Caline. "You're not wed to my sister yet, Filcor, so don't you touch her right now!" Naykiar hissed.  
  
Filcor narrowed his eyes at Naykiar. "Your brother would not be pleased with you behavior, Prince Naykiar. He has promised Caline to me, and Caline is mine by rights."  
  
"Not until you both say 'I do'," Naykiar snapped. "My sister may wind up having to marry you, but if she does, you're not touching her until after the wedding!"  
  
"NAYKIAR!" Julien roared, coming up behind Natala and Filcor. "How dare you turn against me like this?" He was between Filcor and Naykiar within seconds. Kekron led Caline away from the three men, and Natala took Caline into her arms.  
  
"We won't let anything bad happen to you, little one, don't worry," Natala whispered.  
  
"I don't want to marry him," Caline said fiercely. "I don't! I don't!"  
  
"We won't let it happen, Caline," Kekron assured her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In downtown Magan, below the city streets…  
  
Shalila was thankful that she had been wise enough to gather some of the Bright Healer roses from the ruined rose gardens before she and the others had left to hunt down the Ginyu Force and Zarbon. She had used the rose oil to heal her wounds just now. Baata's series of rapid-fire ki blasts had just barely missed her, for Shalila had ducked into a tunnel and ran down into the labyrinths. She crouched down as low as she could, as she began to gather together her ki, to bring as high as she could.  
  
Finally Baata had stopped firing his ki attacks, and Shalila could sense him closer now, for the big blue soldier had jumped down into the sewer in search of her. She was one floor beneath him, as he ran through the stone brick tunnels in search of her ki.  
  
Baata had his scouter turned on, as he sensed about for Shalila's high ki level. The scouter finally picked up the strong ki signal that Shalila was emitting, as he ran closer and closer to her location through the tunnel that he was certain that Shalila had taken. Finally, he was down on the same floor as she was in the labyrinths.  
  
He saw a flash of bright red-gold hair, as Shalila confidently walked out of her end of the tunnel. Baata shrank back, for Shalila's body had small strings of electricity squirming and dancing about her petite, yet muscular body. Shalila was grinning, even though her hair was mussed and her clothes tattered, torn, and dirty. Her red hair was snarled with debris, rocks, and mud, and her face was smudged with dirt. Her wet clothes were glued to her compact body, but she held a majestic air about her, as she bent down towards the ground. Her palms were lying flat against the dirty, stone floor.  
  
"Does that mean you surrender?" Baata asked hopefully.  
  
Shalila released a mocking laugh, and then she cried out, "ELECTRIC QUAKE!"  
  
Before Baata knew it or could escape it, thin, netted strings of electricity, green and blue rushed along the ground, as the entire labyrinth tunnel rocked violently, as if a giant was shaking it from the outside. Baata tried to fly away off of the ground, but then a huge, heavy piece of ceiling broke away and fell down, hitting him hard in the back of his head, causing him to topple over. When he did topple over, the waves of electricity captured him before he could rise off of the ground again. Baata screamed, as the electric currents entered his big body and began to electrocute him. Strings and wires of electric ki wove in and out of his body. Shalila quickly arose to her feet, exhausted, but still able to fight.  
  
While he was screaming, Shalila decided to shoot a Whirlwind Blaze attack upon him, not wanting to use her full energy for a second Electric Quake. The cyclone of ki whirled away from her palms and towards Baata, engulfing him with more shocking ki. While the Whirlwind Blaze and the Electric Quake attacks were attacking him, Shalila decided to shoot a series of rapid-fire ki blasts similar to those that Baata had tried to use upon her earlier.  
  
Baata was trapped in a force field of ki, as Shalila's blasts rained down upon him. Finally the final phase of Electric Quake took place, and the last, paralyzing, shocking wave of electricity shot throughout Baata's body, and Baata screamed. Within five minutes, the ki flashes faded away completely, as Baata fainted facedown into the floor. His entire blue body was charred and burned heavily in several places, and his eyes were swollen shut. His armor had melted in many places along his body, and smoke coils was arising from his back. Baata emitted a final moan and passed out completely.  
  
Shalila wiped her palms together, as her body heaved with relief.   
  
"You're one bastardi who won't get to take my granddaughter to Frieza. If you live after this, I pity you when you have to explain to that lizard why you lost."  
  
And with that, Shalila flew away, over Baata, and out of the labyrinths.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the Angori Hotel…  
  
Naykiar was now arguing loudly with Julien, "I'm not going to help you force Caline to marry Filcor, Julien! You aren't doing it for her benefit, or even our own; you're just doing it out of your own petty jealousy! If you want to get rid of Caline that badly, why don't you let her go home with the Astorians? At least allow her some happiness, Julien; it wouldn't kill you."  
  
"I've made my decision," Julien snapped stubbornly. "Caline is marrying Filcor the minute that we know that the war is over, and that's final! Grandfather backs up my decision and has agreed, and there's nothing that you or our whiny brat sister can do about it!"  
  
"I swear to Kami Ankor, Julien, that I'm going to do everything I can to prevent this from happening!" Naykiar hissed. "This time you've gone too far! If Ridikar were still alive, he would-"  
  
"But Ridikar isn't alive, is he?" Julien said silkily. "I am to be the next king now, me. It's time that Caline was married once more and started producing some sons. Filcor is a fine match for her, and nothing can make me change my mind."  
  
"That's right, young man," Filcor told Naykiar. "Caline is mine, and even now I am within my rights to do as I please with her. Why, if I want to, I can take her somewhere private and consummate our marriage prematurely; after all, Alberm had that privilege, so why shouldn't I? In fact, I think I will."  
  
Kekron finally had heard enough, and he abruptly left his mother and Caline to confront Filcor. He stepped right up to Filcor and said coolly, "If you even think of touching Caline now or never, you will regret it. She wants nothing to do with you, so why are you forcing the issue?"  
  
Filcor hissed at Kekron, "Stay out of this, Prince Kekron! I know that you wanted her for yourself, but you won't have her! She is betrothed to me. Now get out of my way; Caline is coming with me."  
  
Caline shrieked, as Natala stood up, pulling the girl behind her back. She said icily to Filcor, "Caline is not going anywhere with you. You're not taking her somewhere, so that you can force yourself upon her. She is staying with us until our ruler says otherwise."  
  
"Your people has no say over Caline's fate!" Filcor growled. "Not even your Superior Gran and Superior Granden can stop a Calmagian marriage from taking place."  
  
"That's right, Princess Natala," Julien added edgily. "I decide Caline's fate now, and she is to be wed to Filcor, no ifs, ands, or buts. If Filcor wants to take her away for a little time alone, it is his right to do so. In fact, I am from here on forbidding Caline to have anymore contact with your people." Julien shouted to Caline, who was huddling close to Natala,   
"Caline, it's time for you to go with us. You are not allowed to spend any more time with the Astorians, ever. Say goodbye and let's go."  
  
"No," Caline said defiantly from behind Natala's back.  
  
"Don't you ever tell me no," Julien hissed. "I have authority over you now, and I order you to come with me and Filcor."  
  
"I'm not going," Caline told him as bravely as she could.  
  
"She's not going with you," Natala said fiercely. "She is not going to be Filcor's plaything or your pawn! Where is your grandfather? I want to speak to him immediately."  
  
"He's busy," Julien told Natala coldly. "And he backs up my decision to have Caline wed Filcor, and that is that. Now, Princess Natala, I order you to turn the girl over to me at once or else."  
  
"Or else what?" Kekron snarled. "Don't you dare threaten my mother!"  
Julien said sweetly, "Oh, don't worry, Prince Kekron, I wouldn't let your dear mother be harmed…I'll just have her arrested by the CRP."  
  
"Go ahead," Natala told Julien bravely. "I won't be in jail for long, assuming that there is even a jail in your city left."  
  
"Oh, there's one standing in good condition," Julien said smoothly. "But you won't have to be in, Princess, if you just hand my sister over to me now."  
  
"I will not hand Caline over to you," Natala told him, wondering how a young boy could have so much political power at his age. "I will not hand Caline over to any of your family unless my Superior Gran or Superior Granden order it otherwise."  
  
"You're defying my authority, Princess Natala," Julien said in that smooth voice. "Now give my sister now."  
  
"I'm not going with you, Julien!" Caline hissed. "I don't want anything to do with you or Filcor! I don't want to marry Filcor at all; I don't love him or even want to be near him."  
  
"It doesn't matter what you want, Caline," Julien told her. "What I say goes. If I want to make you a maidservant for the rest of your sorry life, I can do that. If I want to make you Filcor's whore, that is my right too. You are my property, Caline, until your wedding to Filcor."  
  
At that moment several CRP officers came up behind Julien to see what the commotion was about. "Is everything alright, Prince Julien?" Elmar, who was a private, asked.  
  
"Not quite," Julien told him. "I may have to order someone's arrest. You and the others stand by."  
  
"Yes, my prince."  
  
Julien said to Natala, "I am only saying this one more time: surrender Caline to me now."  
  
Natala shook her head. "She stays."  
  
Julien sighed, shaking his head, as if he were disappointed in a little child for choosing a soda over juice. He said to Elmar, "Arrest Princess Natala Chloe immediately for resisting royal authority."  
  
"Yes, my prince," Elmar, who was a huge beefy man twice Natala's size, said. He walked over to Natala holding his hand out. He intended to paralyze her, but Kekron stepped in between him and his mother. Kekron was a few inches shorter than Elmar, but even Elmar was a bit fazed to be confronted by a Prince of Chloe, Astoria.  
  
"You are not touching my mother," Kekron told the CRP officer coolly. "I suggest you get away immediately."  
  
"Prince Julien has ordered her arrest, young man," Elmar growled. "If you wish to post bail for her, you can follow us to the jail to do so."  
  
"You're not arresting my mother," Kekron insisted in a deadly tone.  
  
"Kekron…" Natala pleaded, placing a hand on his arm. "I will be alright. He is only doing his job."  
  
"Mother!" Kekron protested. He normally always referred to her as "Mamma", but the seriousness of the matter seemed to require a more formal addressing of the woman who had birthed him.  
  
"Kekron," Natala said quietly. "I will be alright. If you try to challenge him, it will only make things worse for all of us, especially Caline. Let him do what he has to do."  
  
"Mother, I'm not allowing it!" Kekron snapped, and Natala drew back for just a moment. Never in her life had Kekron ever raised his voice to her. Kekron continued, "If Father was here, he would-"  
  
"Want me to do what's best for myself and everyone else involved," Natala reminded him.   
  
"I am not letting you go with them, Mother! I won't allow this! You have done no wrong. If that CRP officer lays a hand upon you, he will be sorry! I forbid it, Mother!" Kekron had never spoken to his mother like that before, and even he was stunned by his own behavior towards her. But he couldn't believe that Natala would just submit so easily. Caline shrank back, amazed.  
  
Natala whirled onto him fast. Kekron protesting her actions was one thing, but him forbidding her, his mother, to do something was another thing altogether. "Kekron, you are never to raise your voice to me like that again, do you understand me? That is something that your father would never tolerate. Nor would he allow you ordering me about, no matter what the reason was. My resisting would make things worse, and my decision has been made. I am going with him."  
  
"Mother-" Kekron insisted.  
  
Natala sighed, "It is very unlikely that I would be in jail for long. Kekron, I am sorry to have snapped at you like that, but you have never been like this before."  
  
"You've never been arrested before either," Kekron pointed out. "It isn't right."  
  
"All wrongs will be righted, Kekron," Natala promised him in a softer tone. She leaned up and kissed him on his firm cheek. "Kekron, I appreciate your concern, but I cannot resist arrest; it would make things worse between Astoria and Calmag. Please try to understand. Take care of Caline." She then bent down and kissed both of Caline's soft, pale cheeks and dabbed away her tears with her thumb. "Little Caline, please don't cry; I will be okay, I promise."  
  
"This is my fault," Caline whispered.  
  
"Don't blame yourself," Natala told her gently. "You are fighting back, and so I am I. Goodbye for now, little one, and stay with Kekron. If anyone is truly to blame, it is your brother, Filcor, and most likely your grandfather." She kissed Caline's forehead firmly. Then she walked over to Elmar. "Do what you must."  
  
"I am sorry, Princess, but you are under arrest for resisting royal authority," Elmar whispered, as he lightly touched Natala's arm. Natala's body went rigid and stiff, and she fell forward into Elmar's arms. Elmar hoisted the stiff Natala over his shoulder and started to carry her away to a waiting CRP armored sky truck. Natala had fainted, for that sometimes happened with the Calmagian paralysis attack.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In downtown Magan…  
  
Reccoom was laughing, as the building exploded with millions of brick and glass fragments flying everywhere. He even did celebratory poses, dancing and twirling like an overweight ballerina, but every time he landed the ground around him shook violently, creating cracks in the concrete.   
  
"RECCOOM!" he cried, posing in an "X" position that was almost spread-eagle.  
  
"Everyone's gonna be so proud of me!" he boomed. "'Specially Cap'n and Lord Frieza! I got rid of the Namek! I got rid of the Namek! I got rid of the Namek! I got rid of the-"  
  
He was interrupted by the street shaking, the street that he was dancing on. Suddenly, huge pieces of concrete began to crack and collapse into the sewer, and Reccoom stumbled and fell partway into the sewer tunnels. He tried to fly up to the surface again, but suddenly someone grabbed his ankle and easily swung the giant into the edge of the hole that he had fallen into.  
  
Before Reccoom could react, his attacker punched him hard in his stomach while the other fist shoved Reccoom's nose up as high as it could. Reccoom tried to punch his assailant, but his assailant fired a medium-sized ki blast towards his face. Reccoom screamed when the ki attack burned his face, scorching a long, deep black scar across his face. He was now blinded temporarily, and he covered his eyes pitifully with a gigantic hand, moaning over the pain.  
  
While Reccoom was trying to recover, he felt his attacker rise into the air. Reccoom fired a huge ki blast with one hand, but that would prove to be a mistake.  
  
"MIRROR SHIELD!"  
  
Before Reccoom could escape, he removed his colossal-sized hand from his eye just in time to witness his humiliating defeat by-DIRKAN?   
  
"NO!" Reccoom screamed, as his own ki blast, a bright yellow glowing ball came back from the sky and speeded towards him, colliding into his huge body and roasting him away.  
  
"HELP ME!" Reccoom wailed, as his own globe of ki engulfed him, trapping him in a huge, burning ball of energy. Reccoom emitted one last scream, before he finally fell down and passed out into unconsciousness.  
  
He fell to his side and into the welcoming black void that his mind was now swimming in. His massive body was now lying on the floor of the labyrinth just beneath the sewer.  
  
Up above, Dirkan was panting, badly burnt and scarred with a swollen right eye, but thankful to be alive. He had escaped from Reccoom's destruction of the building because he had swiftly fled to the basement--which had an entrance to the labyrinths. It seemed that there had to be a thousand ways to get to the underground labyrinths.  
  
His ribs were broken, and his left ear and his right arm was missing; using a one-handed Mirror Shield to deflect Reccoom's powerful attack had not been easy. He closed his eyes, waiting for his arm to regenerate again, as someone suddenly wrapped a pair of slender, feminine arms around his thick green neck.  
  
Dirkan opened his eyes abruptly and was delighted and relieved to see Shalila embracing him from behind. She removed one arm to take his pointed chin into her hand, and then she fervently kissed him, her lips infusing all of her passion and love for her lifelong companion and true love. Dirkan then captured her into his embrace and crushed her petite body against his, his one arm wrapping around her waist tightly. Shalila wrapped her legs around Dirkan's waist, as she settled herself on his hips. Both were hovering in mid-air, as they took a few minutes to remind each other of their love. Shalila gently traced over the scar where Dirkan's ear was now missing, but would grow back soon.  
  
"Fi luven, Dirkan," Shalila whispered into his good ear.  
  
"Fi luven toi, Shalila, fi luven toi." Dirkan normally spoke more Standard than Astorian, but he felt that this moment appropriately called for Shalila's native language.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the Angori Hotel…  
  
Kekron stood with his fists clenched and his teeth gnashed. Caline was afraid to go near him now; she feared that he might blame her for his mother's unjust arrest. She took a few steps back-right into Filcor, who had cleverly slipped around Elmar and Natala to get to Caline. Filcor wasted no time in scooping Caline up into his arms, and Caline screamed, kicking at him.  
  
Kekron ran up to them. He yelled at Filcor, "LET HER GO!"  
  
Filcor smirked, as he held a struggling Caline and turned her around forcibly towards him.  
  
"Let her go, Filcor!" Naykiar growled.  
  
"Shut up and stay out of it, Nayke!" Julien hissed.  
  
"LET ME GO!" Caline screamed at Filcor, as Kekron came closer to them.  
  
Filcor grinned. "I don't think so, sweet Caline." He then seized her small rounded chin and roughly kissed her on her lips, showing possession of her. Caline responded by sinking her tiny teeth into his bottom lip, and Filcor screamed, throwing her down. Caline had actually torn out a huge piece of his lip, and she spat it out onto the ground. Filcor's fat bottom lip was bleeding heavily, with amber liquid oozing from it.   
  
"You little slut! How dare you do that to me, your future husband? You're just as stubborn and bratty as Carie was! No wonder you girls got along so well! But unlike Carie, you're going to learn to obey me and respect me as your husband and master! And here's your first lesson in obedience!"  
  
Furious, Filcor drew his hand back, intending to give Caline a hard slap across her delicate face. His hand swooped down towards Caline's cheek, but Kekron quickly seized his arm before his hand could even come close to Caline's face. Kekron wasted no time in twisting Filcor's arm behind his back as hard as he could. Filcor screamed in agony, as Kekron shoved him to the ground facedown into the mud.   
  
"Don't you ever lay a hand on Caline again, ever!" Kekron shouted. "Do you understand me? Don't ever touch her again!"  
  
Filcor struggled to his feet and threw his weight at Kekron, shoving him backwards.   
Kekron nearly toppled over, but he didn't fall. He punched Filcor hard in his face, but Filcor shoved him into a lamppost. Kekron's arm hit the lamppost, but he ignored the pain the best that he could, as he flung himself at Filcor, shoving him back. Filcor raised his hand and aimed it towards Kekron's arm. Kekron knew that Filcor intended to paralyze him, so Kekron sent an electric shock through his arm, not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to shock Filcor significantly. Filcor cried out and released Kekron. Kekron stepped backwards while Filcor was crying in his agony and asked, "Have you had enough?"  
  
"I…" Filcor moaned, as he sank to his knees.  
  
Julien roared at Elmar, who had just returned, "Elmar, I want Prince Kekron Chloe arrested!"  
  
"For what, my prince?"  
  
"A number of charges," Julien said with a smirk. "One of them being assaulting a CRP officer, and the others include resisting royal authority, aiding and abetting in the delinquency of a royal ward, and illegal interfering with the earlier arrest of his mother, Princess Natala. Arrest him at once!"  
  
"Yes, my prince!" Elmar commanded, running over towards Kekron and Filcor.  
  
"NO!" Caline screamed. She ran up to Julien and begged, "Don't let Natala and Kekron go to jail, please!"  
  
Filcor ignored her. "If no one minds, I'll just arrest Prince Kekron myself." He then stumbled over to Kekron, who leapt out of his way. Filcor almost fell facedown again, but Elmar was there to catch him.  
  
"You're not taking me so easily," Kekron promised both of them.  
  
"Don't be so certain, Prince," Filcor mocked, as he struggled to his feet. He was going to deal with this upstart once and for all.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the streets of Magan…  
  
Jeice was doing several celebratory poses, similar to Captain Ginyu's Dance of Joy, not too far away from where Cirono had been defeated. Jeice then decided to go back to see if Cirono had finally perished or was still unconscious.  
  
He walked over to where Cirono had fallen to his defeat, and he gasped in horror to find a shocking sight.  
  
That "Calmagie runt" was gone.  
  
"Where did he go?" Jeice wondered. He turned on his scouter to search for Cirono by ki sensing, and it beeped. Jeice was excited then.  
  
"Aha! I found you!" he called, as he levitated just slightly over the city sidewalk and flew into a nearby alley where the ki signal was registering no higher than a fifteen on the scouter scale. When Jeice had first taken Cirono's ki level reading, Cirono had a level around at about two-hundred, high for a Calmagian, but still not very strong, at least compared with the strongest of Frieza's soldiers.   
  
Jeice chuckled to himself; surely that Calmagian lad had been damaged so badly that he was close to dying, for that had to explain why his ki level was so low. And who else could be around? Jeice crept further into the alley and saw a dark, slender figure crawling around in the darkness. The Ginyu Force member flew into the air and pounced upon the slinking form.  
  
"Now I've got you!" Jeice crowed.  
  
Jeice did capture something, but it was not Cirono.  
  
Jeice's eyes bulged in horror, when he realized that he was now resting upon a huge, black doglike creature with three pointed ears, glowing orange eyes, and eight legs. Calmagian, like Astoria and Earth, had their share of dogs, but the Calmagians called their dogs "barkins", and this "barkin" was a canine very popular for use as guard dogs. This particular barkin had escaped from a kennel, and was known, like most of its species, to be huge and vicious; his entire breed was trained that way.  
  
The barkin growled at Jeice and showed its huge, yellowed teeth. "GRRRRR!"  
  
"Ni-Nice doggy!" Jeice pleaded, as he climbed off of the dangerous beast.  
  
Unfortunately Jeice had angered the "nice doggy" a bit too much for the animals' liking. At that moment, the barkin chomped down onto Jeice's hand, its sharp teeth tearing into Jeice's thick red skin and tough bones.   
  
"OWWWW!" Jeice screamed, as he tried to shake the barkin off, yanking his arm away.  
But the barkin continued to clamp onto Jeice's arm and shook it, as Jeice screamed and cried in agony.  
  
"HELP ME, SOMEONE!"  
  
Finally Jeice fired a small ki blast at the barkin's ribs, and the barkin abruptly yanked his teeth out of Jeice's arm and howled pitifully. Jeice took that time to fly away, and he was well into the air, when he felt a sharp pain in his buttocks.  
  
"OUCH! OWWWW!" Jeice screamed, and he looked around in horror to see that the vicious barkin had now sunk its angry teeth into the tight flesh of Jeice's bottom. Jeice tried desperately to shake the barkin off of him, but the barkin hung on for dear life, his teeth piercing flesh, bone and muscle of Jeice's buttocks.  
  
"OWWWW! OW-WEE! SOMEONE HELP ME! SOMEONE GET THIS MUTT OF ME!"  
  
Jeice continued to thrash and writhe, but that only made the barkin cling to him tighter.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the monorail station in Magan…  
  
Alora, Bajal, and Raakon were frozen in place above the monorail tracks, held captive by an invisible force. All three had tried to struggle against it, as they heard the horrible automatic whistle of the monorail train moving steadily along the monorail tracks.  
  
"CLICKITY-CLACK! CLICKITY-CLACK!"  
  
Raakon was the only facing forward towards the coming monorail train, and he tried desperately to form a Shield Field, but the strong force holding him still would not even let him do that. Sweat poured down his face, and he heard a soft, terrified sob from Alora.   
  
Raakon was amazed to hear Alora crying; he had not known Alora to cry since the epic Battle of Chloe when she had mourned her fallen comrades. Most of the time Alora was a stoic heroine, but Raakon couldn't blame her for her tears. He felt like crying himself.  
There was nothing he could do, as the train's moved steadily towards him and his brother and sister-in-law.  
  
"'Lora, please don't cry," Bajal moaned, but he almost wanted to cry himself. He had literally wet himself when he realized that the monorail train was coming to crash into them and crush them. "So, sorry, 'Lora…"  
  
"Bajal…" Alora whispered through her frightened tears. "Love you…don't say it often, I know, but I do…"  
  
"Love you too, 'Lora…so sorry. Rina's going to be left an orphan now…poor kid…"  
  
"WOO! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The monorail train's piercing whistle echoed throughout the stormy night.  
  
A few tears slid down Raakon's chiseled cheeks; he was going to be a father again for the third time, and now he would not live to see his new baby. Would Natala even live to have their third child? He would never know now.   
  
"Sorry, Natala, Kekron, Arlina, and you too, my little unborn child…" he whispered, as the glowing lights of the train cast itself upon him and the others. "Sorry, I won't be there for any of you anymore…love all of you…so much…"  
  
The monorail train was coming closer and closer, as thunder crackled in the background. Raakon closed his eyes and whispered:  
  
"Tayla, I'm sorry too…sorry that I won't be able to help protect you anymore…love you, little sister…so brave…you are…was lucky to have you as my baby sister…so sorry…"  
  
The train came closer and closer…within seconds, it would crash into them, and three brave Astorian fighters would soon be on Snake Way, headed towards Enma Daiou's office.  
  
Raakon closed his eyes, not wanting to see his own impending death.  
  
"CRASH! SQUEAK! SCREEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHH! BOOM!"  
  
A planet-shattering noise was heard, which included the sounds of crushing metal and stone and a loud, mutilated train whistle. A bright light flashed, brighter than most ki attacks, and…  
  
"KA-BOOM!"  
  
A giant, massive brown cloud erupted from the ashes, and then there was a deadly, calming silence heard, except for the thunder still roaring in the background.  
  
But no voices could be heard anymore.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the cliff where Tayla and Bendros and Zarbon were battling…  
  
"Tayla?" Bendros asked. "Tayla?"  
  
Silence.  
  
The bodies of Tayla and Bendros were covered with severe second and third degree burns. Bendros's entire shirt had been burned away, and a huge blackened crescent-shaped scar was imprinted deeply into the muscular flesh of Bendros's broad back. Much of Bendros's thick black hair had been burnt away as well. His legs were covered with second-degree burns, but thankfully no major bones had been broken. One of Bendros's ribs had been cracked, and his shoulder had been dislocated. But since Bendros had dislocated that shoulder several times in the past, he had been able to pop it back into his socket immediately. He had taken the majority of the damage from Zarbon's last ki attack, although Tayla was the one who was unconscious.   
  
She was lying on her side, with a sleeve missing off of the pale green shirt that she had borrowed from Kekron. Tayla's shoulder was exposed, and most of the soft flesh on that shoulder and the arm below it were decorated with blue, bloody cuts, burns, and bruises. Her right eye was swollen and blackened. Bendros gently tried to shake her, but Tayla would not stir.  
  
"Tayla? Tayla? Please wake up. Tayla?"  
  
Bendros was kneeling beside Tayla, as he brushed several locks of her dark hair aside. He saw a steady stream of indigo blood gently seeping down the side of her face, some blood flowing into her tangled tresses. Bendros took Tayla's carotid pulse, and he felt a small beating that gave him some hope. She was still alive!  
  
"Tayla," Bendros whispered urgently. "Please wake up, please?"  
  
"It's no use, young man, she's out of the game."  
  
Bendros looked up into the smug face of Zarbon who was watching contentedly with his arms crossed. Zarbon shook his head and smiled.  
  
"You've both lost, admit it. Your people's heroine is out cold, and you alone couldn't take me down. Just hand over the girl to me now, and I'll let you go, although Lord Frieza could use one such as you as well. But Princess Tayla will do for now. Give me the girl."  
  
"No!" Bendros hissed. "She's not going anywhere with you! Doesn't your army have enough powerful fighters?"  
  
"Quite a few, but we lose so many all of the time. Lord Frieza wasn't too happy to learn that all of those Mid-Elites and Lower Elites he sent to Calmag perished. He's not too pleased with me right now, as you can understand, for I insisted on their coming here. Hand-delivering Princess Tayla to him personally will more than mollify any anger that he has. Allow me to take the child; I'll just pick her up myself."  
  
Zarbon bent down towards the unconscious form of Tayla, as he turned on his scouter. Tayla's ki was registering less than a thousand now, as he bent closer to pick her up. While he was occupied with taking Tayla away, Bendros took that opportunity to throw his weight upon Frieza's Head Commander and knock him to the ground. Zarbon growled savagely, like the beast that he now was, as he and Bendros rolled around in the muck and rain, punching at each other. Bendros's fist crashed into Zarbon's eye, but then Zarbon punched Bendros in the sorest part of his ribs. They continued to wrestle around for ten minutes, punching and hitting each other every chance that they could.  
  
Finally, Zarbon took that opportunity to grab the tip of Bendros's tail and squeeze it again, twisting it as hard as he could. Bendros's screams echoed throughout the night, as the thunder roared, and the rain continued to pour and pour. Zarbon then threw Bendros off of him and shoved him down, as Zarbon rose, still holding Bendros's tail. Zarbon's hand moved further down the length of his opponent's tail, twisting and bending it every chance that he could. Bendros was now down on his knees, screaming, as Zarbon squeezed and twisted his tail from behind.  
  
"About to give up, monkey?" Zarbon taunted, as he continued to wind Bendros's tail around his fist, squeezing harder than ever.  
  
"Bastardi!" Bendros screamed. "AWWWWWW! AHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Tears were now freely streaming down his face. His heart was pounding wildly, trying to escape from his chest. Bendros's face was contorted, and his fists were clawing the dirt, as Zarbon continued to twist and squeeze his tail. Zarbon smiled, taking delight in Bendros's pain.  
  
"If this tail causes you so much trouble, monkey, why keep it? I don't understand you Saiyans sometimes! Your race is a most puzzling one, half-breed. Ready to give up now?"  
  
"No, no," Bendros panted, feeling as if he were about to faint.  
  
"Foolish boy, but then monkeys aren't highly known for their intelligence, aren't they? Well, monkey, it's been fun, but I don't have much time to play anymore, so I'll just ship you off to the next dimension, okay? But first, I'm going to torture you just a bit more."  
  
"Nooooooooo!" Bendros moaned.  
  
"Yesssssssssssss!" Zarbon laughed, as he kicked Bendros hard in his bottom, with the force of a battering ram. Zarbon then punched Bendros's badly burned back with his free fists, making sure to hit Bendros in the most painful areas. He then continued to kick and punch at Bendros while twisting his tail harder and harder. Bendros began to scream louder and wail.  
  
"Would you like to die now, monkey?" Zarbon asked. "I can arrange it, if you wish."  
  
Bendros sobbed loudly, his mind becoming delirious.   
  
"Mamma…help me," he whimpered. "Mamma, Tayla, Aunt Alora…where are you?"  
  
"Going insane, monkey?" Zarbon chuckled. "I've heard of Saiyans going insane, if their tails are squeezed for too long! It'd be interesting to see a crazy monkey for once, although I think all Saiyans are crazy enough already."  
  
"TAYLA!" Bendros screamed. "Tayla, where are you? Why have you abandoned me? Oh, Mamma, Aunt Alora, where are you all at? Oh, why doesn't anyone come? Why?"  
  
"The brat can't hear you, monkey, so give it up!" Zarbon snapped, bending Bendros's tail, as he tried to break it.  
  
"Tayla, help me, please!" Bendros screamed. "TAYLA!"  
  
"She can't hear you; why are you bothering, monkey?" Zarbon demanded to know.  
  
"TAYLA!"  
  
Zarbon said with a smirk, "I'll tell you what, monkey, I'm going to be nice and put you out of your misery right now. As Astories like to say, 'Gooden Boden!'"  
  
Zarbon then raised his hand, and a ball of sparking ki formed in his palm. He would aim it at Bendros's head, and then it would be over for the brave Sastorian warrior.  
  
Bendros cried and sobbed in his insanity, "Tayla…Tayla…so sorry…why, Tayla, why? Why were you knocked out?"  
  
The ball of ki in Zarbon's hand grew larger and larger.  
  
"TAYLA!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"TAYLA!"  
  
Somewhere in the black, light-headed void in Tayla's dormant mind, she heard a terrified scream.  
  
In the void, she heard Bendros screaming her name, and in the darkness of her mind, she frantically ran towards Bendros.  
  
In the black netherworld of her thoughts, she could see clearly Zarbon torturing Bendros, twisting his tail and kicking and punching at him. Then she saw Zarbon holding a glowing, sparking ball of energy-a ki ball that would definitely destroy Bendros because he couldn't defend himself.  
  
Tayla was seeing all of this in her unconscious mind, as she ran towards Zarbon and the agonized Bendros. She ran faster and faster, but she could not catch up. The image of Zarbon tormenting Bendros was moving further and further away from her, as Tayla ran madly in the dark world of her thoughts. She could never catch up to them.  
  
She heard Zarbon call out to Bendros, "Say hello to Enma Daiou for me!"  
Tayla continued to run towards them in her mind, as Zarbon was about to throw his ball of ki at poor Bendros.  
  
Zarbon laughed, "HAHAHAHAHA!" as he threw his hand back with the ki ball.  
  
Tayla then screamed, "NO! BENDROS!"  
  
Bendros screamed, "TAYLA!"  
  
And before Tayla knew it, she could see in herself holding out her palms together-and shoot a stream of pure white ki from her small hands.  
  
Zarbon's shocked expression greeted the oncoming attack, as Tayla's bolt of ki burst forth into his chest. In her darkened unconscious mind, she clearly saw Zarbon release Bendros and fall backwards into the ground. Bendros fainted.  
  
Tayla fell to her knees, and suddenly the blackness began to brighten somewhat, as she began to feel rain and hear thunder… 


	109. Final Showdowns

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Nine: Final Showdowns  
  
In front of the Angori Hotel…  
  
"Kekron, run!" Caline cried. "Don't let them arrest you!"  
  
Kekron wasn't about to run away, especially with Caline in peril, but he wasn't going to submit so easily to being arrested either. Unfortunately, Filcor didn't give Kekron a choice, for before Kekron could leave, Filcor threw himself upon Kekron the best that he could. Kekron tried to push him off, but Filcor succeeded in paralyzing him. Kekron's body went stiff and rigid, but he didn't faint.  
  
"KEKRON!" Caline screamed, running away from Julien and towards Kekron. She fell to her knees at his side and hugged him.  
  
"Kekron," she whispered.  
  
"Caline…" he moaned. "So sorry…"  
  
"Oh, you're sorry, alright," Filcor said cruelly. "But that doesn't even began to describe you. You're under arrest, Prince Kekron Chloe, for resisting royal authority, assaulting a CRP officer, aiding and abetting in the delinquency of a royal ward, illegal interference with the earlier arrest of your dear mother, and attempted murder."  
  
"Attempted murder!" Caline screamed. "He wasn't trying to kill you, he was trying to protect me from you!"  
  
"Sure he was," Filcor said silkily.  
  
"I hate you, Filcor!" Caline shrieked, running up to him and beating on his chest with her tiny snowy fists. "I've always hated you, ever since Carie told me the things that you did to her! You made Carie's life miserable the entire time she was married to you! You hit her, yelled at her, and even raped her! No wonder Carie killed herself-I don't blame her now! I blame YOU! You drove Carie to drowning herself! It's YOUR fault that Carie died!"  
  
"Shut up!" was all that Filcor could say in defense.  
  
"You ruined Carie's life!" Caline screamed again, as she continued to beat on his chest.   
"And now you want to ruin mine as well! Carie drowned herself to get away from you, and I'll do the same, if you force me to marry you! If you make me marry you, I'll find all sorts of way to make your life miserable! I won't sleep with you, I'll put sand and sharp things in your bed, and I'll scream every time that you come near me! I won't be like I was with Alberm; I'll fight back this time! I'll hurt you every time that you try to touch me! I'll see that all of your meals are burned, and I'll ruin your papers and mess up your house!"  
  
Caline's small bosom heaved up and down, and the rain was soaking her. Her pale hair was plastered to her head and face, and her dress fit onto her body like a second skin. She took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. She had to handle her confrontation with just a bit more dignity, a dignity worthy of a Princess of Chloe; Superior Gran Shalila had told her that she was worthy of being a Princess of Chloe, and Caline knew it was time to act the part. She stopped beating on Filcor's chest and stepped back. She stood up as straight as possible for her four-feet-and-six-inches and looked directly into Filcor's eyes and said in an unusually cold tone for her, "Filcor, I am not going to marry you."  
  
Filcor was taken aback by the normally passive Caline's assaulting him and yelling at him, but he wasn't about to give up yet. "Oh, yes, you will."  
  
"No, I won't," Caline told Filcor in that icy voice. "Not of my own free will anyway. But I am serious, Filcor, if you make me marry you, I will make your life horrible. I'll see that you'll never be happy with me, and I'll give you a hard time every day, no matter how many times you beat me or threaten me. I'll find all sorts of ways to disgrace you and make you look bad. I don't love you or even like you. And I don't want to be with you, ever. I'll make you the worst wife that a girl can ever be. And I never will love you, like you, or want you near me."  
  
"You will learn," Filcor growled. "You are going to be mine, Caline, whether you like it or not! You and your fortune will be mine! Marriage to you will bring much to me, including your body and your money, the money that Alberm has surely left you! I will tame you, and you will learn to obey me! I am no Alberm who will tolerate your acting like a child-"  
  
"I AM A CHILD!" Caline shrieked. "I am only eleven! I am a little girl! I want to be a little girl! I don't want to be anyone's wife! I just want to be a kid! I don't want to marry or mate with anyone right now! Why do you want a little girl, Filcor? Can't you find someone your own age?" At that point Caline fell to the ground and buried her face into Kekron's chest and sobbed wildly, her emotions having taken their toll. Kekron would have drawn her into his arms to comfort her, but he was still paralyzed.  
  
"Caline…" he whispered. "I…won't let anyone hurt you, even if they did arrest me."  
  
Caline continued to sob and cry into Kekron's shirt. Before she realized it, she felt Kekron's strong arms encircle her trembling, frail body. He began to stroke her white-gold hair, as he cuddled her closer. Caline wept into his chest, and slowly her sobs quieted.  
  
It had taken both Kekron and Caline a few minutes to realize that Kekron was able to move once more. Caline looked up from Kekron's chest, as the rain hammered down upon their bodies, and she saw the kind faces of Toria-and Natala-who was no longer paralyzed.  
  
"I-I can move," Kekron whispered.  
  
"Yes," Toria told him softly. "I reversed the paralysis effect on both you and your mother before I came out here. The CRP officer forgot to lock Natala in, and so Natala escaped from the CRP truck to come back after I removed the effect." She and Natala knelt on both sides of Caline, and Natala helped Kekron sit up. Toria kissed Caline lightly on her brow and arose majestically. She addressed Filcor directly:  
  
"Filcor, why do you wish to make Caline marry you? I know the real reasons, but I want to hear you say them. I have looked into your heart." And Toria raised her slim hand towards Filcor and shot a small, thin ray of pink light at Filcor's head.   
  
Filcor's body went rigid.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the monorail station in Magan…  
  
Dirkan was showing Guido no mercy, as he repeatedly kicked and punched at the little green monster for sending the monorail after Alora, Bajal, and Raakon. Dirkan kicked Guido hard in his stomach. Guido was crying and begging for mercy, but Dirkan was showing none. The angry Namek wasn't even giving Guido a chance to run. He was holding Guido up by the skin folds on the Basin's pudgy neck.  
  
Guido's luck had changed for the worse when Dirkan and Shalila unexpectedly showed up, later followed by Cirono. When Dirkan had witnessed the monorail come into the tunnel after Alora, Bajal, and Raakon, he had been angered, especially since Raakon was one of the victims. He had gone after Guido immediately and took his full fury upon the murderous minion.  
  
"Please stop!" Guido pleaded, as Dirkan slammed his fist into one of the minion's four eyes.  
  
Dirkan responded by slamming Guido's head into a steel pole that was outside of the monorail stationhouse. He bashed Guido's head against the pole several times.   
  
He then punched Guido hard in his face once more. "That one was for Raakon-one of the best students and closest friends that I ever had!"  
  
He then punched Guido's face again, only this time, he also kicked Guido in his stomach. Guido spat out yellowish blood.   
  
"And those…" Dirkan roared, "…were for Alora and Bajal, two of the finest warriors and comrades that we ever had!"  
  
Dirkan then punched Guido hard in his ribs, and once more in his face for good measure. "And this final sendoff, toadface…is for us…and all the other people you have harmed!"   
  
He then flew into the air, carrying Guido's terrified body with him, and when he was hovering over a garbage dumpster filled with sharp metal trash objects, he swung Guido into the dumpster by his fat neck.  
  
But Dirkan decided that wasn't enough, so he put up his hands, screamed, "TRI-FORCE!" and shot his attack upon Guido's already bruised, broken, and battered body Guido released a final croak, as Dirkan's merciless ball of pure ki assailed him and collided into his pudgy, wounded body.  
  
"KA-BOOM! CRASH!"  
  
When the smoke cleared, Guido, unfortunately, was still alive, but not in very good shape. He gathered up what pitiful energy he had left and crawled out of the dumpster and along the concrete, until he made it behind a building. His ki was very low, lower than even an infant Astorian's.  
  
Dirkan debated in his mind whether to finish him off or not, but a hand upon his arm prevented him from making another attack. "Dirkan, it's okay now, he can't hurt us anymore."  
Dirkan took a deep breath and turned around to see Raakon looking at him with a weary smile upon his handsome face.  
  
"He's right, Dirkan," Shalila added. "Guido's not worth wasting anymore time and energy on. The important thing is that all of us are alive."  
  
She was standing on the platform, along with Raakon, who was in front of her, and Bajal with his wife, Alora, who was behind her. Alora, careworn yet relieved, was resting her dark head on Bajal's broad shoulder. Bajal had his arm around her, and he too looked very tired. Cirono was also with them, and he too held a fatigued smile.  
  
For just seconds before the monorail had hit Raakon, who would have been his first victim, Cirono had attacked Guido, hitting him hard in the back of his fat head while Shalila and Dirkan both blew up the rail that the monorail train had been riding on. The monorail train derailed, as the railway collapsed, falling down into the city, along with the empty monorail train. As the railway began to give way completely, Shalila and Dirkan had rushed into the monorail tunnel to grab the others and retrieve them. The trapped fighters had once again been able to move, but if Shalila and Dirkan had not been there to help them, they still might not have escaped in time before the tunnel and the entire railway caved in.  
  
When the fighters had been brought to safety, Dirkan wasted no time in flying over to Guido and taking over the attack on him. He insisted on Cirono standing aside, so that he could take out his full anger on the weakest of Captain Ginyu's men. But thanks to Cirono attacking Guido earlier, Guido had lost his concentration and had been forced to release his victims from the telekinetic hold.  
  
Now Guido was on the run (he was occasionally smarter than most of his comrades and foes gave him credit for), and there were only two of Frieza's soldiers left to deal with: Jeice and Zarbon.  
  
And now Jeice was standing on the rooftop of the monorail stationhouse. He fell to one knee and straightened up his back, spreading his arms out wide, with his hands bended out like a bird's wings.  
  
"I'M JEICE!" he announced needlessly. "And I'm gonna finish off the rest of you Astories once and for all!"  
  
Dirkan, Shalila, Cirono, Alora, Bajal, and Raakon all encircled themselves around the remaining Ginyu Force member. All of them were smiling confidently at Jeice, and most of them had their hands out to fire some nice ki blasts upon Jeice.  
  
Jeice laughed sheepishly; even he was smart enough to know when he was outnumbered and outmatched. "Did I say that I was going to finish you all off? Umm…I'll save that for another time! I'm not that stupid, so I'm outta here! But don't think that this is the last time that we'll see each other! See ya!"  
  
And Jeice wisely blasted off into the stormy night, like a scarlet-and-white rocket, with everyone watching him go. Alora shook her head in amazement.  
  
"I've never known a Ginyu Force member to give up that easily-ah, well!"  
  
"Should we go after him?" Bajal asked.  
  
"Let him go," Shalila said. "His ki has been lowered significantly, thanks to Cirono earlier. He's no longer worth our bother. Frieza will likely finish him off soon enough."  
  
"True," Dirkan agreed. "It's not like Frieza has a high tolerance for failure."  
  
Cirono sighed, "I'm sort of disappointed; I never did get to finish my fight with him!"  
  
Bajal laughed, "I know what you mean, Cirono, I know what you mean!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at the Angori Hotel…  
  
Then, against Filcor's own will, he began to speak with his eyes staring into space:  
  
"I lusted after Caline because she was young and pretty and sweet and fresh. And after her first husband died, I realized that Caline would come into a fortune, thanks to that traitorous fool, Dunlop. My businesses have not being doing so well lately; in fact, we were in a bit of a recession in the city of Rendor, and I badly needed Caline's inheritance to rebuild my empire. With Caline's fortune, I can save my businesses from going bankrupt. I am very close to financial collapse, and I figured that I would get a package deal: a luscious little girl as my bride and a vast fortune."  
  
Toria said quietly, "Sit down, Filcor."  
  
Filcor, entranced, obeyed while everyone watched on with amazement. He sat down on the curb of the hotel sidewalk, oblivious to the rain pouring down upon them.  
  
"Filcor, do you know why that you are confessing so openly?"  
  
"No, I don't."  
  
"I have hit your mind with a truth spell, which means for twenty-four hours, you cannot tell a single lie, or even a small fib. So, let me ask you another question: did Carie Ryce Sedemeyer, your first wife, truly drown herself of her own accord?"  
  
Filcor, staring widely into space, said dazedly, "No, she didn't."  
  
"Did she commit suicide, or was she murdered?"  
  
"She was murdered," Filcor said in that same blank voice. Caline gasped in pure shock.  
  
"Who murdered her?" Toria asked quietly.  
  
"I did," Filcor said tonelessly. Caline emitted a horrified shriek.  
  
"You pushed her off of that bridge, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How did it come to that, Filcor?"  
  
"Carie was running away from home again. I found out her direction from one of the servants and I managed to catch up with her, as she was running along the bridge on foot. My car pulled up beside her, and I ordered her to get inside. She refused, saying that she hated me for hurting her and separating her from Caline. I stopped the car and got out, and I ran after her. I grabbed her, and she hit and clawed at me. I told her that she was going to come home and behave, or I would kill her. She said that she would rather be dead than be with me, so I, in my anger, said, 'Fine!' and shoved her off of the bridge. She fell into that cold, dark water and drowned; she was always a poor swimmer. I knew that I would be arrested and possibly executed, if they found out that I was the one who killed her, so I lied and put in a missing person's report, like I did when she ran away. They found her body washed upon the shore three days later."  
  
"Thank you, Filcor," Toria said calmly, as she shot a small, pale blue light at his head, murmuring a few words in Ancient Astorian. Filcor's eyes closed, and he fell to his side into the mud, sound asleep. Toria murmured a few more words over Filcor's sleeping form, as he snored away.  
  
She said quietly to Caline, who was watching her with tearstained cheeks and astonished, swollen eyes, "Caline, I am sorry about your friend, Carie. It is only until now that the good spirits have allowed me to look into Filcor's heart and soul. You need not worry about Filcor bothering you anymore, little one."  
  
"Do you intend to let him sleep forever or something?" Kekron asked.  
  
"No," Toria said quietly, and she produced a small silver tape recorder from her silken satchel. She played it for a minute, letting them hear Filcor's voice again, and then she quietly walked over to Elmar and placed it into his huge, meaty hand.  
  
"Would you please take this to King Kitchator immediately and have him listen to it? Tell him it is urgent."   
  
"Yes-yes," Elmar stammered, astonished. He left immediately, too dazed and stunned by all that just happened.  
  
Toria said to Kekron, "I'm afraid that I owe you a tape recorder."  
  
Kekron said softly, "Don't worry about it. It's worth a tape recorder, knowing that Caline will now be safe from Filcor." Caline was weeping into his chest once more.  
  
"Poor Carie," Caline sobbed. "It-it wasn't right! She didn't deserve to die!"  
  
Kekron smoothed her hair. "No, she didn't. I am sorry, Caline."  
  
"She was my best friend," Caline whispered. "The only real friend that I had before all of you came."  
  
Kekron tilted her chin up with his middle and index fingers of his right hand and looked into her eyes. He then kissed her forehead gently. "Look at it this way, Caline: you helped to make her life happier while she was alive, I am certain of that, even though I didn't know you two before then. She had some joy in her life, I am sure, because of you."  
  
"I wish I could have saved her. I failed her."  
  
Toria bent down behind Caline and stroked her hair. "No, you didn't, Caline. Kekron is right; you brought some happiness into her life. I saw it when the good spirits allowed me to look into your heart earlier. You did all you could for her. Rest at peace about that. Carie is surely in heaven, in a much happier place. And she would want you to be happy, to obtain all that she couldn't."  
  
"I wish I could do something to-to honor her," Caline stammered.  
  
"Then be happy and live life fully with as little fear as possible; that is how you can honor her memory-by living, not running away. It will help her to be at peace even more, knowing that you have obtained the happiness that she could not, poor thing."  
  
"Poor Carie," Kekron said softly. "She died before she really had a chance to live." He rubbed Caline's back, as the tears continued to slide down her cheeks for her friend.  
  
"Caline," Toria began gently. "Carie ran away once before from Filcor, didn't she?"  
  
"Yes," Caline whispered.   
  
"Why did she run away the first time?"  
  
"Filcor had raped her and made her do all sorts of nasty things with him, the same nasty things that Alberm used to make me do with him. She snuck into Magan, and I took her into the castle and hid her for three months. That was after I learned that my father betrothed me to Alberm, and I told Carie about it. Carie and I were going to run away to the other side of Calmag, you see, and study to become singers. We knew, well Carie knew anyway, this women's right's activist named Coti Damask, who was also a famous singer. Coti was secretly running an underground network for women and girls who were on the run from abusive husbands or fiancés or fathers, and Carie and I were going to leave that way. But Julien found Carie three days before we were supposed to leave to run away, and of course, he told Father, who contacted Filcor. When Filcor arrived, he took Carie into another room and beat her, and Father took me into a closet, made me strip down to my slip and whipped me with his belt, everywhere, even my face."  
  
Natala rubbed Caline's back, and Kekron clenched his free fist in anger at the suffering of both Caline and her deceased friend.  
  
"Ridikar did one decent thing at the time: he talked my father and Filcor into letting us have ten final minutes together to say goodbye. The last time I ever saw Carie alive, she looked awful. Her hair was tangled, and she had two black eyes. Her nose was bleeding, and there were bruises all over her arms and legs. But I didn't look any better because Father had taken the belt to my face and everywhere else."  
  
"Carie and I hugged each other for a long time, as long as we could. I told her that she was my very best friend, and that I would always love her. She told me that I was the sister she had always wanted, and that she would always love me too. We made a vow that we would find a way to see each other again, but of course we weren't able to keep it. I later tried to mail a letter on disk to Carie in secret, but it came back stamped 'REFUSED'. Filcor must have been checking her mail."  
  
Julien, who had been listening to this story, was now cross and sullen, for he knew that not even King Kitchator would consent to marrying Caline off to a man who had murdered his own wife. Now he was stuck with the brat for Kami Ankor knew how long! Julien ran some names through his devious mind of unmarried men whom he was certain would want to marry Caline. It wouldn't be that hard to replace Filcor. If he did it right, he could still get rid of Caline as a burden within the next couple months after the war was over. He was not about to take care of her for long. He still wanted her gone!  
  
Julien huffed, as he stomped over towards Caline and her friends, "Well, you must be very happy knowing that you won't have to marry Filcor! But guess what, Caline? There are still other men that would be more than happy to take you off of my busy hands! Don't think that just because Filcor turned out to be a murderer that you get out of getting married again!"  
Toria shook her head at Julien and said sadly, "I pity you, young man."  
  
"Pity me?" Julien scoffed. "Why? I may be stuck with Caline for a little while longer, but it won't be forever! You don't have to feel sorry for me!"  
  
"I pity you because of the hatred and jealousy in your heart towards a sister who has done you no harm. I pity you, Prince Julien, because you can't see past your own selfishness. And I pity you, young prince, because you will never be the ruler that Ridikar would have eventually become, had he been allowed to live."  
  
"Would Ridikar have been a good ruler, had he lived?" Kekron asked.  
  
"In time, yes," Toria replied. "Had Ridikar been allowed to live, the entire planet would have changed for the better, especially for the women and girls. I saw that in one of my occasional visions of the future, but Diamonique tore the fabric of that vision when she took Ridikar's life. And I also saw the slight possibility in that tattered future of Tayla becoming Ridikar's queen. She would have been a strong and mighty queen, an example for all Calmagian females to follow, had that possibility been allowed to come to fruition. But that will never be now, so it is no use to speculate about something that will never happen."  
  
"I miss Ridikar," Caline whispered softly. "I know that he wasn't always good, but he did do good in the end."  
  
"Yes, he did," Toria agreed. "Enma Daiou will send him to heaven, I can assure you, little one, so rest your mind at peace about that."  
  
"And you can rest in peace about Filcor not bothering you ever again," Natala promised Caline. "Not even King Kitchator will look upon Filcor with favor after this."  
  
Caline closed her eyes, taking her mind off of Filcor for now. She sent a silent prayer for Tayla and her family.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
And finally…Tayla, Bendros, and Zarbon…  
  
Tayla was soaked now, with her heavy, dark hair clinging to her skin like a woolly scarf. She was fully conscious now, as she looked down at her small hands-which were discharging small white swirls of smoke. She then looked over at Bendros, who was still on his knees, but weeping tears of relief and gratitude.  
  
And then she saw Zarbon lying on the ground on his back, with a round, smoking hole in his chest flank. Zarbon was moaning with tears rolling down his face. He tried to rise, but for some odd reason, his body wouldn't let him do so for a few minutes.  
  
Tayla looked at him again, and then she looked down at her own palms.  
  
*I wasn't dreaming after all! I actually did hit him! *  
  
She was still in shock, as she watched Bendros struggle to his feet and scurry towards her. Still dazed, she ran towards him and hugged him around his waist. She and Bendros both sorrowfully looked at Bendros's sore tail. Bendros lightly touched the sore areas on his tail and winced every time his thick fingers brushed against a hurting area. Tayla rested her cheek against his chest.  
  
"I'm sorry, Bendros," she whispered. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have stopped him sooner."  
  
Bendros lightly stroked her hair. "Not your fault," he whispered. "I'm just glad that you intervened when you did."  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" Tayla asked.  
  
Bendros nodded, as he gingerly wrapped his tail around his waist. Tayla tentatively touched his tail without thinking of asking first; Bendros didn't seem to mind. Tayla lightly brushed her index finger against the soft length of his tail; Bendros had to prevent himself from purring, but it wasn't easy, since a Saiyan's tail was a well-known erogenous zone (which was why anyone with a Saiyan tail was particular about whom they allowed to touch it). Tayla also added her middle finger and thumb to his tail, and she gently stroked it, carefully avoiding any painful areas. It brought him some pleasure and relief to have Tayla touch his tail like that; it relieved much of the pain.   
  
But Bendros knew that he had to make her stop, for if Tayla continued to pet his tail like that, there was a good chance that his hormones would get out of control, and that he would become aroused. And Tayla was still too young and innocent for him to allow her to stir up his body and his emotions the way that she was close to doing right now. But he couldn't hurt her feelings either, so he faked a sharp cry of pain when Tayla's fingers slipped over a non-hurting area.  
  
Tayla drew back, startled. "I'm sorry!" she cried. "I didn't mean to-"  
  
"It's okay, Tayla, it's-" But Bendros wouldn't get to finish his sentence, for at that moment, they both could sense Zarbon's ki rise.  
  
Zarbon was now on his feet again, still in his ogre-like form, and he was furious. His teeth were gnashed, and his fists were clenched. His eyes were narrowed, and they bore right into Tayla's soul. Tayla could feel those once-gold eyes burning deep within her, and she involuntarily shivered. Bendros swiftly turned around.  
  
Zarbon's now-giant body was heaving. He growled, "You are going to pay for that, little girl! I will make you suffer before I take you to Frieza. In fact, I may keep your monkey boyfriend alive, just so you can watch Frieza or me kill him right in front of you. Killing anyone with Saiyan blood is an exquisite pleasure, one that Frieza used to enjoy doing, especially with those foolish Elite Saiyans that tried to attack him once before."  
  
Tayla clenched her tiny fists and hissed, "Then come get me then, if you want me that badly!" She stepped forward past Bendros and closer to the monstrous Zarbon.   
  
Zarbon lightly touched the smoking hole in his chest armor. He hissed, "That was a good shot, I will admit! If it had been any stronger, you might have actually killed me. When I'm done with you and your monkey lover there, I'm going to make you wish that you had finished me off when you had the chance!"  
  
Tayla closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to think quickly. After that bit of time, she looked towards Bendros and said, "Bendros, I'm going to have to ask you go away from here-at least for about twenty minutes."  
  
"Leave you alone with him?" Bendros cried in horror. "Tayla, did you hit your head that hard? Do you realize how dangerous he is? It's taking everything we have with the two of us."  
  
"Not if I use my next attack on him," Tayla pointed out. She backed away from Zarbon and floated up to Bendros's ear and whispered her plan. The Sastorian warrior was more horrified than ever, and his angular eyes widened.  
  
"Tayla, have you gone insane?" he whispered. "Don't you remember what happened the last time that you did that?"  
  
"Yes, I do," Tayla told him softly. "But I've learned my lesson since then, and I know that I can handle it this time. Please, Bendros, I don't want you nearby to get hurt. You trusted me this far."  
  
"But this, Tayla?" Bendros exclaimed. "If your plan doesn't work, your grandmother and Dirkan will rip my tail out!"  
  
Tayla smiled wryly. "They know how hardheaded I am, so just tell them the truth: that you couldn't stop me, because you can't, not really."  
  
Bendros sighed, "I don't like this, Tayla, I don't like it at all."  
  
"Formulating a plan?" Zarbon asked smoothly.  
  
Tayla ignored him. "Please, Bendros, just go. I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already have been. I can't have anyone in my way when I do this, please."  
  
Bendros wasn't happy about letting Tayla take on Zarbon alone at this point, but he reluctantly consented. He touched her shoulder. "Be careful, little Tayla. Come back to us alive."  
  
"I will," Tayla promised him bravely, holding up seven fingers in a silent Seven Moons Oath.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Bendros flew away from the cliff, still uneasy about allowing Tayla to carry out her plan alone; he just hoped and prayed that Tayla knew what she was doing. He was now standing on a low mountaintop, trembling worriedly and silently praying for Tayla's safety.  
  
Back at the cliff, Tayla was now facing Zarbon, as Zarbon chuckled, "Well, it looks like that your monkey boyfriend abandoned you! Interesting, I've never known a monkey to turn into a chicken so quickly."  
  
"You quit insulting him!" Tayla hissed. "It's just you and me now, Zarbon, so let's get this over with. I have a life to get back to."  
  
"As do I," Zarbon said silkily. "I have a sweetheart wondering if I am still alive, and I intend to get back to her in one piece."  
  
"I hope that she doesn't mind that 'one piece' in a body bag!" Tayla retorted.  
  
Zarbon huffed, "You'll be in a body bag before I will!"  
  
Tayla threw her hands back beside her, cupping her little palms together, as if she were about to bowl a strike in a bowling game on planet Earth. The pink-orange ball of ki grew slowly from her hands once more; she was going to use Power Globe again.  
  
She threw her ball of ki into the air when it was the size of a basketball, and as the ball grew larger, she leapt right into it, and the Power Globe engulfed her once more. Zarbon watched on, as if he were in a stunned trance; he had never seen an Astorian make this move before. He was not sure exactly what Tayla's attack was, or what it would involve for both of them, but he could sense its great power.  
  
Zarbon turned on his scouter, and he was horrified to learn that Tayla's ki had been raised significantly, almost to twice her normal power. He then tensed, as if he were a prey animal prepared to run for its life from an inescapable predator.  
  
Tayla, now fully encased in her powerful, yet potentially dangerous (for both her and Zarbon) Power Globe, shot down towards Zarbon in her huge ball of ki, like a small comet. Zarbon dodged it, and he leapt out of its way. Tayla's Power Globe nearly crashed into a tree, but Tayla was now able to steer it away successfully before it crashed into it.  
  
Zarbon tried to fire at the Power Globe, but his powerful ki blast bounced off of it harmlessly, and he cursed. Tayla managed to manipulate it to go even faster, even though a greater speed would take its toll on her ki and life force. She pressed her slim body against the wall of the Power Globe-and this time, she managed to make it crash into Zarbon's unfortunate body!  
  
"NO!" Zarbon screamed, as electricity a hundred times stronger than Electric Touch, shot throughout his body. His body was also burning, as if Tayla's Power Globe were melting it away. Tayla decided to take a chance and smash her Power Globe into Zarbon's body a second time. Zarbon screamed, as if Tayla was running him through with a white-hot sword, and she saw some of his protective armor burn away into almost nothing. Zarbon's hair was now more black than green, and the right side of his face was severely scorched with blackened third-degree burns combined with second-degree burns. His right eye was swollen shut, as Tayla drew back her Power Globe up into the thundering sky.  
  
She wisely dropped her Power Globe for now, and she flew away a little further to power up for a Double Janus Bolt attack. She put her hands quickly into a praying position, the same way that she had done before with Balair and Vegeta, and then she tore her palms away from each other and put them in ninety-degree angles. Two icy bolts of light shot from hands, and zipped towards Zarbon with a loud, piercing whistle. The first bolt whizzed towards the center of Zarbon's now exposed chest, but Zarbon was fast enough to dodge both oncoming lasers, and when he ducked low enough, both ki bolts crashed into each other and dissipated. Tayla moaned in despair, as Zarbon threw back his head and laughed.   
  
He then levitated up into the air until he was almost at Tayla's level, and he shot a huge, yellowish-white burst of ki towards her, but Tayla deflected that back at him with Mirror Shield. While Zarbon was being hit with his own powerful attack, Tayla took that time to throw back her hands to form a Power Globe attack once more.  
  
Unfortunately for Tayla, Zarbon recovered from his backfired attack much sooner than expected; while she was creating her Power Globe, Zarbon quickly launched another large ki flare, which Tayla could not deflect with Mirror Shield in time. She screamed, as Zarbon's ki attack swathed her, scorching her soft flesh and hair. She nearly fell out of the sky, but she managed to steady herself, just barely. Her face and hair were severely burnt, and her blouse was halfway missing, just barely covering what breasts she did have.  
  
Zarbon squandered no time in preparing to launch another attack on the hapless Tayla, but he wouldn't get a chance to do so-  
  
"RIBBON COIL!"  
  
Bendros had returned, and Zarbon had not been able to escape one of Bendros's more powerful attacks in time. Once again, Zarbon was trapped in a ki netting of electric snakes and coils, as Bendros attack burned and fried him. Bendros launched a medium-sized ki blast upon him, and he called out to Tayla:  
  
"Tayla, I will hold him off! Just get your Power Globe up once more!"  
  
"Thanks!" Tayla cried to him.  
  
"No problem!"  
  
Bendros's Ribbon Coil Attack had disappeared on Zarbon, but Bendros kept rapid-firing a series of smaller, but equally painful ki blasts upon Zarbon, who could only deflect some of them. While the Sastorian warrior was keeping Zarbon busy, Tayla was finally able to finish her Power Globe attack once more.  
  
Bendros, looking up to see Tayla encased in her Power Globe attack, shot a medium-sized ki blast at Zarbon's face. While Zarbon was temporarily blinded by Bendros's blow against him, Bendros took that time to fly away as far as possible, so that he wouldn't be in Tayla's way.  
Tayla once again sent her Power Globe zooming towards Zarbon before Zarbon could fully regain his sight, and he was once again rewarded with the same burning, electrifying pain and agony as before. Before Zarbon could even attempt to strike back, Tayla's Power Globe collided into him once more, roasting him until Zarbon could feel his own blood boil, and electrocuting him until he could feel his very flesh burn.  
  
Tayla flew into the air and dropped her Power Globe once more to rest herself for a few precious seconds. Finally Zarbon, badly burned and wounded, charged after her, but he was met with a distant ki blast from Bendros; this blast struck Zarbon in the back, piercing him like a lance.  
  
Zarbon screamed, "AHHHHH!"  
  
Bendros wasn't about to let up, as he fired a distant Ribbon Coil attack upon Zarbon once more, with the assault successfully tearing away at Zarbon's body. Bendros called out to Tayla:  
  
"Tayla! POWER GLOBE-ONE MORE TIME, IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT!"  
  
"Oh, I can!" Tayla called back to him confidently.  
  
Tayla, now used to working with Power Globe, formed her huge ball of ki once more; within seconds, she was encased in her protective sphere again. She saw Bendros shoot a final and distant Ribbon Coil, and she chose that time to attack Zarbon.  
  
Zarbon, still entrapped within Bendros's Ribbon Coil, shrieked in terror, when he saw Tayla's Power Globe attack coming towards him. He tried to run, but he was now so weakened that even trying to fight off the effects of Bendros's Ribbon Coil attack was too much for him. His eyes bulged in terror, as the Power Globe smashed into his body for the last time.  
  
His body temperature began to rise rapidly, as he felt his hair and armor and skin scorch away, as Tayla's Power Globe assault burned and shocked him. Tayla kept her Power Globe up for as long as she could, as she continued to push Zarbon's body towards the edge of the cliff with it. Finally, her cavernous orb of power shoved Zarbon off of the ki, and Zarbon, too weak to fly now, plummeted towards a raging river below.  
  
He would have met his end upon the sharp rapids in the rushing Shi River, for his ki was now lower than the weakest Astorian's-had it not been for a red-and-white-"angel of mercy".  
  
"I've got you, Zarbon!" Jeice called out after catching Zarbon in his thick, scarlet arms. "We're outnumbered, and overpowered! You're too badly hurt to go on, and I can't take on Tayla and the rest of her family alone! We've got to retreat!"  
  
Normally, Zarbon would have cuffed Jeice for even thinking of such a thing, but he was too much in pain to argue. He moaned, "Retreat then…and hope…Frieza doesn't blast…us…to…bits."  
And Jeice sped away along the cliffside with Zarbon moaning and groaning of severe pain in his arms. He mumbled a thanks to Jeice, and Jeice just hoped that they could find the medical cruiser before any more "Astories" found them and decided to finish them off.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla dropped her Power Globe, and she fell to her knees, as Bendros flew close to her and knelt beside her, enfolding the tired girl into his strong arms. Tayla rested her wearied and burned face against his scorched shoulder. She closed her eyes, as Bendros stroked her hair.  
  
"Is it truly over?" she asked.  
  
Bendros closed his eyes and said, "I-I think so, little Tayla."  
  
"Can't believe…we won…against Zarbon…" she murmured.  
  
"You did it, little Tayla," Bendros said softly.  
  
"No," Tayla whispered. "We both did it."  
  
They both closed their eyes for a few minutes, as the rain finally stopped, and a shaft of sunshine burst through the dark clouds. As if wanting the clouds out of its way, the sun shoved its light through the darkness, forcing the blackened clouds to part. As if a miracle was occurring to celebrate victory, the clouds moved aside meekly, as if the sun was coercing them to do so.  
  
And in the coming dawn, Tayla opened her eyes to look into the bright light-and see her beloved Nama and Dirkan-along with Bajal, Alora, Raakon, and Cirono! The six figures floated above in the glowing sunrise like Earth angels.  
  
"Tayla!" Shalila cried out, rushing faster than anyone to reach her granddaughter.  
  
"Nama!" Tayla shrieked. "Have we a story to tell you!"  
  
"Can't wait to hear it!" Shalila called, as she and the others flew closer and closer to Bendros and Tayla.  
  
And behind the newcomers, was a glimmering wide ribbon of scarlet, gold, emerald, aqua, orange, and violet wrapping across the almost clear Calmagian sky. The sun rested upon the band of variegated brilliance, as the rest of Tayla's family and Cirono landed peacefully upon the cliff next to Tayla and Bendros.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the Angori Hotel, yet again…  
  
Toria was smiling widely.  
  
"Do you know if they won?" Caline asked worriedly. She was now standing in between Kekron and Natala, who were holding hands with her.  
  
"Yes," Toria said calmly.  
  
Kekron cheered, and he tore Caline away from Natala and swung her around in the air. Caline shrieked happily, as Kekron spun her around several times. Her light gold hair swirled about her and Kekron, like a wisp of airy gold.  
  
"You're going to make me dizzy!" Caline cried, not minding in the least.  
  
"Do you want me to stop?"  
  
"No!"  
  
Kekron laughed and continued to spin her about until he became so dizzy that he had to stop, or he and Caline would have fallen over. Naykiar laughed and watched them.  
  
Natala fell to her knees and cried thanks to Kami Orchida, the Supreme Kai, the East Kai, and to whomever else she could think of.  
  
"THANK YOU!" she cried in an unusual burst of excitement for her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Not too far away, just about twenty feet…  
  
"Julien!" King Kitchator roared. "How in Kami Ankor's name could you allow a murderer to become engaged to Caline? Caline has already been married to one killer! Your sister does not deserve another criminal as a husband!"  
  
"How in the hell was I supposed to know?" Julien retorted. "Everyone went by Filcor's word when that wench that Caline was so friendly with drowned!"  
  
"Don't curse at me, young man!" King Kitchator snapped. "Your grandmother and I had a serious talk earlier before I learned about Filcor Sedemeyer murdering his wife, and she made some valid points. Many of us wouldn't be here right now, if it hadn't been for your little sister. Princess Toria came over shortly after I received the tape recorder and joined our discussion."   
  
Filcor's sleeping body was now resting peacefully in the back of the CRP truck. He had been cuffed, since the Calmagian paralysis attack didn't work on most Calmagians. He would be held in custody until Carie Ryce Sedemeyer's death could be investigated.  
  
"She and your grandmother pointed out all that Caline has done, and I realized how wrong I was in treating and shunning her the way that I have. We all have been. Caline is just as much a hero, er, heroine, as the brave men and women, both Astorian and Calmagian, were when they fought for us. Because of her knowledge of the labyrinths and her risking her own life to warn us about Frieza's forces coming after us all, many more people from both the Astorian and the Calmagian races have survived. She has been as brave and daring as a young man, and I intend to see that she is rewarded, like she truly deserves."  
  
"Deserves?" Julien protested. "But-"  
  
"But nothing, Julien. From now on, even if you are to be my heir, you will treat your little sister with the utmost respect and courtesy, just like Ridikar had wanted for her when he was alive. Princess Toria told me about that too; she is a strange, mysterious woman, but a wise one. I haven't decided yet, as to whether she will go home with the Astorian people, but I will allow her a rare privilege for a young girl-she will get to choose her own husband."  
  
"WHAT?" Julien screamed. He felt, as if someone had thrown him into a mud puddle in his best suit.  
  
"You heard me, young man, and you will not be running things before your time. I will make the decisions around here, Julien, not you. I am not dead yet." And with that, King Kitchator marched proudly off towards to where Kekron was once again spinning Caline around in the air.  
  
Julien kicked at a rock, and it crashed into an already broken shop window. He was certain, from the happy news spreading throughout the city that his people and the Astorians had won, but he didn't feel like celebrating. He had a feeling it would be a long time before he would gain the respect that his father and Ridikar once had, and still had, even now.  
  
He sat down on the curb of the sidewalk and sulked. 


	110. Aftermath

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Ten: Aftermath  
  
And just further down the street two hours later…  
  
Kiran Sahara, Bendros's younger brother, was sitting on a park bench on the torn sidewalk, kissing Jaca passionately, with Jaca kissing him in return. Dakal Sahara, Bendros's youngest brother was shouting and hollering happily while running around with Nikon, Tayka, Tila, and Rina. They were screaming loudly and joyously about their people winning the war.  
  
Dakal Sahara was mischievous, a precocious prankster who was both the delight and despair of his mother, Gran Mauria, who was back home on the moon of Sahara of Astoria. Alora and Bendros had been in charge of Bendros's younger brothers, and Dakal was a lovable handful. Dakal had been angry because he had been considered not strong enough and not old enough to fight; it hadn't helped that nine-year-old Riccan had been allowed to join his family in battle, and he hadn't. Fortunately, Dakal, who would someday grow up to be as handsome as Bendros, was over his ire, and he was now delighting himself in teasing Tayka. Tayka's strength was equivalent to Dakal's, and the two children served each other as both friends and rivals, with their frequent battles and quarrels.  
  
Dakal decided to really annoy Tayka and kiss her right on the lips because he knew that Tayka thought that "mouth kissing" was gross. A furious Tayka had shoved Dakal into a mud puddle and threatened to tell her brother, Riccan, on him.  
  
"All I did was kiss you! Big deal!" Dakal whooped.  
  
"It is to me, stinky!" Tayka cried, annoyed.  
  
"I'm not stinky, brat!"  
  
"I'm not a brat!"   
  
"Brat!"   
  
"Stinky!"  
  
Dakal and Tayka continued to throw insults at each other while Toria (who had asked Steak to breathe into her ears earlier) smiled. She had a glimpse of both of their futures, and she could see them as adults, "stuck with each other" for the rest of their lives. And yet, deep down, Toria knew that they would be happiest arguing with each other than agreeing with everyone else.  
  
But Toria put them out of her mind for now and thought of the weary heroes and heroines that had just returned from their battles only hours ago. Toria had put Bendros and Tayla under her healing domes, and both heroic warriors were still healing and sleeping. Dirkan had gone off with Steak in search of Pork and Crystalis while Shalila had gone off to check on everyone in her family. Alora and Bajal had disappeared to somewhere private to "celebrate" in their own special way. Toria had taken a glimpse of Alora's future; it seemed that more visions of the future came to her nowadays. Toria could see a baby boy in Alora's arms, pulling on Bajal's hair, within less than a year. Natala and Raakon would not be the only ones who would have a new addition to their family; Toria had caught a glance of Natala's future, seeing a baby girl in her arms.  
  
Ah, Natala and Raakon! No doubt that Raakon was reunited once more with his dear, beloved Natala, probably planning to take her off somewhere to "celebrate" by themselves as well. Toria saw the aforementioned pair come up before her now, with Raakon carrying a wildly happy Natala in his arms. Arlina was following behind them, smiling serenely. Kekron and Caline were not with them at this time.  
  
"Aunt Toria!" Raakon cried excitedly, buoyantly, yet gently cradling his cherished mate in his arms. "Haven't you heard about Natala's baby?"  
  
"Natala forgot to tell me," Toria admitted smilingly. "But I already knew it when I released her from her paralysis spell earlier."  
  
"She will have a little girl named Maylia," Arlina told her great-aunt.  
  
"Yes, she will, Arlina," Toria agreed. "And Maylia will become a fine warrior. That much I was able to see. Congratulations, Natala and Raakon, and may your little one and your other two children have happy, long lives."  
  
"Thank you, Toria," Natala told her softly, still clinging to Raakon. She then looked at Toria intensely, saying, "Toria, have you seen into any of my children's futures besides my unborn child's? Arlina tells me that her life will not change much, but not even she could tell me anything about Kekron."  
  
"Arlina's life will be a gentle, placid one for the most part," Toria assured Natala. "Your future daughter will have an exciting, tempestuous future, full of adventures and disappointments, but yet very satisfying. Her life will certain not lack excitement. And as for Kekron's future…"  
  
"Yes?" both Natala and Raakon wanted to know.  
  
"Kekron's future will be a combination of both. I do not see much of his future yet, but I can tell you that dear little Caline will play a large role in it. His future is clouded, but I am certain that what he does in the future will have a huge impact on many lives."  
  
"I-I see the way that Kekron looks at Caline," Natala told Toria. "I believe that he may already be in love with her, even though he does not say so."  
  
"He loves her dearly, but he is honorable," Toria assured her. "He knows that Caline is still a child, and he will wait until she is older. Caline right now just wants and needs him as a friend; she does not wish to have a mate or a suitor at this time. She trusts Kekron, and some of the other men among our people implicitly, but Caline still has much healing to do. She is not ready for anyone as a potential mate right now, not even Kekron. Her future too is clouded, but I can feel happiness radiating from it. Caline will have a much brighter future than she previously hoped. Caline and Kekron's story will not be over for some time."  
  
"May we ask about Tayla?" Raakon asked her quietly.  
  
Toria closed her eyes and said very softly, "Her future is almost unreadable at this time. With others, their futures are hidden behind filmy, silvery curtains that lift now and then to let me see them. But Tayla's future is hidden behind heavy, opaque drapes that I can barely push aside. All I am certain of is that Tayla's adventures and trials are far from over. Destiny is not done with her, and fate will not let her rest forever. Her childhood is definitely over; she had come to Calmag as a child, and will leave as a young woman. Her story is not even half-written."  
  
  
  
  
In a hotel lounge…  
  
Although Toria was correct in Tayla's adventures being far from over, Tayla would be able to have some peace and quiet for now. Tayla was still under her blue dome, dressed in yet another nightgown of Toria's, this one being a pale sea-foam green with light pink ruffles on the neck and cuffs and hem. Toria had bought both nightgowns after she and the former hostages had checked into the Angori. Bendros was in another healing dome besides hers, and he had been dressed in a pair of silk bright blue pajamas, borrowed from a CRP officer. Shalila, Gracina, Riccan, Kekron, and Caline were with them. Dirkan was on his way back. Both he and his wife had postponed Toria putting them under healing domes, deciding to wait on everyone else, to be around for them.  
  
Gracina was asleep on an overstuffed saffron couch with Kekron sitting on her left side, and Riccan sitting on her right. Dear little Caline was asleep now as well, with her legs in Riccan's lap, her torso in Gracina's lap, and her head in Kekron's lap. Riccan was snoring loudly for a little boy; he had inherited his father's worse trait of snoring like someone had shoved a vacuum cleaner up into his nose. Kekron was asleep as well, with his head resting against the back of the couch and his right hand on Caline's head.  
  
Only Shalila was still awake; she stood near Tayla's dome, hovering over her, watching her lovingly, like someone who had regained her greatest treasure. And Shalila had; she had come so close to losing her "dandelion" so many times, in battle and in several abductions. The Superior Gran loved all of her descendants dearly, even Rojal and Dedron, but she loved Tayla most of all still, even though she would never admit it publicly. What would she had done, had Frieza's forces had actually succeeded in their evil plans to take Tayla away? Her heart froze at the horrible thought of Tayla being forced to kill and fight for Frieza the way that she had learned that Pork and Crystalis once had. Shalila was happy for Steak; she understood how Steak had felt when he thought he had lost his son for good.  
  
Before Shalila and her family had returned to downtown Magan, Shalila had taken Tayla into her arms and held her, never wanting to let her go. Tayla had clung to her, burrowing her face into her shoulder, weeping for joy. Shalila had caught her last glance of Tayla as a child when Tayla had looked up into her beloved Nama's face with unmixed happiness and hope. That would be the last time that Tayla would ever resemble a child to her, although it would be a long while before the Superior Gran would stop affectionately addressing Tayla as "child". But child or young woman, Tayla would always be her "little dandelion", no matter what. And to Shalila Chloe, Tayla would always be her "baby", no matter how old Tayla lived to be.  
  
She was so proud of the girl, so amazed. Shalila had always believed that Tayla was special, but Tayla's part in her and Bendros's amazing victory over Zarbon was still unbelievable. Although Shalila had been disturbed to learn that Tayla had once again used Power Globe, Bendros had assured the nearly agitated ruler of Astoria that Tayla had fully mastered her dangerous technique this time and used it wisely. Shalila had told both Tayla and Bendros that she was proud of them, and she had thanked Bendros personally for looking after Tayla.   
  
Shalila continued to watch the glowing blue dome until it suddenly began to blink and fade away slowly. Bendros's dome began to vanish as well, and the two brave warriors began to awaken. Tayla, yawning, was the first to wake up. Bendros was struggling to stay awake, but he promptly closed his eyes again, wanting a few more minutes of rest. He was asleep again within seconds.  
  
"Nama?" Tayla asked sleepily.  
  
Shalila wrapped her arms around her favorite, cuddling her close. "Yes, dandelion?"  
  
Tayla rested her dark head on her Nama's shoulder.  
  
"I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?"  
  
Shalila couldn't help, but burst into laughter.  
  
  
  
  
At approximately the same time…  
  
Gorna was fully healed now, at least physically. Her healing dome had faded away thirty minutes ago, and she was now staring out the picture window in the hotel lobby. She had aged years since her Uncle Gohan had told her the sad news about Etros's heroic, yet tragic death. Gorna had not been aging well to begin with, and the news of Etros's death did not help. She paid little mind to the joyous cries and shouts of both her people and the Calmagian people celebrating their hard-won victory.  
  
Gorna was paler than usual, and her lips were pressed tightly together; she was unusually quiet. Gohan, who had remained nearby, rested a large hand on his niece's shoulder.  
  
"Gorna, are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," she replied stiffly to her uncle. "I will be fine…really…I will be fine."  
  
Gohan looked at her sorrowfully; he had just told Gorna that Etros had died in battle not too along ago, but Gorna seemed to be handling things well. In fact, despite her pale skin and her tight lips, she was fairly calm, but Gohan couldn't help, but pity her. So far, neither he nor anyone else had seen her shed a tear for her husband's death, but Gorna had never been the emotional or sentimental type.   
  
Gorna secretly wished that her uncle would leave her alone; she appreciated his concern, but she wanted to be left in peace for as long as possible. She allowed herself a grim smile when she first thought of the first time she had fallen in love with Etros Chloe. Etros had been a handsome man when he had been courting her, although he had been short and lean. At that time, Etros had been muscular with broad shoulders, chiseled features, strong cheekbones, a square jaw, a six-pack chest, gleaming black hair and dark blue eyes that could go from gentle to commanding within seconds. Etros had wooed her with sweet words, praising her nonexistent beauty and grace. When she and Etros had first become interested in each other, Etros had been courting Mauria Sahara, the then-future Gran of the Clan of Sahara, and the then-future mother of Bendros. Etros had unceremoniously and abruptly dumped Mauria for Gorna, and Mauria had tried to warn Gorna that Etros was just courting her because Gorna was to become the next ruler of Astoria after her father, Mantros. Gorna had thought that Mauria was just jealous, and she ignored her.  
  
Even Lektron and Farla, Etros's younger siblings, had tried to warn Gorna that Etros was only using her, but Etros had convinced Gorna that everyone was against him, and Gorna had taken his side. No male had ever paid Gorna any attention before, despite her royal status, and Gorna was flattered and happy that a handsome charmer like Etros had shown her caring and affection.  
  
Mantros had strongly disapproved of Etros being Gorna's husband and the future Superior Granden of Astoria, and even gentle, friendly Tika had kindly tried to discourage her oldest daughter from letting Etros court her. They both had thought that Etros, who had never paid Gorna any attention before she had turned sixteen, was just using her to become Superior Granden. Mantros and Gorna had had some loud arguments about Etros, with Mantros even going as far as to forbid them from seeing each other. But Gorna continued to see Etros, despite her father's orders.   
  
Finally Mantros had asked his father, the first Bajal Chloe, to intercede, and Bajal had a long talk with Gorna about Etros that became a shouting match. It had been the only time that Gorna had ever argued with her beloved grandfather, and she had won out. Bajal had reluctantly calmed down, told Gorna that she was almost grown, but he would never approve of her and Etros being together.  
  
"He loves me, Granpappa," Gorna had argued.  
  
"Gorna, you can do better than him," the first Bajal had said more calmly. "I understand that he's handsome with a smooth tongue, but he's just an attractive package with nothing inside. He's cowardly and weak, and he'll do anything for power. He's not worthy of the throne, and he's not smart enough to know how to run this planet like it should be run. You're the next ruler of Astoria after your father, and a future ruler needs a mate who can make a good ruler and a good life partner. Etros will never be either, and he's using you. He only dates women with important positions, such as you and Mauria Sahara. Mauria's maternal grandmother, Kora, had told me he was only courting her, so that he could become the next Granden of Sahara, but then he set his eyes on bigger things, such as you and your title. He doesn't want you, Gorna; he wants what you can give him."  
  
But Gorna had insisted that Etros did not just want her for what she could give him, and finally her family unhappily gave in when she told them she was going to marry Etros, even if she had to elope with him to another planet. After their marriage, Etros's good looks and charm faded away fast, and she had been left with a conniving, skinny, lazy man with no backbone or real strength. Oh, he submitted to her most of the time, and he had been decent with the children, but Gorna had bitterly come to conclude that her family had been right about him.  
  
For she had just discovered that Etros had been cleverly cheating on her for many years now, off and on. Gorna had learned of her husband's infidelities over the two-year period that Tayla had been living at Kami Orchida's when she had caught Etros in bed with Rojal's former nursemaid, Suza Hagen, from the Clan of Hagen. Gorna had promptly fired Suza from the Palace of Chloe's employ and had the maiden shipped back to her family, warning her that if she ever returned to Chloe, her disgrace would be revealed. Suza had meekly left, although she had fallen in love with Etros and his charm, for Etros could still be suave when he wanted to be. Etros had apologized and begged for a second chance, which Gorna had reluctantly given, since she didn't want to admit to her family that her marriage was disintegrating.   
  
But she had caught him in bed with a beautiful Bathing Laborer named Traina Emerald, who had huge breasts, blond hair and blue eyes, just three days before the Roccon, the Clan of Chloe family ship, had departed the moon of Chloe for planet Calmag. Traina had been fired immediately and sent back to her family, with the same threat of exposure hanging over her lovely head. Again, Etros had begged forgiveness, but Gorna had learned from an old friend that Traina had not been the only wench that Etros had been playing around with recently.   
  
An embarrassed, angry Gorna had told Etros that this time their marriage was over, and that she was divorcing him after they returned to Astoria. Etros had pleaded with his wife not to cut him off, for he knew that he would be banished from the Clan of Chloe and disgraced forever, if Gorna cried adultery against him. He knew that many of their family members had not forgiven his sister, Farla, or his cousin, Jaypros, Gorna's brother, for running away together. Neither he nor Gorna had mentioned their marital difficulties to the rest of the family, on Gorna's orders; Gorna had promised her errant mate that if he kept his mouth shut until they returned home to Astoria, she would see that he wasn't banished from the family, although she was leaving him anyway. Etros had quickly submitted to his wife's order, and they had continued their charade of a semi-happy couple. Etros had even tried to be kinder and more attentive to his wife, hoping to win back her favor, but Gorna would not forgive him.  
  
Before the war had started, Gorna had not only Etros's infidelities to deal with, but also Cletos's neglect of his children and Tayla's insistence on marrying Ridikar, a boy she had just met. And now, through sad and trying circumstances, all three problems had been solved. Gorna had learned from Toria that Ridikar had died; Cletos was trying, really trying to be a decent father, although Dedron still rejected him. And now Etros was dead. Dead.  
  
And she, Princess Gorna Chloe, was free.  
  
Gorna felt some sorrow and proper horror over Etros's demise, but not much; her love for her cheating, troublesome husband had been dying for years, and Etros's cheating with Suza had brought about the final death knell. Gorna felt more sorry for Rojal and Lelina, for they were now without a father, like her. Rojal had shared his mother's contempt for his weakling father, but Lelina had been Etros's pet and favorite. Lelina and Etros had been close, and it would be Lelina who would miss him the most.  
  
Because of Rojal and Lelina, Gorna would take the secret of Etros's unfaithfulness to her grave. There was no point in telling anyone the truth about Etros now; Etros was dead, and the news of the violation of his marriage vows would only hurt and humiliate his children, plus embarrass his wife. No one would ever have to know, and all of Etros's known paramours had been chased off of Chloe, and none of them would dare to come back.   
  
And Gorna Chloe would remain single forever; there would be no more husbands or children, but that was fine with her. She had Rojal, her heir; she had fulfilled the required Clan of Chloe duty in producing an heir to Astoria's throne. Her work was over, and Rojal was almost grown, well on his way now to becoming a worthy ruler someday. Lelina would probably be married within the next five years, and Gorna would not have to worry about her children as much. Gorna would focus on them until they were married, and she would also concentrate on learning everything she could about becoming a good ruler. She would one day take Nama's place, and she must be ready for it at any time.  
  
Etros was in the past, and the past must be forgotten now. It was only the present and the future that mattered. And right now it was Rojal and Lelina who needed her.  
  
She would be here for them when Hazel, who had gone to retrieve them, brought them back to her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Two hours later…  
  
The city electricians managed to get power back into most of the city once more, and the huge, ornate restaurant in the Angori Hotel was packed with Astorians and Calmagians. The cooks and waiters and waitresses had been brought back to work immediately to serve the victors and their friends; the staff was kept busy for hours.  
  
Tayla was sitting at a rectangular table munching down on several kinds of sausages and eggs "with an appetite greater than a Saiyan's" as Dirkan said. Neither Tayla nor her family had eaten well with the last two days, and all of them were starved. Shalila, Dirkan, Bendros, Gracina, Lektron, and Gracina and Lektron's children had joined them, along with Kekron and Caline, who was seated happily between Tayla and Kekron, two of her most favorite people. All of them were eating very well this morning.  
  
Tayla was especially gobbling down her breakfast, as if it were her last meal. She had drank three huge glasses of fruit juice, and she was now finishing off her third plate of eggs and various meats.  
  
"Tayla," Shalila laughed between bites of her more politely eaten meal, "I promise that you will get to eat again soon. Sweet Orchida, child, that is your third plate!"  
  
"Can't help it, Nama," Tayla mumbled between huge, succulent bites of juicy sausage. "I'm starving!"  
  
"I don't blame her," Caline agreed, who was sitting next to Tayla and devouring her second plate of eggs and telope steak; telope meat was Caline's favorite food. Caline, like Tayla, was normally not a gluttonous eater, but Caline had barely eaten herself in the past few days. Only Bendros had eaten more than Tayla and Caline, but then he was part Saiyan, after all.  
  
Caline joyously drank down the last of her third glass of fruit juice, as Tayla asked for a fourth glass from a passing waitress. Tayla then requested more eggs while Caline asked for more telope steak. Dirkan sighed and shook his head, amused.  
  
"It's a good thing King Kitchator is picking up the bill for everyone's meal."  
  
"I pity him when he gets it," Shalila added.  
  
"Aw, give the girls a break," Bendros told both of them. "The poor things hadn't had a decent meal in days. Neither have I, for that matter." He then called out to their waiter, who had just come back with more eggs for Tayla, "I'll take some more sausages please and some eggs."  
  
"Yes, sir," the waiter said, leaving to get Bendros his fifth plate of food.  
  
Kekron leaned back in his chair after finishing his second plate of meat and eggs. He moaned, "I don't think I can hold another bite."  
  
Most everyone agreed with him, except for Tayla, Caline (who had just now received her extra telope steak) and Bendros, who was gulping down his sixth glass of fruit juice.  
  
Caline said wistfully, after a few bites of telope steak, "I wonder what's going to become of me now that I don't have to marry Filcor."  
  
"You're coming home with us," Tayla told her firmly, patting Caline's shoulder. "Surely, you don't want to stay with that awful Julien! Right, everyone?"  
  
"Tayla," Shalila reminded her gently. "King Kitchator hasn't decided yet."  
  
"Well, when is he going to decide?" Riccan demanded to know. "Caline belongs with us."  
  
"That's right!" Tayka declared. "Julien said himself that he didn't want her, and that we could have her-"  
  
"Tayka!" Gracina said reproachfully.  
  
"That's what he said!" Tayka protested.  
  
"He did say that," Tila agreed with her twin. "He said that he had enough sisters, and that he didn't need any more."  
  
Gracina sighed, but then she smiled to see Caline giggle softly. Gracina favored Caline a warm smile, and Caline smiled back. Gracina then said to Caline:  
  
"If your grandfather does let you come home with us, are you sure you want to live with my family, sweetheart? What you hear among my children is an everyday thing, and they do squabble."  
  
"I'd be very happy to be part of your family!" Caline asserted.  
  
"And we'd be very happy to have you as one of us," Lektron added, drinking down some fruit juice. "We'd love to have you as a daughter, Caline."  
  
Dirkan cleared his throat loudly. He wanted Caline to come home with his family as much as everyone else, but he didn't want to get Caline's hopes raised too high, just in case King Kitchator refused.  
  
"And we'd be like sisters," Tayla told Caline cheerfully, putting an arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Tayla…everyone…" Dirkan began quietly.  
  
Caline piped up, "If I did get to come home with all of you, would Gracina and Lektron have custody of me?"  
  
Shalila answered honestly, "They would be assigned as your adoptive parents, my dear, but Dirkan and I would be the ones to have legal custody of you. Clan Grans and Grandens are legal guardians of any adopted children underage coming into a Clan from another race or Clan, unless that child already has natural parents. You would be declared a royal ward, little Caline. However, you would live with Gracina and Lektron's family, as if you were one of their natural children. They would still be real parents to you." And with that, Shalila took another sip of her fruit juice.  
  
Tayla and Caline had finally finished their meals, and both girls asked to be excused. Shalila allowed them to leave, and Tayla and Caline went in search of Lelina and Rojal (who had been released from his healing dome some time back). They were going to find them to give them condolences for the death of their father, Etros. They heard Shalila excusing herself to go be with Gorna for a while, as they left the table.  
  
Tayla was concerned for Lelina because Lelina had been taking her father's death harder than anyone else. Rojal had accepted the death of his and Lelina's father with a somber look and calm demeanor, and he had tried to comfort his sister the best that he could. Caline felt for Lelina and Rojal too, and she wanted to see what she could do to help.  
  
Both girls saw Lelina and Rojal quietly talking and standing in the corner of the sunny restaurant, with Lelina quietly weeping on Rojal's chest. Rojal and Lelina had argued frequently in the past, but in this time of need and new maturity, they both held onto each other. Caline and Tayla ventured over to see them when Caline saw Julien and Dedron together near the restaurant's coffee bar, talking and conversing together, as if they were old friends. She nudged Tayla nervously.  
  
"I didn't know that my brother knew Dedron that well."  
  
Tayla made a face at seeing Julien and Dedron being so chummy with each other. She also grew tense, for she remembered yet what Dedron had done to her when he had talked Ridikar into kidnapping her. She had not forgiven Dedron for it yet, and she no longer trusted him. She had given him another chance before, and he had taken advantage of her willingness to forgive. It would be a long time, if ever, before Tayla would ever feel comfortable around Dedron again.  
  
Caline grew suddenly solemn.  
  
"I hope that Grandfather lets me go home with all of you," Caline said wistfully and suddenly.  
  
Tayla patted her back and said, "I hope that he does too. Caline, won't you miss your family though?"  
  
"Somewhat," Caline replied. "Most of my relatives I'm not close to. I haven't seen my older sisters, Rosyn and Meyline in two years, and I barely knew them when they were around. I'll miss Naykiar now though; I asked, if maybe he'd like to come along, but he told me that he needed to be here, in case something happened to Julien. Naykiar would be the next king after Julien unless Julien has a son."  
  
Tayla shivered. "I'll feel sorry for Julien's future wife."  
  
"So will I," Caline agreed. "And Dedron's."  
  
"Assuming anyone would even want to marry him. If a girl did, I'd seriously question her sanity."  
  
Caline smiled. "It's too bad that we can't sew warning labels onto their backs."  
  
Just then, Dedron was heard saying to Julien, "Your sister, Caline, is a cute little thing."  
  
"She is, isn't she?" Julien told Dedron companionably. "You really like her, don't you?"  
  
"You bet!" Dedron crowed.  
  
"If it were within my power, I'd arrange for a little private meeting between you two," Julien told him. "But…Grandfather insisted that I leave Caline alone, so I'm afraid that won't be happening anytime soon."  
  
"Hey, are you looking for a bride?"   
  
"Not yet, why?"  
  
"How about Tayla?"  
  
"Hell no! I'm not going through the grief that Ridikar did with her!"  
  
"Oh, come on! I'll be happy to trade Tayla for Caline! I'd rather have Caline any day!"  
  
Nearby, Caline paled, and Tayla gagged.   
  
"Ewww!" Tayla whispered to her friend. "Caline, would you be offended, if I said that I didn't like Julien very much?"  
  
"No. Would you be offended, if I said that I didn't like Dedron at all?"  
  
"No way! I completely understand!"  
  
"Petalia told me a while ago that Dedron was interested in me," Caline said with a shudder. "Do you…think…that he would…try anything on me?" She began to tremble then, not wanting to deal with yet another unwelcome suitor.  
  
Tayla placed a reassuring hand on Caline's shoulder. "If he does, just let me or any one of us know. Right now, I'm actually looking for a convenient excuse to give Dedron a hard time."  
  
"Bendros said earlier that you saved Dedron's life from Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans," Caline asserted. "And Dedron deliberately had my brother abduct you and carry you off. It bothers me that Ridikar was actually friendly with him. I'm sorry that he took you away that time, Tayla."  
  
"That wasn't your fault, don't worry about it," Tayla told her. "Ridikar changed his ways after that day, so maybe Dedron really helped to do a good thing after all."  
  
"Then maybe I owe Dedron some thanks. You know what, Tayla?"  
  
"What, Caline?"  
  
"Dedron and Julien could truly be a force for good."  
  
"WHAT?" Tayla exclaimed so loudly that some people nearby looked at her strangely. Since none of them were her friends or relatives, Tayla gave them a "what-are-you-looking-at" glare, and the onlookers hurriedly went back to their own affairs.   
  
She felt Caline's forehead worriedly. "Caline, I think you need to see a doctor."  
  
Caline giggled. "Think about it, Tayla. Everyone would be against them, and they'd unite the entire universe!"  
  
Tayla laughed then. "We should suggest that to both Nama and Uncle Kitchator!" She and Caline fell against each other, shrieking wildly with laughter until tears started streaming from their eyes. Tayla snickered at the image of all the races in the universe, uniting against Dedron and Julien. She and Caline put their arms around each other and left to go to Lelina and Rojal, as they tried to sober up before they arrived.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the garden of the Angori Hotel…  
  
The garden of the Angori had remained fairly intact, except for some broken pots and two cracked benches. Other than that, all of flowers in the hexagonal flowerbeds were blooming, as if they too were celebrating the preservation of their planet. Brilliant spots of pink, turquoise, saffron, crimson, magenta, lavender, and orange brighter than the sun decorated the cold green pointed bushes lining up along the cobblestone pathways.   
  
Crystalis was sitting on a white stone bench with her giraffe-like head down and a small, wistful smile upon her face. Suddenly, she noticed a lavender flower with five petals and a deep plum-colored center staring up into her eyes. Her smile widened somewhat, when she noticed the bringer of the flower.  
  
"Cheer up, Crysti," Pork told her, handing her the fragrant flower, which smelled of a scent similar to Earth hyacinths. "We're safe now."  
  
Crystalis inhaled the aromatic scent of the flower and thanked him shyly, but then she grew very sad.  
  
"You're safe now," Crystalis told him. "You have a family to go home to, but I will have no one. I had no real friends beside you, Commander Chestra, and Journa, and you will be with your family. And I can never speak to Commander Chestra or Journa again because I, like you, will be officially listed as a traitor to Frieza. They would be obligated to turn me in."  
  
"I am sorry, Crysti," Pork said softly. "I am sure that my family would be glad to have you stay with them."  
  
"Superior Gran Shalila would never allow it," Crystalis told him. "She will allow you because your father is a friend of hers, but I have no connections to anyone on Astoria or anywhere. Maybe I can work on this planet until I can save enough money to buy a ship and go away to some distant planet."  
  
"Where would you go, Crysti?" Pork wanted to know. He didn't want to lose his closest friend, who had been like a big sister to him.  
  
"I can answer that easily."  
  
Both Crystalis and Pork turned around. "Father?" Pork gasped.  
  
"And Superior Granden Dirkan?" Crystalis cried.  
  
Both Dirkan and Steak were standing behind them. The two men had managed to change and shower, and Dirkan was dressed in a billowy, Earth Arab-like suit with white pants, red shirt, and a red turban with a gold crest of a moon crescent in the center. Steak was dressed more simply, in a plain pale blue, short-sleeved shirt with a round neck; the wardrobe also included plain black trousers and even plainer brown leather shoes.  
  
Dirkan had his pink-and-green muscled arms crossed, as he added quietly before Steak could speak, "My wife and I have already allowed for Pork to stay on Astoria for permanent asylum, and Crystle-"  
  
"Crystalis," the tall, ugly mammalian girl corrected meekly.  
  
"Crystalis then," Dirkan continued. "Steak here has asked to be your sponsor, and a sort of adoptive father to you. Would you like to accept? Would you like to live on Astoria?"  
  
"Would-would you and Superior Gran Shalila allow me?" Crystalis asked worriedly. "I am not so sure that you and your people would ever want someone among them who has worked for Frieza."  
  
Pork looked up at Dirkan anxiously, thinking the same thing. He and Crystalis had killed in the past, like their comrades, and Astorians were rumored never to forgive or forget.  
  
Dirkan rested a large green hand upon Crystalis's shoulders. "There may be some who will think that way for a while, but almost all of my family does not agree. It has been made clear to us that you and Pork wish to change your ways and your allegiances; you two can be redeemed."  
  
Crystalis said shakily, "Well, if you really want us to come home with your people-"  
  
"We do," Steak told her, patting her other shoulder. "Crystalis, my son has told me that you took good care of him during your years together under Frieza. I consider you one of my children, young lady, and I wouldn't want to separate my son from his best friend. It is because of you that I have been reunited with my long-lost son. I never thought that I would see Pork again. It was painful enough to lose his mother, dear, beautiful Poultry. Because of you, I have my son once more."  
  
Crystalis didn't say a word, but then she fiercely turned around and seized Steak in a hard, daughterly embrace. Steak felt a few of her tears wet his shirt, but he didn't mind. Pork looked at them with all the hope and happiness manifesting themselves into joyful tears.   
  
Crystalis nodded, and Pork then joined their fervent embrace. Dirkan stood back and watched this tender family scene with a stoic expression, but underneath the calm demeanor, he was delighted for them. He permitted himself a smile, and he walked away to leave them for a while.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Just outside of the Angori Hotel...  
  
Flirtius was extremely joyful; he knew that many of the Astorians were not as forgiving towards him as they were towards young Pork and Crystalis, but he hoped that he would win them over in time. Because he had helped get Shalila into the royal castle to save Tayla and the hostages, Shalila and Dirkan were seriously considering giving him asylum on Astoria, provided that he renounce his allegiance to Frieza and join the side of good. Flirtius had happily agreed to do so, knowing that if Frieza ever found out that Flirtius had helped Shalila and her family, his life would be worth less than the hairs on his head.  
  
He was dancing around like a clown in the streets; he was a bit disappointed that he would never get into the Ginyu Force, but he could still be an entertainer. He flirted shamelessly with every lovely young Calmagian or Astorian maiden walking by. Finally, an Astorian young woman with long, caramel-colored hair, a dollop of golden-brown freckles on her face, and hazel eyes sidled up to him.  
  
"Hello," she whispered. "My name is Melonia Myst."  
  
"Me…lo…nia…a lovely name," Flirtius purred. "You are a beaut…not every day that a Princess of Chloe pays me any mind."  
  
"I am not a Princess," Melonia told him with a giggle. She was a very sweet-natured girl of no more than sixteen, but she was a bit flighty at times. "I am the nursemaid for both Princess Tila and Princess Tayka Chloe, daughters of Princess Gracina Chloe and Prince Lektron Chloe. I recognize you! You used to work for Frieza, didn't you?"  
  
"I did," Flirtius admitted. "But I've quit."  
  
Melonia whispered shyly, "I've always thought you were handsome, even when you were working for Frieza. Are you compatible with humanoids?"  
  
"Absolutely!" Flirtius declared. "Are you taken?"  
  
Melonia laughed, "Not a chance! There was a boy that I liked, but it's you that I think is cute! Perhaps, I'm being a bit too forward?"  
  
"Not at all…" Flirtius assured her. "As a matter of fact, you can be as forward, as you like."  
  
"Good!" Melonia declared, and she wasted no time in passionately kissing him on his lips. Flirtius blushed a deep shade of green and laughed nervously, as Melonia kissed him again.  
  
"Aren't you going to kiss me back?" she asked brightly.  
  
"Sure!" Flirtius crowed, and he cupped her brown head in his hand and returned her kiss. Melonia purred, and just as Flirtius was about to kiss her again, someone seized him by his collar from behind.  
  
"YOU LEAVE MY LITTLE SISTER ALONE!" a huge, burly manservant roared, dragging Flirtius away from his sister.  
  
"Varrcan!" Melonia cried.  
  
"Varrcan, calm down," Ebrona ordered him. She looked at Melonia and scolded, "Melonia, you are entirely too forward with strange men! Remember who he was."  
  
"I like him," Melonia told Ebrona defensively.  
  
Ebrona sighed; Melonia, her future sister-in-law, was a fine nursemaid to the royal twins of Ebrona's mistress, Princess Gracina, but the girl was way too flighty and flirtatious for her own good.  
  
Both young women chased after Varrcan, who was now dragging poor Flirtius down the street to give him a pounding. Flirtius, unaware that Varrcan was not a warrior (Flirtius's scouter had been broken in his escape from the royal castle, so he could not test Varrcan's ki.), was too startled to fight him back.  
  
  
  
  
  
Several hours later, in a hotel room on the fifth floor…  
  
Raakon was smiling widely, as if someone had handed him the universe on a golden platter, and he felt like someone had had. He had just finished making love with his beautiful, pregnant Natala, who was curled up contentedly against his firm, muscular body with her slender tan arms wrapped around his waist. She was kissing his chest and purring like a well-fed kitten. Raakon's large, gentle hand was stroking her silken nutmeg tresses. His other hand was slowly massaging Natala's slightly swollen stomach. They were resting and loving each other on a soft, comfortable king-size bed dressed in silk pale blue sheets and covers.  
  
Natala was now nuzzling his throat, as she basked in their afterglow. She murmured, "I don't think that it gets much better than this."  
  
Raakon's hand slid towards Natala's lower backside, and he made small, massaging circles just above her buttocks. "This is the best way to celebrate a victory, I think," he chuckled.  
  
Natala smiled wider, now resting her brown head on Raakon's chest. "I must agree with you there."  
  
Raakon brought one hand up to her chin, lifting it up. "Natala, are you sure that you don't object to my going back to being a warrior, as well as a healer?"  
  
Natala grew solemn for a few moments. "I won't lie to you, Raakon; I will worry more about you than ever, worry that one day you might not come back home to me. But if this is something that you feel that you must do, my love, I'm with you all the way. I just don't want to lose you. I still hope and pray for the day when you don't have to worry about warring at all."  
  
"As am I, sweetheart, as am I. But fighting alongside my relatives is where I feel I belong. You, however, will always be first, and any time that you want me to give this up, I will."  
  
"I just want you to do what you feel is right for all of us involved, and if that means fighting once more, then that's the way it must be. Raakon, I am very proud of you, and I am very proud to be the wife of one of the finest healiors in the Clan of Chloe, as well as a good and loving man who has always been good to all of us. You are a true fighter and a hero, my love."  
  
"As are you, sweetheart. You are a fighter yourself and very brave. You stood up to Balair and prevented him from harming you and Caline any more than he did. I'm sorry that I didn't reach you sooner."  
  
"You reached me just in time and destroyed that awful beast! I am glad that monster is dead! He has surely hurt so many women, Raakon, and Caline and I were almost his next victims. He also bothered poor Mykia and Ebrona. I am thankful that he didn't succeed in raping any of the women among our people. I'm glad that you finished him off, so now that he won't hurt another woman or girl ever again."  
  
"He's rotting in hell, I hope," Raakon said with unusual vehemence for him. He would never forgive Balair for trying to rape his wife, his Natala. Raakon, a man who had once been unable to kill without enormous guilt, felt no qualms over destroying the cruel Sistrai warrior. He and Natala had felt certain that Enma Daiou would not hold it against him. Raakon then smiled to himself, pitying poor Enma Daiou for having to deal with Balair.  
  
He pulled Natala against him, embracing her tightly, as she wrapped herself further around him. While his beloved wife was relaxing in their afterglow, Raakon's thoughts drifted to poor Jaypros and Farla, two lovers whose affair and escape from Astoria had turned into a tragic mistake. Raakon pitied his brother, a young man he had once been very close to, and beautiful Farla, a flighty yet classy young woman who had been unable to make up her mind between two of Raakon's brothers.  
  
He had remembered his Nama's guilt and sorrow when he had been the one to announce the deaths of two more of her grandchildren. His grandmother had wept for quite a while, and then she said quietly that perhaps that she had been mistaken in coming down so hard on Jaypros and Farla.  
  
Shalila Chloe, a proud, wise ruler and a loving, if sometimes overbearing and dominating, matriarch, had decided that it was maybe time to rethink some of Astoria's strict divorce laws. She had learned from Hazel that many countries on planet Earth had something called a legal separation for troubled marriages, which involved the husband and wife living apart from each other, so that they could resolve their differences. The Superior Gran still had reservations about allowing more Astorian couples the chance to divorce over things such as falling out of love and incompatibility, but after learning what happened to Jaypros and Farla, she figured that this "legal separation idea" was something worth considering. She didn't want a repeat of a Jaypros-and-Farla incident where a couple felt forced to leave their home planet to be together, no matter how dangerous it was outside of Astoria.  
  
Raakon was hoping that his grandmother would think it over. He felt that maybe Jaypros and Farla could rest in peace, if something good came out of their star-crossed love. Raakon had liked Farla, although he had not been close to her, but he missed Jaypros terribly, and it hurt his heart to know that he would never see his laughing, lighthearted brother again. Some tears slid down his cheeks, and Natala noticed one of them, as it fell upon his chest.  
  
She kissed him softly, gently, on his lips. "Jaypros?"  
  
Raakon nodded with a small sob.  
  
"He's surely in a happier place now, him and Farla," Natala told him kindly. "We don't need to worry about them anymore."  
  
Raakon smiled sadly at her, but then he couldn't help, but shed a few more tears. His head fell upon her slender shoulder, and Natala cuddled him close, as he wept for his brother. She alternated between rubbing and patting his bare back.  
  
"I know what it's like to lose a sibling or two," she whispered. She had lost her brothers in the Battle of Chloe so many years ago. "It's okay to cry."  
  
Raakon nodded against her shoulder, sniffling softly. He was still very sad and distressed, but he knew that things would be okay again soon, for he still had Natala and his children.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the City of Magan Jailhouse, several more hours later…  
  
Bhodie Lett was in a solitary cell under heavy guard by three CRP officers. Gohan Chloe was down at the jailhouse, questioning Bhodie now. The CRP officers had brought Bhodie back from the wreckage of the royal Calmagian castle, where Raakon had told them about Bhodie being tied up in a closet.  
  
Gohan was handling the interrogation as objectively as possible, although he wanted to strangle the cowardly human minion of Frieza's for trying to rape his wife. Normally, Gohan would have turned the interrogation over to someone who was not as personally involved as he was, but no other Intergalacticpol officers were around at this time, so he had no choice but to question Bhodie on his own.  
  
Gohan, the Chief of Intergalacticpol, had finally been able to contact some of his Intergalacticpol subordinates. He had been trying to get in touch with them since the war had begun, but the radios on two of the Intergalacticpol ships that could have come to back up the Astorians and their friends had malfunctioned, and Gohan's messages had not come through to them. Gohan had learned that the two ships had also been forced to land on the distant swamp planet of Kyui in Kyui's notoriously dense and mucky swamps, and the ships had now just escaped Kyui with the help of a rescue ship. (Kyui had once been known as Sime, a planet that Frieza's forces had cleared years ago and sold to the Unibraugh race that had renamed the wasteland planet shortly after.) One of the ships was now on the way to Calmag, to help with post-war protection of the Calmagians and the cleanup of their planet.  
  
Gohan was sitting across the plain white table from Bhodie, who was now wearing a ki-restraining collar, created by Gohan's own ki-restraining collaring gun, a standard gun that many Intergalacticpol officers carried. Gohan had told Bhodie that he was an Intergalacticpol officer, but he deliberately left out the fact that he was the chief. Gohan was firing questions about the deaths of Jaypros and Farla Chloe, as well as Bhodie's war crimes on Calmag. Bhodie was confessing freely of his sins in hopes of getting a reduced penalty for his crimes, although Gohan had not promised him leniency.  
  
"For the last time," Bhodie snapped at Gohan. "I did not see Jaypros or Farla die. All I know about those two was that they had two children, and Commander Dodoria killed Jaypros and the little boy. Commander Balair told me that Lord Frieza gave Farla to him as a concubine, a war prize for helping to clear Dijon. And Lord Frieza supposedly let Commander Chestra adopt the little girl, but I doubt the brat's alive. Lord Frieza's not very fond of Astories, you know."  
  
"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Gohan said dryly. He continued to question Bhodie more, only this time the questioning led to Bhodie's war crimes on planet Dijon.  
  
Bhodie admitted that he had gone to Dijon with Dodoria and Balair to clear it since the Hycanese race had offered Frieza a high price for it because of Dijon's plentiful oil wells. The Dijonese had been a race of unusually short humanoid people who resembled Earth fairies and elves, and they had been a peaceful, pacifist race. Actually, it really would have taken only one strong Top Elite officer to clear Dijon, but both Dodoria and Bhodie had been bored, so they accompanied Balair, the one originally assigned to purge the small planet.  
  
It had taken the three men only two days to clear Dijon entirely of life, and Balair, Dodoria and Bhodie had raped some of the young women before killing them. They had come across Jaypros and Farla Chloe and their family during the last hours clearing Dijon, and Balair had planned to take Farla back with him for use as a concubine. But then Dodoria had recognized the family as being Astorian when Jaypros had attempted to electrocute him, and he had contacted Frieza about them. Frieza had insisted that Balair, Dodoria, and Bhodie take the Astorian family alive, and he had also insisted that they not be harmed or molested until he saw them himself.  
  
None of the Dijonese people had been spared, not even the youngest of the infants, and Jaypros and Farla's family had been taken captive and brought straight to Frieza's mother ship. Two small ships of Dijonese people had escaped, but other than them, there were no more of their race alive. Balair had molested Farla on the way there, but he did not rape her until after Frieza gave Farla to him for use as a whore. Frieza, from Balair had told Bhodie, had ordered the entire Astorian family to be killed, since the tyrant didn't think that they would be of any use to him. However, Balair had asked for Farla to be spared for his own personal use, and Chestra had asked Frieza to allow her to take the Farla and Jaypros's daughter (Bhodie did not know the child's name) as a ward. Frieza had consented to both requests.  
  
"And have you heard about the child or her mother since then?" Gohan inquired.  
  
"No, I haven't. I haven't heard from Balair or Dodoria since I left them to have some fun with an old friend of mine."  
  
"Are you aware that Balair is now dead?" Gohan asked.  
  
"No," Bhodie said quietly. He was silent for a few moments. Gohan held his tongue for a few minutes, and then he continued:  
  
"Who was this old friend of yours that you went to have fun with?"  
  
Bhodie laughed then; he seemed to have recovered from Balair's death quickly enough. "A sweet ex-girlfriend of mine named Hazel! She was human like me, a black human. I tried to screw her back when we were both on the Earth ship sent by Capsule Corp, but she turned me down every time. Finally one night, I managed to get her lit up, but she still refused me in the end. I tried to make amends with her, but then I was captured, we were separated."  
  
"I saw her again, and she was as hot as ever! I still wanted her, but even then, she was harder to get into than a sold-out concert! When we had invaded the royal castle, I took her as my hostage, and I later brought her upstairs for a little fun. I would have finally got the chance to do her, but then Raakon, or Rocky, or whatever his name was, just had to interrupt my fun! His sweet wife, Natala Cornsilk-Chloe, another woman that I wanted to get some from, tricked me into thinking she was going to screw me, but then Raakon, yeah, that was his name, got a hold of me and ruined my chances with both women. He knocked me out, and before I knew it, I was tied up with some of Natala's scarves in a closet. I thought that I was going to die when all of those explosions kept going off and stuff!"  
  
Gohan narrowed his eyes at Bhodie. "Did Hazel consent at all to have sex with you?"  
  
"No way! I had to force her into bed at gunpoint! Didn't want to do that, but she didn't leave me with much of a choice. Boy, I really wanted her too; she would have been a great lay, even though she was now some other man's leavings when she should have been my leavings-"  
  
Gohan was now furious. He was normally a rational, objective man, being a police officer, but he had the fierce temper of his mother, Shalila Chloe. Before Gohan realized what he was doing, he had seized Bhodie by his collar and had flung him to the floor. Bhodie's head hit a table leg, and he cried out.  
  
"You keep your filthy mouth shut about her! Don't you ever insult her again! Do you understand me?" Gohan roared at Bhodie, who was now rubbing his head. "In fact, I ought to kill you for even touching her!"  
  
"What the hell do you care?" Bhodie had the nerve to ask. "You sound like you actually know her."  
  
Gohan seized Bhodie by his collar again and bent him backwards over on the table until Bhodie's head grazed the tabletop. Gohan growled into Bhodie's face, "I do know her, you little human space scum!"  
  
"How-how?" Bhodie asked fearfully. "Is she your mistress or something?"  
  
"Try 'wife'," Gohan told him icily.  
  
Bhodie's eyes widened in horror, for he now remembered Hazel mentioning that she was the wife of the Intergalacticpol chief. He could no longer look Gohan in his face, as he slowly turned away and mumbled:  
  
"Oh, shi-"  
  
"Don't curse at me!" Gohan snapped.  
  
From the deadly look on Gohan's face, Bhodie knew that his fate with Intergalacticpol could be worse than what his fate would have been had he returned with his comrades to Frieza.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On the rooftop of the Angori Hotel, early evening…  
  
Shalila Chloe was resting in her Dirkan's arms, with her red head pressed against his broad chest. Dirkan was rubbing her back, as Shalila closed her eyes briefly for a few moments. The sun was already setting over the ruins of Magan, and wide, iridescent stripes of pale pink and orange melted together. Shadows were already forming over the city streets belong, as a gentle, cool wind blew throughout the city.   
  
Shalila's hair was unbound and loose, a reddish-gold waterfall flowing down to her knees. Her bountiful tresses flew around her and Dirkan like a diaphanous scarf. Dirkan had removed his shirt (the cloth had been too itchy for even his tough skin), and his chest was now bare. Shalila's arms were wrapped around his waist.  
  
She was thankful that almost all of her family had come out of the war safely. A few tears slid down her cheeks for Jaypros, Farla, and Etros. Shalila still didn't approve of what Jaypros and Farla had done, but she deeply regretted not having handled that situation differently.  
  
She had been so certain back then that she had done the right thing in refusing Farla a divorce from Cletos, but now she wasn't so sure. Perhaps, if she had done that "legal separation thing" that Hazel had just suggested to her back then, maybe Jaypros and Farla would have stayed on Astoria, and they would still be alive today.   
  
But then maybe things might not have worked out, even then. Most Astorians had little or no tolerance or forgiveness for adultery, and Jaypros and Farla would not have found it so easy to be happy among their own people. Maybe Dedron and Petalia would have still thought of their mother as a traitorous tramp, and it would have been difficult for Cletos to see Farla become his brother's wife.  
  
When Shalila had finally told Cletos about Farla's death, Cletos had wept openly, and Shalila had spent some time comforting him. Despite all the pain that Farla had given him, Cletos had still loved her dearly, and Shalila had strongly suspected that her grandson had secretly hoped that Farla would come back to him. Because Cletos had been too distraught, it had been up to Shalila to tell Dedron and Petalia about their mother's demise.  
  
Petalia, to Shalila's surprise, had cried as much as her father had, and it had taken Shalila some time to calm her down. She had rocked and cuddled Petalia to her for close to an hour. Dedron had just grunted indifferently and said something about justice finally being served. Before either Shalila or Petalia could respond to that cold remark, Dedron had promptly left the hotel lobby where Shalila had announced her grim news.  
  
Shalila didn't know what she was going to do about Dedron just yet. She was determined that he would not get away for the things that he had done back home that she had just found out about from Petalia shortly after Dedron had tried to threaten Petalia into keeping quietly about his having Tayla kidnapped. Shalila was still not over what Dedron had done to Tayla, but she and Dirkan were still undecided on just how to discipline Dedron for his masterminding Tayla's abduction by Ridikar.   
  
Cletos would be of little help in the correcting of his errant son. While Cletos was trying to make amends for his neglect of his children, he had made no real effort to talk to Dedron or discipline him for what he had done to Tayla. Cletos had said that he didn't want to alienate Dedron from him any more than he already had. He and his grandmother had argued about this a while ago, with Shalila telling him that Dedron needed help and correction before it was too late. Cletos had just plunged further into depression over the loss of Farla, even though he had lost Farla a long time ago. Gracina, Bajal, and Lektron had offered to stay with him, so that Shalila could go talk to Petalia and Dedron. Shalila suspected sadly that Cletos would take ten steps backwards, and that it would still be up to her to care for Petalia and Dedron.  
  
Shalila then thought about Gorna. Gorna was holding up well-at least on the outside. She was very brave for her children's sakes, but Shalila was still worried about her usually stoic, although temperamental granddaughter. Shalila pitied Gorna because she had suspected that Gorna and Etros's marriage had been crumbling for some time. The Superior Gran deduced that Etros had been cheating on Gorna; Etros had been too friendly and affectionate with Rojal's former nursemaid, Suza Hagen, who had been mysteriously fired and expelled from Chloe. And then she had seen Etros hang around the women's bathhouse, talking intimately with Traina Emerald, a Bathing Laborer who too had been fired under unexplained circumstances. Back home, Shalila had told only Dirkan of her suspicions, but Dirkan had advised her to not say a word to Gorna or Etros until she was absolutely certain that Etros was betraying Gorna.  
  
"Even then," Dirkan had said to his wife back on Chloe, "it is not really your area to intervene. Gorna and Etros have to work this out for themselves."  
  
Shalila knew that Dirkan was right, but she couldn't help but worry for Gorna. And now she would never know the truth. She had told Gorna that anytime she wanted to talk about Etros, she could come to her. Gorna had merely said a thank-you, but she had not volunteered anything just yet. Gorna had never considered her grandmother a potential confidant, even now; actually, Gorna had never really confided her troubles to anyone, not even her parents. The first Bajal, Shalila's husband, had been one of the few people that Gorna had felt that she could really talk to about anything, and Bajal was gone.  
  
Shalila was brought back to the present by Dirkan's low voice. He could sense Shalila's new anxiety.  
  
"Shalila, don't worry for right now. Everyone is alive and safe, and the war is over. We can dwell on things later."  
  
"I can't help it," Shalila whispered.  
  
"Yes, you can," Dirkan told her firmly. "We came up here to be alone and relax. Everyone and everything else can wait. Let's not worry about the future for right now. Let's just be ourselves for a little while and be happy. We still have each other. We have won; it's over for now. We're safe, and we're still together, still alive."  
  
Shalila smiled wistfully, as Dirkan lifted her up until they were face-to-face. He cupped her face with one huge emerald hand and kissed her fervently, lovingly. Shalila slowly forgot the rest of the universe and wrapped her slim arms around Dirkan's wide neck, as she wound her legs around his waist. Her lips were moving along his. Dirkan growled passionately, as he embraced his wife and carried her over to a cart of old hotel sheets. Still holding his love, he kicked the cart over with one strong foot, and all the sheets fell out onto the ground.  
  
Shalila sighed rapturously, as Dirkan lay her down on the pile of sheets, kissing her throat and slowly sliding off her blouse. Shalila helped him out of his pants, and Dirkan continued to seduce her.  
  
And on the rooftop of the Angori Hotel, as the sun finally disappeared, and twilight settled over Magan, the Superior Granden Dirkan of Astoria made love to his wife, the Superior Gran Shalila Chloe of Astoria.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In the hotel lobby at the bar…  
  
Tayla, Caline, Lelina, Petalia, and Veal were sitting at the bar, each of them drinking a nonalcoholic fruit drink. Veal was happily telling the others about Pork being back with her family once more.  
  
"We all thought that he was lost to us!" Veal exclaimed. "And now we have Crystalis; I like her, she's nice. I feel as if I have my whole family back again, except of course that Mummy isn't with us. You all should see Father; he is so happy because Pork is back with us once more. It doesn't matter that Pork worked for Frieza; he would have never done so, if he hadn't been forced. We're just glad that he's alive and safe with us again!"  
  
Tayla said warmly, "I'm happy for you, Veal. You are very lucky." She then smiled sadly, for she had just learned of Jaypros's death. She sighed sadly.  
  
Veal said softly, "I am sorry about your brother and cousins, Tayla."  
  
"Thank you," Tayla told her quietly. "It feels strange that I will never see Jaypros or Farla or Etros again." Tayla then patted Lelina's back. "Are you okay, Lee?"  
  
Lelina nodded; she had been so quiet since she had learned of her father's death. Her eyes were still bloodshot and puffy from crying. She was laying her head down on the bar counter, with her eyes closed.  
  
"I can't believe Pappa's gone," she whispered.  
  
"I know," Tayla whispered back. Tayla had not liked Etros very much, but Etros was family, and she was sorry about his death, especially since Lelina was taking it so hard.  
  
Caline rubbed Lelina's back. "I'm sorry too, Lelina. I know what it's like to lose a parent that you love. It hurt so much when my mother died. She was so good to me."  
  
Lelina nodded a thank-you, but she said nothing. Caline hugged her, and then she turned to talk to Petalia, who was sitting on Lelina's other side. "I'm sorry about your mother, Petalia."  
  
Petalia said chokingly, "Thank you. I never thought that I would miss her at all. I used to think that I hated her, especially after she left us behind. It hurt so much, and I was so angry with her. And now she's gone. It's just not right."  
  
"No, it isn't," Tayla agreed. "But at least, she's been avenged, or she was when Raakon killed Balair."  
  
"Balair's death didn't bring her back," Petalia pointed out to her. "I hate him! I'm glad that he's dead!"  
  
No one could argue with her on that one.   
  
Tayla looked around at her friends. Almost every one of them had lost a relative recently. She had lost a brother, Lelina had lost her father, and Petalia had lost her mother. Caline had lost a husband, a brother, and a father. Out of them, only Veal had not lost a relative in the war or before it; instead, she had gained a brother and a new foster sister.  
  
They had so much to be sad about, yet so much to be happy for. The aftermath of war was always accompanied by a time of great joy mixed with great sorrow. Tayla was hoping that they could find that joy soon; it might be easier with the party celebrating the victory the next day.  
  
Queen Kildara came up to the bar just then. She gently touched Caline's thin shoulder and said softly, "Caline, would you come with me, please? Your grandfather and I wish to talk to you alone."  
  
Caline tensed slightly; she felt comfortable around her step-grandmother most of the time, but she had never felt easy around her natural grandfather. The scars from that horrible wedding day to Alberm were still with her, especially King Kitchator's and Amitar's cruel words when Caline had tried at the last minute to get out of her forced marriage.  
  
"Umm…" Caline began uncomfortably.  
  
Tayla put a hand on Caline's shoulder. "Caline, would you like me to come with you?" She then looked at Queen Kildara. "Would that be okay, Aunt Kildara?"  
  
Queen Kildara said nervously, "I-I don't see why not. I don't think that your uncle would mind, Tayla."  
  
"I-I could use the company, Tayla," Caline pleaded, feeling the heavy weight of the seriousness of the upcoming situation. "Please come."  
  
"Okay, I will," Tayla told her brightly as possible. She climbed down off of her bar stool, and then she helped Caline descend from hers. Both girls told their friends "gooden boden" and quietly left the bar with Queen Kildara to find King Kitchator.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A/N: Longest chapter I ever written, I know, but I had wanted to cover as much as I could. Next chapter will finally be a celebration party on Calmag, plus the aftermath of what happened among Frieza's forces, including Frieza's reaction to the failed mission and how our favorite villains, both original and canon, are going through right now.   
  
I can't believe that this is almost over. I want to thank everyone for reading so far, and there will be acknowledgements and call-outs at the very end of this story. I only have a few more chapters to right, and then it's finally on to the sequel, "Hope Never Dies". I haven't completely finished plotting out the sequel yet, just the first part. All I am saying for now is that it will pick up two years after the Astorians return home to Astoria.  
  
What do King Kitchator and Queen Kildara wish to speak to Caline about? Will Caline have her wish come true? Will Dedron and Julien ever shape up? And what will Dedron's punishment be? And will all those who lost a loved one to death be able to go on? Find out soon!  
  
Gooden boden fro noy!  
  
Sawnya 


	111. Celebrations And Resolutions

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Eleven: Celebrations And Resolutions  
  
On Frieza's mother ship, Frieza's office that same night, according to Calmagian Royal Time…  
  
Most of the surviving Top and Mid Elite officers that had been on the mission on Calmag were now standing around Frieza's desk in a half-circle. Frieza had not arrived yet; he was in the healing room, waiting for the rest of the Elite minions that had gone to Calmag to finish their healing processes. Vegeta, and the other Saiyans were leaning against a wall, as far away from Frieza's desk as possible. Diamonique, newly emerged from the regeneration/healing tanks, was nervously studying her diamond nails. Jaden was leaning against the wall on the other side of the office, her eyes closed in deep meditation. Chestra was standing near her, too anxious to even considering relaxing her stiff, tense posture; she was worried about Zarbon, who was still in the regeneration tanks as far as she knew, and she was fearing Frieza's wrath, even though he rarely ever aimed it at her.  
  
The newly healed Dodoria was pacing about the room in a circle, with his meaty arms behind his wide back, holding his huge head down. Jeice was frantically looking out the window of Frieza's office watching a distant meteor shower fifty light-years away. His time in the regeneration tanks had been short, for his injuries had been minor compared to those of the others still known to be recuperating.  
  
"We're done for," he mumbled.  
  
No one argued with him on that point. This was the second time that most of them had failed to destroy Shalila Chloe and her family. And to make matters worse, Princess Tayla Chloe, a little girl who had proven to be a much more difficult quarry than any of them, even Vegeta, had anticipated, was still free-and not in captivity as a potential recruit for Frieza.  
Diamonique huffed, "I hate that girl, Tayla Chloe, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her! That little girl ruined everything for me! Why couldn't she have just come along quietly with me?"  
  
"Because she's a stubborn Astorie, and no Astorie ever goes quietly," Dodoria grumbled. "I was so close to killing that brat, but that Namek, Dirkan, had to intervene-"  
  
"Umm…did you say that you tried to kill her?" Jaden, who had just come out of her trance, asked. "I don't think Lord Frieza would be so happy to hear that one, Dodo."  
  
"That brat's too dangerous to be allowed to live! I would have been doing Lord Frieza a favor!" Dodoria hissed, ignoring Jaden's usual insult for him for now.  
  
"I agree with Dodoria," Diamonique added. "I wanted the disrespectful wench dead myself!"  
  
"Hey Jade," Jeice called. "Did you ever get to see the girl yourself?"  
  
"Nah, not really," Jaden told him. "The strongest Astorie I fought against was a little girl named Rosynthia. Rosynthia was some cousin of Tayla's who had come to rescue Dirkan, someone I did manage to beat. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that she was Tayla Chloe herself."  
  
"What did she look like?" Chestra, who had never seen Tayla Chloe in person at all, asked.  
  
Jaden briefly described "Rosynthia's" appearance, and Dodoria huffed, "What was her ki level at that time?"  
  
Jaden gave a high ki reading for "Rosynthia" and Dodoria snapped, "Jaden, you're a fool!"  
  
"Excuse me?" Jaden growled at her number one archenemy (since Balair's death anyway).  
  
"That had to have been Tayla Chloe! No other Astorie brat was measured to have a ki reading that high! How could you have been so stupid?"  
  
"How in the hell was I supposed to know?" Jaden snarled. "I never met the brat before!"  
  
"Was she as strong as Tayla was reputed to be?" Jeice asked, trying to prevent a mini-war between two of Frieza's most dangerous and foul-tempered Top Elite Officers.  
  
"She was strong enough to blow up an entire mountain, nearly killing me and Diamonique," Jaden replied brusquely. "If it hadn't been for Chestra, I might not have made it out."  
  
"Yeah, and then Lord Frieza would have been rid of one of the main causes of his headaches," Dodoria said evilly.   
  
Jaden narrowed her eyes at Dodoria in a glare explosive enough to blow up Frieza's ship, if possible. Everyone stepped back as far away as possible, as Jaden replied in a cool tone, "And if Dirkan and Tayla Chloe had done their job properly in their battle against you, Frieza would still have cause to celebrate because he wouldn't be getting as many ulcers as he does right now."  
  
"I am one of Frieza's closest personal friends," Dodoria retorted. "He happens to think of me as one of the best men he's ever had."  
  
"Frieza never 'had' you and never will. Sorry, Dodo, but he does prefer women," Jaden said as sweetly as possible for her. "If you're going to make up stories about your conquests in bed, at least make them sound believable."  
  
Dodoria clenched his fists, as some snickers and chuckles floated around the room. Everyone in the Elite reluctantly tolerated Dodoria's mad love for Frieza. He could hear the Saiyan men pretending to retch, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Raditz stick his index finger in his mouth, gagging. Nappa and Journa were laughing at him, and even Vegeta chuckled.  
  
"You-you shut up!" Dodoria roared. "I don't understand why Frieza still kept you alive all these years!"  
  
"Because he wanted someone around who had brains as well as brawn," Jaden responded snappily.  
  
"Why you-"  
  
"QUIET!" Frieza's voice suddenly pierced the tense air of his own office.   
  
Frieza floated into his office in his space pod, accompanied by Zarbon, Captain Ginyu, Guido, Baata, and Reccoom, with the last two men having to duck under the doorway before entering the room.   
  
Chestra rushed over to Zarbon, and she and Zarbon embraced fiercely, with Chestra resting her head against Zarbon's chest plate. "I'm so glad that you made it," she whispered. Zarbon stroked her hair and held her for as long as he could.  
  
Frieza was frowning; he was definitely not happy, as he flew in his pod towards his desk. All of the Elite soldiers in the office stood stiff, bracing themselves for their warlord's coming wrath. Zarbon and Chestra stood close to each other, worried that this day might be their last together.  
  
Frieza said coolly, as he landed his pod behind his desk, pushing aside his office chair, "Needless to say, I am disappointed and angered with everyone here. I send my strongest fighters to capture one little girl and clear a planet full of weaklings, and Calmag still stands and Tayla Chloe is still free! And to make things worse, Shalila Chloe and her ilk are still alive! Someone here give me one good reason why I should spare any of you and not replace you with more competent soldiers!"  
  
Everyone was too afraid to speak, even Jaden and Vegeta and Dodoria. Finally Zarbon cleared his throat, gathering together what nerve he had left to speak, as Frieza ranted on, "Zarbon, I sent more soldiers at your request, and almost all of them are dead! Plus, we currently have five Elite officers who are still counted as missing in action. Has anyone here heard from Bhodie, Pork, Crystalis, Flirtius, or Seductia lately?"  
  
Everyone quietly mumbled a no, and then Frieza heard his scouter beep. He reluctantly clicked a button on the device, saying, "Lord Frieza speaking."  
  
"Well, hello, little brother!" Coola's sharp chuckle echoed into Frieza's peeved ear. "Guess what? I just sold planet Hamie at a very high price to the Suyu race of the Bukata Galaxy!"  
  
Frieza suddenly paled more than usual, as Coola happily went on:  
  
"They said that they were originally wanted to buy planet Calmag and rename it Satchakari, but…" Coola deliberately trailed off, waiting for his brother's reaction. When he received nothing but silence, Coola chuckled, "They decided that planet Calmag was just a tad too small for them…and when I 'accidentally' mentioned that the Astorian race from the Rosetta was visiting Calmag, they…er, decided they didn't want the trouble of dealing with Astories later, so they changed their minds and bought the nice, gigantic planet Hamie from me! And I am twice as rich as before, I might add!"  
  
"Coola!" Frieza hissed. "You deliberately sabotaged my sale of Calmag to the Suyu!"  
  
"It's not my fault that the Suyu fear the Astorian race," Coola told him smoothly. "Of course, being a good planet broker, I told them a little about the Astorian race, and how they managed to keep you and your soldiers at bay. After all, planet buyers should be well informed, should they not? The Suyu race wisely figured that if the Astorian race were able to stand up against you and your forces, then they wouldn't have a chance themselves. So they decided on the much safer, wiser option of buying planet Hamie. Of course Hamie isn't as green or as lush as Calmag is, but it's a lot less polluted. The air and water pollution on Calmag was enough to turn the Suyu race off as well. Of course I just had to inform them about Calmag's high pollution rate as well. After all, an informed buyer is a happy buyer!"  
  
"Coola, I will get you for this!" Frieza growled. "You'll pay for sabotaging my sale!"  
  
"Put it on my bill," Coola told Frieza cheerfully. "Have a good night, little brother, assuming it's night where you are at!" And with that, Coola closed his scouter channel.  
  
Frieza shouted as his soldiers, "All of you get out of here now! I wish to be alone! Everyone's pay is suspended for two months, and no one gets downtime for the rest of the year! You all should be thankful that I'm sparing your pathetic skins! I should beat all of you, but I have other things on my mind at the moment. Get out of my sight!"  
  
The Elite fighters didn't hesitate. As fast as they could, they scurried out of Frieza's office, pushing and shoving at each other to get out into the corridors.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Midnight, Frieza Stellar Time, Zarbon's bedroom…  
  
Chestra was curled up against Zarbon in Zarbon's bed decorated with silk black sheets and quilt. "I never thought that I would be thankful to Lord Coola for interrupting at that moment. We were let off much lighter than we expected."  
  
"And he didn't kill any of us, either," Zarbon said with some relief. "I don't know whether to consider that a blessing or not."  
  
"I would," Chestra told him.  
  
"How's Kaydra?" Zarbon asked her, not wanting to discuss Frieza any longer.  
  
"She is a little better," Chestra replied, resting her red-and-green head on his bare chest. "She begins her training with Jaden next week. Jaden is looking forward to a challenge."  
  
"As if Calmag wasn't enough of a challenge," Zarbon sighed. "You should have seen how powerful that Tayla Chloe was, Chestra. She nearly killed me with an attack that I never saw before. She encased herself in a ball of pure ki and kept ramming it into me. If Jeice hadn't caught me, as I fell off the cliff, I would have fallen to my death!"  
  
Chestra stroked his emerald hair. "I am so glad that he did, Zarbon. I must remember to thank him later. I thought for a while there that I was going to lose you."  
  
Zarbon pulled her closer into his embrace. "You almost did; Princess Tayla nearly killed me."  
  
"How can a child be that strong?" Chestra wondered.  
  
"Something in the water the Astorians drink?" Zarbon quipped. Chestra looked at him strangely. Zarbon smiled and said, "Jaden's words, not mine. Or was it the Calmagian water…I've heard that polluted water can have some bizarre effects."  
  
"I wonder what Lord Frieza plans to do now," Chestra speculated in a sleepy voice. "He didn't even want us to go back to Calmag and finish what we started. And he turned down Dodoria's offer to blow up the planet. I'm surprised that he doesn't go to Calmag to blow it up himself."  
  
Zarbon was surprised as well. Frieza could have easily taken the mother ship to Calmag and blown up the planet as easily as he had once blown up planet Vegeta. What were Frieza's reasons for not doing that? And why was Frieza willing to leave Tayla and her family alone for now? Had he lost interest in obtaining Tayla Chloe for his forces? He looked at Chestra, who was falling asleep in his arms. Zarbon stroked her hair worriedly and lay awake, wide-awake.  
  
Pondering Frieza's motives for not taking further action, Zarbon stayed awake for most of the night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, 9AM, Frieza Stellar Time in the Elite Lounge And Bar…  
  
"Did Vegeta sleep at all last night?" Journa asked Nappa at breakfast. She, Raditz, and Nappa were sitting in their usual booth in the restaurant. Vegeta, as far as they knew was still in the training rooms. Vegeta had been training and giving his body a strenuous workout since eight o'clock the night before.  
  
"Nonotreally," Nappa mumbled quickly in a single word, gobbling down his fifth plate of eggs.   
  
"Nappa, swallow your food first before speaking," Journa scolded.  
  
Nappa did as ordered. He gulped down his food, emitted a loud belch, making Raditz laugh, and then he said, "Nah, Princess. He hasn't been out of the training room all night. All he's been doing since we left Frieza's office is train. He didn't even stop to eat."  
  
Eclipse came then, sauntering over to the Saiyans' booth. She sidled up to the table, asking sweetly, "Room for one more?"  
  
Nappa grinned and said slyly, "Sure there is-on my lap!"  
  
Eclipse scolded him playfully, "Seriously! May I sit down please?"  
  
Nappa made Raditz move over further into the circular booth, so that Eclipse could sit beside him. Eclipse nestled herself next to her new mate, saying brightly, "You three are unusually cheerful for people who just survived Lord Frieza's wrath!" She curled herself around Nappa's huge muscle-bound arm.  
  
"That's why we're unusually cheerful," Raditz quipped with his mouth full of food. "We're still alive."  
  
"Are you still working for the Ginyu Girls?" Journa wanted to know.  
  
"In a purely platonic capacity, yes," Eclipse said happily. Nappa scowled, but Eclipse traced his frown with her slender finger. "Nappa, I told you that I'm still on contract to Captain Ginyu, and I already informed him and the other men that you're my only one now."  
  
"What about Frieza?" Nappa wanted to know. Raditz and Journa became quiet, and both Saiyans stopped eating.  
  
Eclipse said nervously, "I still have to talk to him. But Lord Frieza shouldn't have a problem with it, since he knew that I wasn't seeing him exclusively." Nappa understood; Frieza wasn't going to be happy to learn that Eclipse had devoted herself to one man, especially a Saiyan.  
  
The Ginyu Girl Squad Leader explained briefly afterwards that she would still lead the girls in their dances, poses, and other entertainments for Captain Ginyu, and the other men. Nappa relaxed somewhat, although he knew he would be getting into fights for a while with the other Elite males who had once shared Eclipse with him. But Eclipse was now bonded to him, and he was certain that she'd stay faithful to him.  
  
But Raditz and Journa weren't so certain because of Eclipse's many past lovers. Raditz and Nappa had recently got into a minor skirmish last night after Vegeta had left to train because Raditz had told Nappa that it was unlikely that Eclipse would stay faithful to any one man for long, including him. ("Remember she's a Ginyu Girl; Ginyu Girls prefer variety".) Nappa had taken offense and landed a few punches that had sent Raditz to the regeneration tank for a couple of hours. Raditz and Nappa later apologized to each other (something very rare for Saiyan men to do), but Raditz still held his doubts about Eclipse. He and Journa, however, wisely kept silent. Vegeta agreed with them, but the Saiyan prince figured that Nappa would have to learn things the hard way.   
  
As Eclipse snuggled up against Nappa, Vegeta casually strolled over to the booth. Eclipse gave him a cheery greeting, which Vegeta acknowledged with his usual scowl and a grunt. He slid into the booth and sat down next to Journa in the circular booth.  
  
Journa quipped, "My brother is still alive! A miracle has occurred!"  
  
Vegeta growled, "Be quiet!"  
  
"Are you still training to get stronger than Tayla?"  
  
"I AM stronger than Tayla! The brat only defeated me because she caught me off-guard, but she won't do that the next time. My strength has greatly increased since my last battle with her. Everyone turn on their scouters and see for yourselves!"  
  
The three other Saiyans did, and they were amazed to see how much higher Vegeta's ki had jumped to, and he wasn't even powering up. Nappa was especially impressed. "Eighty-thousand…that is something, Prince."  
  
"Of course it is!" Vegeta told him proudly. He leaned back against the padded seat and crossed his arms. He barked orders at a passing waitress to bring him three plates of ten different kinds of breakfast foods. The waitress hastily ran to do Vegeta's bidding. Vegeta chuckled.  
  
"Just for a few moments, when that waitress scurried off to put in my order, I felt as if I was back home, with servants rushing to fulfill my every demand."  
  
"I miss our home," Journa said a bit sentimentally. "And our parents."  
  
Vegeta only nodded; he greatly missed his race and parents too, but he never admitted it openly.  
  
*I should have been preparing to become the next King of the Saiyans by now. At my age, I would have already taken over some of my father's duties. My father would have commanded that all available Elite-class Saiyan females between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five years old to be brought to the palace for me to pick a lifelong, permanent mate among them. Shortly afters, I would have had my princess, my future Queen of the Saiyans. In five to ten more years, I would hopefully have had a son to succeed me. And many more years from that, I would have been the King of the Saiyans. Well, technically, I am the King of the Saiyans now, but no one really thinks of me as king. Even I still refer to myself as 'Prince'. I don't really know why. *  
  
*This wasn't the way that my life was supposed to turn out! When my father decided to make that hideous alliance with Frieza, everyone tried to talk him out of it, from my dear mother, to our archenemies, the Astorian race. Shalila Chloe even was desperate enough to try to make peace with our people, so that they wouldn't have Frieza and us united together against her people! Mother once told me when I was young that Shalila Chloe had tried to warn my father that Frieza was looking out for his own interests only, and that the Saiyans would never be able to call their souls and their race their own again. And, as much as it pains me to admit it, she and her people were right! Frieza used our people and took Journa and I away from our beloved father! My beloved, foolish father! *  
  
*Father, if you had but listened, if you hadn't been so blinded by your own greed and lust for more power and money, Journa and I would be treated like the royals we are, not like Frieza's lackeys! Now we are doomed to serve that tyrant until I can become strong enough to overpower Frieza and take everything from him. I will take back what is mine, and what is meant to be mine! *  
  
*Yes, Frieza, your day of reckoning will come much sooner than you expect. I will never forgive you for taking my sister and I away from our father, and for allowing that fat pig, Dodoria, to kill our mother. And Dodoria will eventually get what he deserves as well; he shouldn't have been allowed to come back alive! And Zarbon will pay as well, for participating in our family being torn apart forever. All three of you will one day get what you richly deserve. And before all three of you die, you all will bow before me, Prince Vegeta, and finally see my true, full power as a Super Saiyan before I send all of you to the next dimension! *  
  
*And I will become a Super Saiyan one day; the power is just within my grasp. I am so close to achieving my goals, even now. Wherever you are, Father, I know that you would not be pleased to learn that I was once again defeated by Tayla Chloe. But do not worry, Father, for I grow stronger every day, and my last battle with Tayla only increased my strength once I had healed. *   
  
*And yes, Tayla, I haven't forgotten about you, little girl. I know that the next time we meet, (and I will see that we meet again), you will be a young woman and stronger than before. But I will be stronger than before as well, in fact, much stronger than you, Tayla. I will even the score between us, and show you that I am and always have been stronger than you. I will more than make up for my two defeats at your tiny hands. I will show my superiority over you once and for all! I will always be one step ahead of you, no matter how much you train. *  
  
*For you see, Tayla, one day I will become a Super Saiyan, and that is one thing that you will never be able to attain because you have not a drop of Saiyan blood within you. And I possess the Saiyan gene to become stronger after every fight. The next time you and I meet, I will bring you to your knees, and you will acknowledge me as superior, greater and stronger than you! *  
  
*Yes, Tayla, I promise you that we will meet again, so if I were you, I would not get slack on my training. You will see me again, Tayla; you have not seen nor heard the last of me… *  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In a bedroom at the Angori Hotel…  
  
*You will see me again, Tayla; you have not seen nor heard the last of me… *  
  
Tayla nearly shrieked, as she awoke abruptly in a cold sweat. Her brown eyes were wider than even their normal saucer size, and she was breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding wildly, trying to escape from her chest. Her long, dark hair was plastered to her cheeks and neck. Rivulets of sweat streamed down her face, as her terror beat against the walls of her nearly bursting heart. She gasped for air.  
  
She could still hear Vegeta's voice, even though she was now awake…  
  
*You will see me again, Tayla; you have not seen nor heard the last of me… *  
  
Her small, slim fingers clutched at the soft, satin dark green quilt that was covering her shaking body. Her whole body shook, and she was near tears. Her skin was almost as pale as the skin of Caline, who happened to be waking up beside her. Tayla was still having a hard time breathing.  
  
"Tayla!" Caline gasped, touching her friend's arm. "Are you okay?"  
  
Just now, Tayla had been dreaming that Vegeta had entered her bedroom, and that he had been standing at the foot of her bed with his arms crossed tightly against his chest. He was grinning wickedly at her, like a predator that had finally caught up with its prey.  
  
*So we meet again, Tayla Chloe. It's time to finish what we started. *  
  
*Get out of my room, Vegeta! *  
  
*Are you so sure that you and your little friend there wish for me to leave? What was her name…Caline? *  
  
*How did you know her name? And how did you find me here? You get out, go away and leave us alone! I just want to be left in peace! I want to live my life in peace for now; can't you see that? *  
  
*There will be no peace for you while I am alive. But don't worry, Tayla, I don't intend to come after you right now. I will bide my time and wait. *  
  
*I haven't forgotten about you, little girl. I know that the next time we meet, (and I will see that we meet again), you will be a young woman and stronger than before. But I will be stronger than before as well, in fact, much stronger than you, Tayla. I will even the score between us, and show you that I am and always have been stronger than you. I will more than make up for my two defeats at your tiny hands. I will show my superiority over you once and for all! I will always be one step ahead of you, no matter how much you train. *  
  
*For you see, Tayla, one day I will become a Super Saiyan, and that is one thing that you will never be able to attain because you have not a drop of Saiyan blood within you. And I possess the Saiyan gene to become stronger after every fight. The next time you and I meet, I will bring you to your knees, and you will acknowledge me as superior, greater and stronger than you! *  
  
*Yes, Tayla, I promise you that we will meet again, so if I were you, I would not get slack on my training. You will see me again, Tayla; you have not seen nor heard the last of me… *  
  
"Tayla? Tayla?"  
  
Tayla was still trembling, with slow, frightened tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
Caline pulled Tayla to her and hugged her. Tayla turned to her bedmate and wept for a few minutes on Caline's shoulder. Caline patted her back, as Tayla sobbed.  
  
*You have not seen nor heard the last of me… *  
  
"Yes, I have!" Tayla shrieked, frightening Caline into releasing her. "You will leave me alone, Vegeta!"  
  
"Tayla!" Caline cried in alarm. "Vegeta's not here!"  
  
Tayla took several deep, heaving breaths, trying to come back into reality. Finally Tayla collapsed onto the bed, with her head in Caline's lap. Caline patted and rubbed Tayla's back; Caline was crying herself now. Finally, their tears and Tayla's sobs began to cease, but Caline curled up near Tayla and held her.  
  
"Are you okay now, Tayla?" Caline asked concernedly. She and Tayla were the only ones in the room.  
  
"For-for now, yes," Tayla whispered. "But he's right, Caline; I have not seen nor heard the last of him. Or of any of them."  
  
"Yes, you have," Caline tried to assure her, but Tayla could not bring herself to believe it.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
10AM, Calmagian Royal Mountain Time, in the Angori Hotel dining room, an hour before the party…  
  
"Tayla, it was just a bad dream," Bendros tried to assure her at breakfast. "Frieza's minions have given up for now." He, Tayla, Caline, Kekron, and Riccan and his siblings were sitting at a table together, with Caline eating at her normal appetite again, Kekron and Bendros eating normally for them, and Tayla barely touching a bite of food. The four were by themselves; Gracina and Lektron and Shalila and Dirkan were in a private meeting with King Kitchator and Queen Kildara. Tayla hoped to see her Nama and Dirkan soon, so that she could talk to them about her dream.  
  
"Yes, for now," Tayla whispered. "But for how long?"  
  
Kekron tried to assure his young aunt. "Tayla, I don't believe that Frieza is going to try again so soon. His soldiers are probably still recuperating from the last war. We've won, Tayla; let's focus on that."  
  
"Kekron's right," Bendros told her. "Today is for celebration and happiness. Vegeta and his ilk are far away from here now. They won't be bothering us anytime soon. It will be okay now; it's over."  
  
"Yeah!" Riccan cried happily, as he loudly slurped on his fruit juice. "We won the war, Tayla, and you and Bendros beat up Zarbon to a pulp, that's what Bendros told me! I wish that I could have been there!"  
  
"You've defeated Vegeta twice," Caline pointed out. "He has to know that you're stronger than him and always will be. And you and Bendros both won against Zarbon. And you alone took down that awful Diamonique. I'll never forgive her for what she did to my brother!" Her whispery shook on the last sentence, and Kekron rested his hand on her arm to calm her. Caline took a few deep breaths.  
  
"I'm sorry about Ridikar," Tayla, who no longer wanted to discuss Vegeta or her disturbing dream about him, said. "I wish that I could have saved him, Caline."  
  
"It's okay," Caline assured her shakily. "It's Diamonique that I blame. I was upset when I found out that you and Kekron knew and didn't tell me right away, but I understand now why you two didn't at first. It still hurts knowing that I'll never see him again."  
  
"He thought about you in the end," Bendros told Caline. Bendros then passed on Ridikar's words of love to her, and Tayla told Caline about the promise that she made to Ridikar concerning her. Caline was touched that Tayla would promise to look after her.  
  
"Th-thank you, T-Tayla," Caline said in a trembling voice. "It-it means so much to me."  
  
Tayla nodded modestly, and Kekron asked Caline, "Would you mind if I ask what King Kitchator and Queen Kildara was talking to you about last night?"  
  
Caline brightened. She chirped, "Tayla was with me when they told me. I was even able to go tell Julien, and you should have seen the look on his face! He actually fainted!"  
  
"Literally," Tayla, suddenly more cheerful, added. "He fell over into a water fountain when Caline told him! Uncle Kitchator and Aunt Kildara are going to talk to Dirkan and Nama today, if they hadn't already."  
  
"They already have," boomed a great, mighty voice.  
  
All of the table's occupants turned to see Dirkan, who was accompanied by Shalila, Gracina, and Lektron.  
  
"What happened, Dirkan?" Bendros asked.  
  
"Does this concern Caline?" Kekron wanted to know.  
  
"Is she going home with us?" Tayka demanded, immediately thinking that the matter had to do with Caline's future fate.  
  
"I want to know!" Tila cried.  
  
"Is Caline going home with us? Is she? Is she?" Riccan cried.  
  
Caline and Tayla grinned at each other, and Bendros and Kekron looked at both girls, slightly puzzled.  
  
"Well, is she, or what?" Riccan wanted to know.  
  
"Don't keep us in suspense!" Tila wailed.  
  
Nikon added between mouthfuls of food, "So, is she?"  
  
Shalila said, smiling, "Caline, do you wish to tell them?"  
  
Caline said steadily, "I-I do."  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!" Riccan and his siblings squealed.  
  
"Will she be living with us?" Tayka wanted to know.  
  
"Can she sleep in my bed?" Tila asked.  
  
"She's sleeping in my bed," Tayka told her.  
  
"She's sleeping in mine!" Tila argued.  
  
"No, she's not!"  
  
"Yes, she is!"  
  
"No, she's not! She's sleeping in my bed!"  
  
"My bed!"  
  
"Mine!"  
  
"Girls!" Gracina scolded them, and Tila and Tayka fell silent. "Yes, Caline will be staying with us, but she will have her own bed and her own room."  
  
"But she might get scared to sleep in a new place by herself," Tayka pointed out practically.  
  
"We know you were," Riccan teased her. "You screamed the first night here because you heard a noise outside the room, and it turned out to be the wind."  
  
"I wasn't scared!" Tayka protested.  
  
"You were so. You even wet your bed."  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Did so."  
  
"Did not! I had a glass of water!"  
  
"Which you drank before you went to bed," Riccan pointed out. "Nikon told me the next morning."  
  
"How would Nikon know? He was sleeping with you."  
  
"'Cause Tila told me," the usually quiet Nikon pointed out.  
  
"That's why I had to sleep on the couch," Tila added. "We were sharing a bed that night."  
  
"Children, that's enough," Gracina ordered.  
  
"More than enough," Lektron added. "All of you have wet the bed at one time or the other."  
  
Tayka was near the point of tears, for no child her age wanted to admit if he or she wet a bed. Caline stood up and walked around the table to whisper to Tayka:  
  
"It's okay. I wet the bed quite a few times after my mother died. It's not the end of the world, if you do." And one of those times had been after the first time that Alberm had raped her, but Caline did not mention that. She wanted to forget about Alberm forever.  
  
Caline gave Tayka a handkerchief to dab her eyes, and Tayka used it also to blow her nose loudly. Tayka whispered back to Caline:  
  
"Maybe you should sleep with Tila after all. I might accidentally do it again."  
  
"We'll work something out," Caline assured her.  
  
Kekron's face was filled with unmixed pleasure at the news of Caline becoming part of the Clan of Chloe family. He looked at the tiny Calmagian princess longingly, smiling wistfully. Bendros patted his shoulder.  
  
"If it's meant to be, it'll happen," Bendros assured him.   
  
"I-I hope so," Kekron said nervously.  
  
"What are you two talking about?" Tayla asked.  
  
Kekron blushed brightly, and he couldn't look anyone in the face. He didn't want to admit that he held a crush on Caline because Caline was still a child, and Caline was at the table. Bendros quickly covered for him.  
  
"Um…just men stuff," he said quickly. It was a poor excuse, but the best one that he could come up with.  
  
"What men stuff?" Riccan wanted to know. "I'm a man too, so I should get to know."  
  
"You're nine!" Tila scoffed. "You're not a man yet."  
  
"Yes, I am!" Riccan retorted. "I fought in the war. That makes me a man now!"  
  
"How so?"  
  
"It just does!"  
  
"Riccan has grown up quite a bit," Lektron acknowledged. "I'm very proud of him. He did his part well."  
  
"Really?" Riccan asked hopefully.  
  
"Really," Gracina told him lovingly, bending down to kiss Riccan on his cheek. Riccan blushed, embarrassed.  
  
"Awwwww!" everyone cooed.  
  
"I wish that I'd been able to fight," Tayka asserted. "You all must have had so much fun!"  
  
All of the fighters in the war, which would later come to be called the Calmagian-Astorian War Against Frieza by the Calmagians and simply the War On Calmag by the Astorians, looked over at Tayka, and then at each other. The war had been victorious, but it hadn't been what anyone would call 'fun'. Not even little Riccan would have called it that. The fighters were all proud and happy that they had helped to make today's later celebration a success, but if they had been able to prevent the war, they would have. So many lives had been taken, so many lives that could have been spared. And both the Calmagian and the Astorian races had lost loved ones. Whatever the war was called, neither race would ever forget what happened.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
3PM, Calmagian Royal Northern Time, on the street outside of the Angori Hotel…  
  
A grand parade was standing along the newly paved street that had been closed to traffic. King Kitchator was in the balcony on the tenth floor of the Angori Hotel, calling through a silver megaphone:  
  
"Two days ago, our planet was saved, thanks to both of our races. However, we couldn't have been here today, if it hadn't been for the Clan of Chloe of planet Astoria and their friends. It is because of Shalila Chloe and her family that we are alive now. We owe them our thanks and our support for all they have done for us!"  
  
"As your king, I have made many sad mistakes, which I intend to make reparations for. Among these sad mistakes was the way that I have viewed and treated women and girls. Many men, as well as myself, have made that mistake. We have seen the Astorian women and girls fight, and they have fought better than many a young man I have seen."  
  
"During the hostage crisis when Zarbon and his soldiers held us captive at Chateau de Tamilieu, it was the females who held a huge part in helping many hostages to escape. I would like to take this time to thank Princess Natala Chloe, Princess Hazel Chloe, as well as Prince Kekron Chloe and Steak the Meatian for helping to save so many people from both the Astorian and Calmagian races during that time. And I would especially like to thank our little Princess Caline de Tamilieu, dear Caline who was Crown Prince Amitar's youngest child. Without her knowledge of the labyrinths, many of us would have not made it out of the castle alive."  
  
"Actually, much of our survival is due to Caline. Caline's husband, Alberm Dunlop, was a traitor to Calmag and a disgrace to the Calmagian race. He sadly turned out to be a spy for Frieza, and it was Caline who accidentally discovered her husband's treachery. She was courageous enough to come to tell us, even if it meant risking her own life. And neither her father, Amitar, nor I treated her very well."  
  
"The Clan of Chloe has pointed out to us our mistakes, and some of those mistakes concerned Caline. Much to my deep shame, I forced that innocent child to marry a cruel man. My son, Amitar, and I stood by and did nothing while Caline suffered through her marriage, and it is something that I will never forgive myself for. I was wrong, and that is not easy for me to admit. Both Amitar and I were wrong in our ways of thinking, and these ways passed on to Ridikar as well."  
  
"It was Ridikar who first saw the error of our ways," King Kitchator continued. "You see, he lost someone very precious to him because his way of thinking, our way of thinking cost him his fiancée…"  
  
As King Kitchator began to tell the tale of Ridikar and Tayla, Tayla was down on a parade float built for all of the Astorian people. The parade float was elaborate with electric-blue and neon-green roses, the Bright Healers of Calmag covering almost the entire float except for a series of three tiers in the middle. The tiers were encircled with green and blue roses, and all of Tayla's family and friends (who all wore their best clothes, with some wearing things that they had been able to salvage from the castle) were standing on the tiers, with the warriors and healiors who had fought in the war on the top tier. Tayla was wedged between Shalila and Dirkan, and she was dressed in a turquoise, short-sleeved caftan with a scoop neckline and a light aqua sash draped over her right shoulder. A large, electric-blue rose was pinned on the left side of her hair, and her ebony hair was twisted into a braided coronet. Her lips were painted a soft scarlet shade, but other than that, her makeup was light.  
  
Tears freely streamed down Tayla's cheeks when King Kitchator continued to speak about Ridikar, how much Ridikar had meant to his family, and how much Ridikar had meant to all of Calmag in general. She had never thought that she would be here now, crying for a boy who had, near the end, done all he could to change his ways and his attitude towards females.  
Shalila stood near her, majestic and impressive in a hunter-green caftan and sea-foam green sash and her royal gold-and-ruby Superior Gran crown, yet sympathetic and somber at the same time. She dabbed Tayla's eyes with a silk handkerchief. "Tayla, it's okay; please don't cry today, dandelion. Today's a day to celebrate, a day for happiness and a new beginning."  
  
Tayla finally managed a smile, and she and her grandmother hugged each other tight. Dirkan rubbed Tayla's back. Tayla looked up towards King Kitchator's direction, but it was not King Kitchator she was looking at, as King Kitchator now talked about Amitar. Tayla had cared little for Ridikar's father, so she did not pay much attention to the king's speech at this point. Instead, she looked past King Kitchator, towards Queen Kildara and Prince Julien, who were standing behind the king. Tayla grew worried then, for it was not the queen or the future ruler of Calmag she was looking for.  
  
And finally, Tayla smiled wider when she found whom she was seeking. She saw little Caline up on the balcony, just cater-corner from Julien. Caline was dabbing her cheeks, for she had wept for Ridikar during the part of her grandfather's speech about her brother. But Caline had never looked lovelier, or so grown up. The little Calmagian princess had her pale gold hair loose and flowing with a braided band across her ivory brow, and she was dressed in a sheer rose-colored gown with a small V neckline, short, puffed sleeves, and delicate lace on the skirt. She wore a green Bright Healer rose in her pale hair. It was a dress that gently clung to what curves she did have; at eleven, she was on her way to developing an hourglass figure, although it would not show for a few years yet. Caline was certain to grow up into a great beauty one day, and her gentleness and sweetness enhanced her loveliness even more.   
  
Tayla looked up at her directly, wistfully, with a longing too gentle for envy, for she was convinced that she would never be as beautiful as Caline was now and would eventually become later. Tayla knew from what she been told from various sources, that she was pretty, although a little too thin with slight curves (her Nama had said that Tayla had a pixyish figure, petite and adorable). Most people would call Tayla cute before they would call her beautiful. Tayla had not paid much attention to her looks until the past year when she became more aware of boys and young men as potential suitors more than potential sparring partners. She knew that she wasn't plain, but she felt that the beauty of girls such as Caline or Petalia and women such as Gracina or Natala greatly overshadowed what attractiveness she did have. (Petalia, Gracina, and Natala at that time were considered to be the Clan of Chloe beauties.)  
  
But Caline smiled when she saw Tayla in the parade crowd, and she waved excitedly, hoping that Tayla would see. Tayla waved back at her, and even though many of Tayla's family were now waving back at Caline enthusiastically (particularly Kekron, who could not keep his eyes off of her), Caline's wave seemed to be just for Tayla alone. Tayla touched the rose in her hair lightly. Caline had given the rose in Tayla's hair to her, and Tayla had given Caline the green rose in Caline's hair, and both girls had agreed to wear the roses at today's celebration.  
  
Tayla's heart swelled with sisterly love towards her Calmagian friend. Caline had become one of Tayla's closest friends, and Tayla was glad that she was coming home to Chloe, Astoria with them. She remembered that poignant moment when King Kitchator quietly announced in front of both girls that he would be turning over permanent custody of Princess Caline Alisine Famalie de Tamilieu, daughter of Crown Prince Amitar de Tamilieu and Princess Shydine de Tamilieu, to Superior Gran Shalila Chloe and Superior Granden Dirkan Chloe of Astoria. Shalila had later made Gracina and Lektron the guardians of Caline, and Caline would live with them.   
But Caline and Tayla had already planned many sleepovers in each other's rooms when they returned to Chloe, Astoria, and Tayla surreptitiously plotted out a late-night-after-all-the-adults-go-to-bed party in the hotel room that she was sharing with Caline at this time; she had Petalia's help in this matter, for Petalia had planned several such after-hours sleepover parties in the past on Chloe without getting caught once. The secret all-girls party for those ten years and older was planned for later tonight. Fayra and Jaca had wanted to invite boys, but Petalia and Tayla, who were throwing the covert celebration party for Caline's becoming a member of the Clan of Chloe family, reluctantly refused. Throwing a quiet (as possible with excited adolescent girls) party would probably be considered a minor infraction, should they get caught, but Tayla allowing boys or young men in her and Caline's room late at night would be a more serious offense. Tayla would have liked to invite Bendros, but that wouldn't have been fair to the other girls, who had been told that they couldn't invite any males.  
Tayla only took her mind off of the secret party that she and Petalia were planning when she heard her Uncle Kitchator say her name.  
  
"…I am sure that you are all aware that Frieza's forces were after little Princess Tayla Chloe. Well, they didn't succeed in taking her away, nor did they succeed in destroying all life on this planet. We are all glad and thankful that Tayla was not taken from her family, but much of that was Tayla's own doing. She fought valiantly along with her family to help save us all. We owe so much thanks to the Clan of Chloe family, especially her, her grandparents, the rulers of Astoria, Shalila and Dirkan Chloe, those who helped to free us from captivity when we were held hostage, and all those who fought in the war. Tayla and all the other females who helped in the war efforts have proven to all men and boys that females are just as worthy and valuable as males. Seeing the Clan of Chloe females and little Caline have made a believer out of me. Of course, my dear wife and her sister, Toria, had talked some sense into me as well. I remembered why I fell in love with my wife, your queen, in the first place because she was so different from Calmagian women. But I'm sure that you all have heard enough of me for one day, and so let's stand up and cheer for all of our heroes and heroines!"  
And following King Kitchator's lengthy speech, were cheers, hoots, hollers, applause, and noisemakers echoing throughout the city. A band made of players with exotic instruments began to play what Calmagians considered to be marching music, and King Kitchator declared:  
  
"Let the parade and festivities begin!"  
  
"About time," Dirkan mumbled. "His speeches are about as long as King Cold's." Dirkan had met King Cold during the years that the Namek had worked for Queen Frost before turning to the side of good.  
  
"Dirkan!" Shalila scolded.  
  
The parade floats began to move forward along the newly paved street in front of the Angori Hotel. At the head of the parade, was the Astorian float, with many well-wishers tossing flowers and candies at the Clan of Chloe. Single Calmagian maidens blew kisses with both hands and actually crawled up onto the floats to come after the Astorian males. Lieutenant Balboun, who was walking alongside the float, tried to keep them at bay, but there were too many ladies for him to restrain.   
  
Dollan Rubenstein, Alora's admirer, snuck onto the float with two pretty brunettes. He dashed up to Alora and dared to hug her in front of everyone.   
  
"I'm so happy that you're alive, my Alora!" he crowed.  
  
Bajal began to march right around the top tier to reach Dollan, but Raakon, Cletos, and Lektron gathered around him to prevent him from killing the besotted Calmagian lad. Alora herself quickly hugged him back and told him that she was glad that he was alive.  
  
"Really?" Dollan asked hopefully.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, now go and have a happy life, will you? I'm sure that old men haven't snatched some of these girls up yet, so go pursue one of them. I love my husband, Dollan, and I'm not leaving him. Time to move on, kid."  
  
Dollan looked at her desperately, realizing that "his" Alora was serious. "Okay, whatever you say…" he said sadly, as he began to climb down the slow-moving float with his head hung down. Alora felt a strange pang, and it wrung her heart. The usually hardened warrior called after Dollan:  
  
"Hey, Dollan, wait!"  
  
Dollan turned around, sudden bright hope glowing in his dark eyes.   
  
Alora climbed down to the last tier and walked up to Dollan. She then leaned down towards the thin boy and kissed him lightly on his cheek. Dollan blushed heavily, as Alora said gruffly:  
  
"You'll make a fine, devoted husband someday…for someone else, someone closer to your age. Just make sure that she wants you in return; don't be like those old perverts on this planet who force little girls to marry them."  
  
"Oh, I won't!" Dollan promised passionately. "I don't believe in that sort of thing at all! I want my bride to be happy with me!"  
  
"You treat her well, like you did me, she will," Alora assured him brusquely. She then patted his shoulder. "Now, I have to get back to my husband. Gooden boden and gooden luken."  
  
"You too…" Dollan whispered, as Alora left to join her husband.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Petalia was standing on the edge of the top tier when she felt a cold, thick hand creep up her slender, long neck. She nearly shrieked, attracting the attention of several people on the moving float.  
  
"DEDRON!" Petalia cried.  
  
Dedron chuckled, as he wrapped his muscled arm around his sister's trim waist. He whispered in her ear, "Have you forgiven me yet, Petals?"  
  
"I-I suppose," Petalia said shakily, trying to move away from him. She was afraid to be near Dedron now, for she had confessed all of his dirty deeds on Astoria to their grandmother and Dirkan. Some were minor infractions that Shalila and Dirkan could let slide, but there were other…more serious crimes that Dedron would have to answer for.  
  
"Good," Dedron told her cheerfully. "Now we can make a fresh start! Now that the war is over, we can start rebuilding our lives. You're still interested in Rojal, right?"  
  
"Yes," Petalia admitted slowly. "But I think that he likes Caline."  
  
"And so do I," Dedron told her silkily. "Not as much as you, of course, but of course I can't court you! I want Caline, and you want Rojal, so I figured we could help each other out. I'll help you get Rojal, and you can help me get Caline-"  
  
"Dedron," Petalia interrupted him hesitantly. "I don't think Caline likes you that much. I don't think that she cares for Rojal either. I believe that she likes Kekron; she and Kekron have become close."  
  
"Kekron hasn't made one move on her," Dedron snorted. "He just sees her as a little sister!"  
  
"Kekron may be waiting until she's older," Petalia pointed out. "She is only eleven."  
  
"He can wait all he wants, but that doesn't mean that I will," Dedron told his sister. "At least not for very long. I don't understand why Caline would want a weakling like Kekron anyway. He's not even a warrior! He does nothing but trip over his own two feet and invent stuff! He doesn't even like to fight!"  
  
"He fights in his own way," Petalia told him. "Caline told me that Kekron talked Norbrook, who kidnapped Caline, into releasing her. Kekron saved Caline several times."  
  
"Maybe, but Caline still needs a strong man, a great warrior such as myself. Why, I almost defeated Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans, or I would have, if it had not been for a certain female lapdog, a scrawny, black-haired, brown-eyed lapdog! Just like a dog to ruin my plans, and Great-Nama's lapdog at that!"  
  
"Stop insulting Tayla!" Petalia snapped. "Dedron, she saved your life from that awful Vegeta! Why can't you be grateful? Why do you have to hate her so much? Rojal and Aunt Gorna came to their senses; why can't you?"  
  
"Tayla took away what was meant to be my victory! Once again, Tayla is a great hero while I'm on the bottom of Great-Nama and Dirkan's favorites list! It's always Tayla, Tayla, Tayla! Tayla who had her Awakening at the age of seven, Tayla who saved Astoria from Vegeta and his bunch, Tayla who saved Caline from Caline's old hubby, Tayla who helped to defeat the great Zarbon, Tayla who defeated Vegeta a second time, Tayla who-"  
  
"Stop it!" Petalia cried. "So what if Tayla is stronger and higher-reputed than you? You should be grateful that because of her and others like her, our family is still alive! Tayla even tried to make amends with you after beating you up for insulting Great-Nama, and you had her carried off!"  
  
"And Ridikar fouled up and brought her back!" Dedron hissed. "And because of my trying to do our family a favor, Great-Nama and Dirkan had a long 'talk' with me this morning. Somehow, some fool or spy or whoever told them of all the stuff I did when we back on Chloe. Somehow, they found out that I shoplifted at a bunch of stores in Chloe Hyacinth, somehow they found out that I sabotaged some of Kekron's stupid inventions to get back at Kekron for telling on me when I tried to have a bit of fun with that cute little Bathing Laborer-"  
  
"Dedron, you tried to molest her even after she told you to leave her alone, and Kekron saw you bothering her. Kekron told on you because what you were doing was wrong," Petalia pointed out.  
  
"She was just a servant girl; she was nobody!" Dedron protested. "Kekron even went and told on me to Tayla and Great-Nama when he found out that I stole most of Tayla's underclothes and burned them after that big fight that we had. Kekron will get what's coming to him too…" Dedron and Kekron had never been the best of friends, and Kekron had foiled several of Dedron's nasty schemes back on Chloe. Dedron held a nasty grudge against his Technician cousin, a grudge almost as malicious as the one he held against Tayla. However, Dedron had been more focused on becoming stronger and "better" than Tayla that he had not spent much time in figuring out how to make Kekron's life miserable. "But Kekron can wait. Right now, it's mainly Tayla that I wish to bring down."  
  
"Dedron, don't you do anything to Tayla, or I'll go to Father and Great-Nama and Dirkan!" Petalia threatened. Dedron's small eyes narrowed to slits, and he glared darkly at his sister. He smiled, saying silkily:  
  
"Petals, you wouldn't squeal on me, would you, if I did? Like you told on me about my having Tayla carried off? Did you just happen to tell Great-Nama and Dirkan some other things about me, hmm?"   
  
Petalia paled, backing away from Dedron.  
  
"Did you tell Great-Nama and Dirkan about the other things that I did, Petals? Did you?"  
  
Petalia opened her rosebud mouth to say no, but the frightened look on her face told Dedron the truth. Dedron quickly realized that it had been his own sister who had exposed his other dirty deeds to their grandmother and her husband.   
  
"You little slut," he hissed in a low tone. "You told on me, didn't you?"  
  
Petalia tried to speak, to deny all of Dedron's accusations, but Dedron then seized her by her ivory arm and yanked her closer to him.  
  
"Tell me the truth, Petals, or I'll throw you off of this float," he told her icily.  
  
"I-I-" Petalia stammered.  
  
"What did you tell them, Petals? What did you-"  
  
"Let her go, Dedron!"  
  
"Now, Dedron."  
  
Dedron abruptly shoved Petalia from him, as he hissed at two of the most despised people in his life: Tayla and Kekron.  
  
"Don't you hurt her!" Tayla ordered Dedron in a sharp tone.  
  
"Stay out of it, mutt!" Dedron growled. "This isn't your affair!"  
  
"You heard her," Kekron said coolly. "Do not lay a hand on Petalia again. You should be ashamed of yourself, Dedron, for treating your own sister like that."  
  
"How would you feel, Kekkie, if your own sister told on you to everyone?" Dedron asked edgily.  
  
"It doesn't matter," Kekron told him coldly. "You don't need to be hurting her, ever."  
  
"That's right," Tayla told him icily, as she came over to Petalia and looked over her. "Are you okay, 'Talia?"  
  
Petalia nodded, but she was pale and trembling. Tayla noticed and said to Dedron, "If I find out that you hurt her after this, I'll come after you, do you hear me? You're not going to hurt anyone else!"  
  
Dedron smiled, a chilling, icy smile that would have unnerved Tayla, if she had been a less unflappable girl. "Fine, have it your way, my little lapdog. After all, dogs are supposed to protect their friends, right? But you know, Tayla, that I'm not overly fond of dogs of any kind, especially humanoid ones with black hair and brown eyes and a big mouth. You and my weakling cousin won this one, but you two won't always be so lucky. Tayla, this warning is especially for you, my dear: if you stick your paws and your wet nose in my affairs again, Great-Nama is going to have one crippled or even missing pet. Do you understand me, mutt?"  
  
"Understand this, you bastardi!"  
  
Tayla forgot that she was supposed to try to control her temper, and she launched herself at Dedron with her fists clenched, but Bendros came up and caught her from behind, pulling her into his arms. Tayla struggled a little, as Bendros pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms and tail around her tiny waist.  
  
"Tayla, he's not worth it," Bendros told her. "You and Kekron have already won this round. Don't let Dedron bring you down to his level. Take a deep breath and let it go. Dedron is no true threat; he's more mouth than muscle. Calm down; don't let him spoil the day for you."  
  
Tayla took a few deep breaths, debating mentally whether to take Bendros's advice or give Dedron what was coming to him. Finally, she allowed herself to calm down, as she took Bendros's advice. Bendros loosened his grip on her when she began to relax.  
  
"Can I let you go now without a murder being committed?" Bendros asked her jokingly.  
Tayla nodded. "Yes, yes. I won't kill him…at least not today. I hate for there to be another death in our family so soon, and Dedron's blood isn't worth having on my so-called 'paws'."  
  
"That's the spirit," Bendros told her with a light chuckle.   
  
"Bendros is right," Kekron told her. "Dedron isn't worth wasting your energy on. I think he'll behave himself for the rest of the day." He looked at Dedron and said coolly, "Won't you?"  
  
Dedron only snorted in response.  
  
"And," Bendros added. "I believe that Dedron owes a couple of young ladies an apology."  
  
Dedron huffed, "I don't apologize to traitors like Petalia or dogs like Tayla. I'm not so worried about Petalia, although I want nothing more to that with that traitorous wench! But I'll leave her alone for now. Good luck with Tayla, Bendros, although you're going to need a leash to restrain her and a muzzle to control her temper. You may even have to whack her nose with a rolled-up paper to make her obey you, although I think that in her case, a few beatings on her backside with a stick would definitely do the trick. If I were you, Bendros, I would use the stick first, especially if you plan to screw her when she gets older, like I'm sure she hopes that you do. Although it's beyond my understanding as to why a future Clan Granden would want to screw a mongrel-OWWWW!"  
  
Kekron had to catch Dedron just now when Dedron nearly toppled off of the float. When Dedron managed to shake Kekron off and stumble to his feet, Dedron was sporting a bloody nose. Turquoise blood was trickling down Dedron's wide mouth and fat chin.  
  
Meanwhile, Bendros was wiping off his fist with a handkerchief. Tayla and Kekron and Petalia were staring at the normally even-tempered Bendros in shock, as Bendros calmly continued to clean his fist. Dedron shoved past Kekron, and abruptly left to the other side of the float; he was deeply humiliated and angered. Now Bendros was on Dedron's ever-growing list of people to take revenge against.  
  
"Thanken, Bendros," Tayla whispered, as she looked over Bendros's fist. No real damage had been done to it.  
  
Bendros permitted himself a smile. "No problem, princess, although I think that Dedron's going to hold a nasty grudge against me for some time. He does need a good hit now and then."  
  
Tayla shook her head and grinned. "And after you told me to calm down, and that Dedron wasn't worth my trouble? You're not setting a very good example for me, Bendros," she said teasingly.  
  
Bendros chuckled. "I'm probably not, little Tayla, but Dedron did have it coming to him. I was a very bad example just now, however."  
  
"Yes, you were," Kekron said with a smile. "And after all your speeches about controlling your temper and not being violent unnecessarily."  
  
"Yes, I've just now made myself a hypocrite. My mother would probably not be too pleased with me," Bendros said with a rueful smile.  
  
"You were defending the honor of a Princess of Chloe," Tayla said sweetly. "Surely, Gran Mauria wouldn't object to that."  
  
"You're probably right, little Tayla, you're probably right."  
  
And they continued to laugh, as the colorful parade continued to stroll down the streets of Magan.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Midnight, in Tayla and Caline's room at the Angori Hotel…  
  
"Bendros punched Dedron?" Caline asked, amazed.  
  
"He deserved it," Petalia told her, as she pulled out a pink cardboard bakery box from under a bed sheet. All of the Clan of Chloe girls and their friends ten years and older were either on Tayla and Caline's bed or sitting on the floor around it. Petalia opened the box to reveal a large pink-frosted cake trimmed with green icing and blue roses. The cake's letters read, "WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY, PRINCESS CALINE CHLOE!"  
  
"It's chocolate," Petalia told her, as all the girls squealed in delight over the cake.  
"Thank you!" Caline cried breathlessly. Her bright blue eyes were filled with happy tears, as Tayla, Petalia, Veal, Lelina, Fayra, and Jaca looked on.  
  
"I'm hungry," Fayra mumbled. "Let's eat."   
  
"Caline gets first piece," Tayla told her, as she took out an elegant carving knife that had come with Petalia's cake and cut a large piece for Caline. She then cut up the cake in other pieces for the girls.   
  
The girls also drank juice from crystal goblets, which Petalia had "borrowed" from her father's belongings. Cletos had a sentimental attachment to those goblets because they had once belonged to his and Tayla's mother, Tika, and he took them with him everywhere, even if he rarely allowed them to be used. Petalia was certain that she could and her maid, Tursula (who had covered for Petalia's parties in the past after Petalia had bribed her with money and extra time off) could clean them and put them back in their box before her father found out.  
  
The girls had each brought a snack or treat to share with the others, and they dined on chocolates, cakes, cookies, and various other sweets. The room was dimly lit, thanks to a battery-powered lantern, procured from Jaca's belongings.  
  
The girls did a round of toasting with their goblets, the toasting being one of Shalila Chloe's Earth traditions that the Clan of Chloe was fond of. Many toasts were attributed to Caline, and then some were dedicated to Tayla and Jaca for their fighting in the war. Tayla and Jaca, along with all of the other fighters in the Clan of Chloe family, had received honors from King Kitchator earlier at the larger party given by the Calmagian royal family. The larger party had been a huge success, and even Dedron and Julien had behaved themselves during the festivities.  
  
Tayla smiled, as she remembered the partying and the dancing at the Angori Hotel ballroom after the parade. Calmagian dancing was a little more seductive and wild than Astorian dancing was, but somehow the party guests had managed to combine both styles together.  
Bendros had danced with her, and Tayla had wanted to ask him how he felt about her, but she was too shy. Shyness was a rare acquaintance of hers, but it came around whenever Bendros was involved.   
  
Kekron had mostly danced with Caline, and Kekron had danced very well, although it had been clear to Tayla when she saw him that Kekron was more adept at fixing and creating machines and other inventions than dancing. Kekron was more comfortable in his private drafting room than he was on the dance floor. Well, at least Kekron was not stepping on anyone's feet anymore, and Caline had been happiest when Kekron had been her dancing partner. Tayla had noticed the closeness between Kekron and Caline, and she thought that they might make a good couple someday. Sensitive, sensible, mature Kekron would be perfect for shy, gentle, timid Caline.  
  
And Tayla hoped that Bendros would one day want to be with her. Tayla and Bendros and Caline and Kekron. Those names just sounded so right together. Tayla wished and prayed that Bendros would wait just a few more years for her. At fourteen, Tayla would be officially old enough for courting, and she could have suitors of her choosing. Then finally, Bendros could court her, if he wanted to. Tayla wasn't sure how to get him to notice her more than he already did.   
  
Perhaps she could ask Petalia, who seemed to know more about young men than any of her peers. Petalia seemed to be the worldliest out of Tayla's female peers, and Petalia had had several young men panting after her back on Chloe. And on Calmag, many young Calmagian males had pursued Petalia before the war as well. Petalia had liked them all, both Astorian and Calmagian, but almost all the girls in her age group knew that Petalia had her heart set on Rojal, who still paid her little notice. Tayla privately hoped that Petalia would pursue another boy, for even though Rojal had matured, Tayla wasn't sure that he could make Petalia happy. But that was Petalia's decision to make, not Tayla's.  
  
Tayla had occasionally envied Petalia's beauty and her ways with young men, but not her family life. Cletos had slowly tried to be a better father towards his two children, especially with Petalia, but he could not reach Dedron. Cletos was afraid to discipline Dedron, for fear of driving him further away. And Dedron had not changed for the better; his mistreatment and abuse of others had now extended to his once-beloved sister, who had once been his closest ally. Tayla felt more sorry for Petalia than she did for Cletos and Dedron, but she could not change or control Cletos's or Dedron's ways. All she could do was be there for Petalia, especially since Cletos had become more depressed and morose. It was apparent that Cletos had still loved Farla, no matter what Farla had done to him. Tayla hoped and prayed that her brother would be able to move on.  
  
In the meantime, there was a party going on, and happiness was to be the main course on the party's menu. The other girls were giggling over some jokes that Jaca, who had an enormous sense of humor, was cracking. Petalia was making fun of one of her suitors back on Chloe, Astoria, and Veal was telling some anecdotes about her deceased fiancé, Tuna. Fayra was greedily eating her third piece of cake, Lelina was braiding Petalia's hair, and Caline was hugging her knees, sitting on her pillow with a gentle smile and reflective expression on her enchanting face. She looked to be so utterly at peace with herself that it made Tayla smile as well. Tayla sidled over to her and asked if she would like her hair braided. Caline smiled and nodded a yes, and Tayla set to braiding her hair. Caline's hair was as soft and supple as hers, and Tayla liked the color.  
  
Suddenly, a loud knock rapped from behind the door. Some of the girls began to shriek, especially when they could not sense the ki signals of the visitor, or visitors behind the door.  
  
"We've been caught!" Petalia cried.  
  
"My mother is going to kill me!" Lelina squealed.  
  
"Oh no! What if my father finds out?" Veal exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, my Orchida!" Jaca cried.  
  
Caline trembled, as Tayla climbed off of the bed. "Everyone calm down! I'll get it!"  
  
"But you and I will get in trouble, Tayla!" Petalia wailed.  
  
"Calm down," Tayla told her as nonchalantly as she could. Shakily, but quickly, she ran to the door, hoping whoever was knocking would not be too hard on her and her friends, or at the very least not go to her grandmother and Dirkan about her covert party.  
  
"Yes?" she asked hesitantly, as she peeped through the keyhole. She released a sigh of relief when she saw who was visiting. She opened the door slowly.  
  
Bendros and Kekron were standing at the doorway, Kekron with a puzzled expression, and Bendros with a mock-stern one. Tayla laughed nervously.  
  
"Um…we were just throwing a small party to celebrate Caline's becoming a member of our family," she spoke quickly.  
  
Bendros's mock-stern expression didn't last for long because a corner of his lip twitched upward. "I…see. So when do you young ladies plan on going to bed?" in a falsely severe voice.  
  
"Um…hopefully before any more adults wake up," Tayla said hesitantly.  
  
Caline came up behind Tayla then, trembling, as if she were afraid of a whipping. She saw Bendros's fierce expression, but she did not realize that Bendros was feigning it. Kekron smiled gently at Caline to reassure her.  
  
"It's okay, Caline," Kekron told her softly. "I was up late tonight, working on some plans to help your people rebuild, and Bendros had a craving for a midnight snack, and then Bendros heard you girls carrying on."  
  
"Are you going to tell on us?" Fayra asked from the bed.   
  
Tayla and Caline looked at Bendros and Kekron pleadingly. Finally, Bendros smiled. "Not if you girls keep the noise level down and get to bed before sunrise."  
Sighs of relief were heard all around. Tayla smiled, and Caline relaxed. "Thanken," she whispered. Caline shyly nodded a thanks.  
  
"Welcomen," Bendros told her. Both young men left and closed the door behind them. Caline opened the door again and watched Kekron leave. Tayla came up behind her and peeked through the crack of the door. She looked from Bendros and Kekron walking down the hall to Caline, whose cheeks were flushed. But Tayla's cheeks were flushed as well.  
  
"I think Tayla and Caline like Bendros and Kekron!" Petalia teased.  
  
"Petalia…" Tayla began reproachfully, but the other girls joined in on the teasing.  
And shortly afterwards was a flurry of pillow fights and shrieking. Kami Orchida had to have been watching over them that night, for the girls' party was never exposed, despite all of the new noise.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Later that night...  
  
Caline was sleeping peacefully next to Tayla, snugggled up against her friend. Tayla lay wide awake, and she was calm and reflective. She missed Astoria dearly, and she would miss it still, for she and her family would be staying on Calmag for at least close to a year to help with the rebuilding of the ravaged planet. Astoria was helping Calmag rebuild as part of the alliance agreements in the treaty.  
  
King Kitchator had signed the treaty papers with Shalila, Dirkan, Gorna, and Rojal. A reluctant Julien had been coerced into signing as well, and Tayla had been utterly delighted to know that Caline's arrogant, bratty brother had been humbled for the time being. Julien had not dared to bother Caline again, but he now only spoke to her when it was absolutely necessary. Caline still was not fond of him and she had not completely forgiven him for his actions, but she was cordial to him; she was too happy to dwell much on the things that Julien had done to her. After all, she would soon go home with her beloved Astorians.  
  
Tayla snuggled down next to Caline, certain that no nightmares involving Vegeta or any of his cohorts would invade her dreams tonight.  
  
And they didn't.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A/N: Epilogue is to come soon, along with acknowledgements and thanks. I'm currently working on the plotline for "Hope Never Dies", and I hope to have it begin within the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking of making the next epic into story arcs (those of you familiar with soap operas probably know what I'm talking about) that all combine into one big story.  
  
I apologize for taking so long to update. It was a combination of minor writer's block, a long, well-deserved vacation in the mountains of my state, and of course all of ff.net's problems. I had hoped to finish the story before I had gone on vacation on the 21st, but it didn't work out that way thanks to vacation preparations and ff.net being down the week before I had to leave. I will try not to take so long with the epilogue; don't worry, I won't make you all wait a month for the last chapter!  
  
Gooden boden fro noy,  
  
Sawnya 


	112. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE: The End…Or The Beginning?  
  
One year later on Calmag…  
  
The damage to Calmag had been repaired much quicker than anyone from the Calmagian or the Astorian race ever expected. Of course, there was no way to bring back the many lives that had been lost, and the lives of those living were never the same again. Calmagians had learned just how vulnerable they had been, despite all of their technology, and the Astorians had learned that their problems with Frieza and his forces were still as great as ever, despite their increasing strength.   
  
The royal castle, Chateau de Tamilieu, had been completely restored, and almost all of the damaged cities, from Magan to Rendor to Hensley, had been renovated. The Astorians and the royal Calmagian family had moved back into the Chateau de Tamilieu. Almost all of Calmag had been completely restored or renovated.  
  
But it was the rebuilding of the attitude towards females on Calmag that was the true miracle.  
  
The deceased Prince Ridikar's new hopes for a Calmag that had better treatment of women and girls were on their way to being fulfilled. Thanks to some new conditions in the alliance treaties that Shalila and Dirkan and Gorna had firmly insisted upon (in fact, they had "politely" informed King Kitchator that if he didn't do something about the treatment of females on his planet, he could not count on the Astorians' help the next time Calmag was threatened), many laws discriminating against females and forcing them into unwanted marriage were abolished.   
  
Girls and women were now allowed to bring requests for divorce, and this resulted in an incredible increase in divorces, now that Calmagian females realized that they no longer had to stay in abusive or miserable marriages. Shalila and Gorna together had begun a program called Second Chances on Calmag to help newly divorced females rebuild their lives and become independent. Many of the Astorians were happy to help in this program, and anyone was invited to help, even adolescents. Tayla, Caline, and their peers in their age group did what they could to help Calmagian women and girls rebuild happier lives of choice and freedom.  
  
The program involved training women and girls for jobs and careers, to help them go back to school, and provided shelters to care for girls under sixteen who had divorced their husbands, but were still too young to lead lives on their own without adult help. These shelters were quickly becoming crowded, for many young girls under sixteen could not safely go back home to their families without reprisals from abusive or overbearing fathers or other male guardians. Some of these young girls had put in petitions for asylum on Astoria, and Shalila and Dirkan had granted the requests of those girls that had no other options. King Kitchator had not been pleased with that, but since it had been part of the treaty to allow unhappy females to leave, he kept quiet.  
  
Also, forced marriages and engagements had been made illegal, and the effects of this action had been both bad and good. The effects were good because females had a choice as to whom they wanted to marry and when they wanted to marry, if they wanted to marry at all. But there were some negative effects because many Calmagian fathers saw early marriages as a way to get rid of daughters that they did not want or could not properly care for. Many fathers complained bitterly to King Kitchator and his officials because now what was to be done with the girls who could not be forced into marriage against their will? Some more decent fathers dropped daughters off at the Second Chance shelters while more heinous fathers turned their daughters out onto the street when the girls refused to marry the men that their fathers had chosen. Shalila and her family had traveled around Calmag frequently, looking for homeless girls and encouraging them to go the Second Chance shelters before brothels or unscrupulous men snatched them up.  
  
The legal age of marriage consent was moved up from age ten to age fifteen (Shalila and Dirkan had wanted the age moved up to seventeen, which was the legal age for Astorians to marry, but King Kitchator would not budge on that one). Marital rape and abuse were now declared illegal, and the Superior Gran and Granden had to fight hard for that to happen because most Calmagian men still were not entirely convinced that forced sex in marriage counted as rape, and some of the men still felt that they should be allowed to beat or hit their wives, if their wives displeased or angered them.  
  
The Clan of Chloe, with the help of some of the more liberal men on Calmag, had started several women's universities and ten girls' schools on Calmag, and tuition was low-priced, with financial aid for those females who could not afford even that. And "equal opportunity/equal pay" laws were put in place, so that Calmagian girls and females could get jobs. Many Calmagian females started small businesses, and they would only hire other girls and women, mostly displaced ones who had left their fathers or husbands.  
  
Much of this was funded with planetary funds, and also the estates of a small number of females that had inherited wealthy estates from deceased husbands. Caline, who was now a very wealthy young lady, thanks to Alberm's death, had asked that much of her money go to help the girls and women of her planet obtain better lives and better standards of living. It was Caline's financial generosity and Shalila's brilliance that had started the Second Chance shelters and one of the universities for women. Many of the profits coming from Alberm's computer company went towards the programs to help Calmagian females.   
  
Shalila and Dirkan managed Caline's estate for her, but they considered most of the suggestions that their young ward had requested and granted them. Caline at first had not wanted anything to do with Alberm's money or businesses because of her bad memories of her treatment at Alberm's hands, but some of her new family members suggested that Caline could use the money to help others. Caline spent very little on herself; she dressed well and was generous with her friends, but she was truly not very extravagant. She had new friends and a new family who loved her dearly, and whom she loved in return, and she valued them far above her inherited wealth.  
  
Caline fit in well with Gracina and Lektron's rambunctious family, and all of the Gracina and Lektron Chloe siblings adored their new sister. Tayka and Tila would frequently argue over whose bed Caline would sleep in, and Riccan and Nikon were protective of her. Gracina and Lektron were as fond of and as loving towards as ever, and it was becoming like Caline had lived with them all her young life. Caline divided her time between Gracina and Lektron's family, Natala and Raakon's family, Tayla and their friends, and Shalila and Dirkan. She was a busy and a much-loved girl these days.  
  
She had more frequent contact with her sisters, Rosyn, whose husband had died in a skycar accident five months ago, and Meyline, who had chosen to stay with her husband out of love, and all three sisters had gathered together several times. Rosyn had asked Caline to come and live with her instead of leaving Calmag with the Astorians. Caline had declined, but she promised Rosyn that she would ask the Clan of Chloe, if Rosyn could come visit Astoria someday. Rosyn and Meyline had apologized for not helping Caline with her problems with Alberm, but all three sisters knew that there had been nothing that the older sisters could have really done. Their father, Amitar, had made all of the decisions in their family.  
  
Caline was now taking singing and music lessons, and her brother, Naykiar, had signed up to join Intergalacticpol. Once the Astorians left Calmag to return home, he would leave Calmag as well for the Intergalacticpol Training Academy on one of Intergalacticpol's space stations located near planet Grain. Cirono and Dollan had too signed up to join Intergalacticpol, and Cirono had married his fiancée four months ago. Cirono and his new wife would too leave Calmag to go to the Intergalacticpol Training Academy, where Cirono would train to become an officer and his wife would stay in the housing wings on the space station. Dollan had already left for the training academy, and everyone in the Clan of Chloe had wished him luck, even Bajal.  
Captain Qatar had been the general of the CRP, with Lieutenant Balboun being promoted to   
Captain Qatar's position. Captain Qatar had married Zilly Fedamare two weeks after the war had ended, and Zilly was due to give birth to her first child, a son, any day now. (A gestation period for a Calmagian female was eight months.)   
  
General Norbrook had never been found or caught, although several people had reported seeing Norbrook in several disguises in several places, but those rumors had never been confirmed. The former CRP general had seemed to disappear from the face of the planet. Most people thought that Norbrook had fled Calmag, but those suspicions too were never confirmed. His children and grandchildren moved on without him, although they missed him dearly, for despite his crimes, he had been a good father and a grandfather to them. Caline had occasionally worried that Norbrook might still come back after her, but Toria had assured her that Norbrook had lost interest in getting her back. Toria's visions would not reveal to her where Norbrook had vanished.  
  
As for the Clan of Chloe, much had changed for them as well. Natala and Raakon were now the proud parents of five-month-old baby Maylia, who was a feminine version of Kekron and very pretty and feisty. Her ki level was high for a baby her age, and she had already been selected to be trained as a warrior or a healior. Maylia was deeply loved and highly spoiled by her immediate family, especially her siblings, Arlina and Kekron. Caline would come visit Kekron's family frequently to see Kekron and play with Maylia. Maylia enjoyed Caline's visits as much as Kekron did.  
  
Bajal and Alora now had a three-month-old son named Handros, named after Aliquina's only son who had married a Gran of Sahara. Handros had been the father of both Gran Mauria and Alora, as well as the grandfather of Bendros. He resembled Bajal with a Saiyan tail, and he too was selected to be trained as a warrior or healior because of his high ki level. Rina was delighted with her baby brother, and she couldn't wait until he was old enough to spar with her. In the meantime, she was content to fight and spar with Tayka, now one of her best friends. Both Rina and Handros were delightful handfuls to their effusive parents.  
  
Hazel was pregnant again, due to give birth any day now to a baby boy, whom she and Gohan had decided to name Gokaan, after both Gohan and Raakon, who had prevented Bhodie from raping Hazel. Aurora was looking forward to a new baby, but Mantros was already jealous of his unborn baby brother.  
  
Gorna had not changed much, except for her attitude towards her children and Tayla. Gorna and Tayla still would clash and disagree now and then, but their fights did not last for long. Between their disagreements, Gorna and Tayla got along now fairly well. Gorna had learned to appreciate, value, and love her little sister, and Tayla was learning that Gorna did have her good points after all. One day, Tayla had actually told Gorna that she loved her, and Shalila had heard. Shalila was greatly comforted and relieved, knowing that Tayla's future would be more secure now that Gorna and Rojal no longer held a grudge against their favored relative. The Superior Gran counted the new relationship between Tayla and Gorna as one of her many blessings. Tayla and Gorna would still always disagree on a great many things because of their strong personalities and even stronger prides and wills, but they were no longer enemies, and that alone helped their grandmother to sleep better at night.  
  
However, Gorna was still as overbearing as ever, and her siblings still chafed at times under her bossiness, but since they frequently told Gorna off when they deemed it necessary, things did not escalate or worsen. All of the Mantros Chloe siblings respected Gorna as their eldest sibling and future ruler, even if they didn't agree with everything that she said or did.   
  
These days, Gorna was now making plans to get Rojal and Lelina married off, and Gorna was pleased with Rojal's liking Caline as a potential wife one day. Gracina and Lektron were a bit distressed to learn that Gorna planned to one day try to get Rojal and Caline together, and Gracina had already told Gorna that Caline's husband would be of her own choice. Gorna thought that Caline would be perfect for Rojal, but Gracina did not consider Rojal and Caline to be a potential match, and she and Gorna had argued several times over this. Caline knew nothing of Gorna's plans.  
  
Marya, Toria, and Arlina went back to their fulltime jobs as Priestesses, and all three were still content in their holy lives.  
  
Arlon and Lukan went back to enjoying their bachelorhood, and between them they courted a good many young ladies, both Astorian and Calmagian. But lately Lukan had seemed to take an interest in an unlikely object of his affections-Veal. She and Lukan had taken several walks together.  
  
Cletos was slowly recovering from Farla's death, and he had become attentive towards Petalia. He and Petalia still kept trying to reach out to Dedron, but Dedron fully rejected Cletos and now barely tolerated Petalia. Dedron was still as nasty and as bitter as ever, and Cletos had vainly tried to coax Dedron into a father-son reconciliation. Dedron was contemptuous towards his father, and he was rude and surly whenever Cletos had tried to approach or speak to him.  
  
But Dedron's real fury at this point concerned Shalila, Dirkan, Tayla, Bendros, and Kekron. Shalila and Dirkan had ordered Dedron to do community work in the women's programs and the rebuilding of Calmagian cities for the past year to pay penance for his crimes. He was also ordered to apologize to Tayla and Petalia in front of the entire Clan of Chloe family, and he did so in a smooth tone that hinted of a deep grudge against his aunt and some remaining antipathy his sister.   
  
Shalila had thought of telling Dedron that if he didn't start to act like a decent person, she would leave him behind on Calmag, but she didn't feel it was fair to thrust Dedron onto the Calmagians. She didn't tell Dedron of this, but she did warn Dedron that if he didn't try to change his ways, he would lose his title as a Prince of Chloe and be excluded from being a warrior for the Clan of Chloe. Dedron had sulkily agreed, but Shalila knew that Dedron would not change much, unless he was prodded. Dedron had been put on probation of sorts, and his activities and whereabouts were closely monitored whenever possible. Both Shalila and Dirkan and Cletos were deeply worried about him. Dedron had not caused any major trouble in the past months, but he had disappeared a number of times without telling anyone where he was going.  
Dedron had come back to the Chateau de Tamilieu several times smelling of cheap perfume and odors that Dirkan and anyone with Saiyan blood would know came from a female. Several people had reported to Shalila and Dirkan that Dedron had been hanging around a nearby covert brothel with an older blonde, but that rumor had yet to be confirmed.  
  
Rojal had tried to talk to Dedron about his ways, and Dedron had been polite to Rojal, but he either shrugged off Rojal's concerns, or made false promises to change to appease his friend. Dedron had become chummier with Julien, and he and Dedron frequently prowled the city of Magan together. Julien introduced Dedron to many young girls and took him to many clubs, where drinking alcohol was involved. Dedron had tried alcohol and enjoyed it, but he dared not to drink anymore than one drink at a time because he knew that Shalila and Dirkan would come down hard on him for consuming any alcohol at all, and that someone would smell the alcohol on him. None of his family knew that Dedron had drunk before. Dedron seemed to be adopting more and more of Julien's attitude towards females, and both young men seemed to become more like each other each day. The entire Clan of Chloe family thought that Julien was a bad influence on Dedron, but King Kitchator and Queen Kildara felt that Dedron was the one who was the bad influence. Both families were up in arms as to what to do about their errant relatives.  
  
Meanwhile, Kekron had been dividing his time between his family, Caline, and his devices and inventions. Many of Kekron's ideas had been implemented on Calmag, and he had created a number of machines to help rebuild cities faster. He was as good as putting his inventions and devices together, as he was in designing them. Caline often visited Kekron at least twice a day, and she would sit nearby him, as he either pondered over a blueprint, or repaired or built one of his creations. Kekron enjoyed her visits and answered her questions about what he was doing with limitless patience and understanding. If he were in deep thought or concentration, however, Caline would usually be quiet and sit and wait for him to finish on whatever he was so intensely focusing on before she spoke to him.  
  
Fayra kept in contact with her mother back on Astoria through radio, once Calmag's intergalactic communication systems had been brought back up; her mother had been unable to come to Calmag with the family because she had been due to give birth to Fayra's half-brother. Fayra's mother, Esta, one of Felinda's daughters, had remarried two years ago to Hermon, one of Jesynthia's sons.  
  
Petalia was as beautiful and showy as ever, and many young men paid her court, but Petalia still had eyes for only Rojal. She flirted with other young men in hopes of making Rojal jealous, but so far none of her schemes and tactics to land Rojal as a suitor had worked. She threw more time into her singing when she wasn't planning on how to get Rojal to notice her. She feared Dedron now, even though Dedron had started to be civil to her again. She and Dedron were no longer as close as they were, although Petalia still loved him and worried about his bad behavior.  
  
Rojal and Riccan had made progress in their training and both boys had reached a long unattainable goal: they had finally come into their Awakenings, and they were stronger than ever, although still not as strong yet as Tayla and the others who had had their Awakenings a while back.  
  
Lelina was quieter and more pensive than ever, especially after her father's death. She still missed him more and more every passing day. Tayla prayed and hoped for Lelina, and she and the other girls tried to spend as much time with "Lee" as possible.   
  
Jaca and Kiran was now an established pair, and they were already discussing marriage, even though they couldn't marry until they were each seventeen or older. Bendros had kidded Kiran, saying that it was likely that Kiran would probably marry before he would.  
  
"Probably," Kiran had teased his eldest brother back. "After all, Tayla is now what-thirteen? Just four more years until she's old enough to marry! And on more year, I might add, until she's eligible for courting."  
  
"Kiran…that's still some time off," Bendros, now twenty-three, had scolded him. "Tayla will probably want somebody else by then."  
  
"Ha!" Kiran, now fifteen, had scoffed. "You and I both know better than that. Why, Jaca and I noticed how Tayla looks at you. She may have had eyes for that Prince Ridikar for a while, but she's never stopped liking you. And you like her, Bendros, admit it! All right, so you're ten years older than her, but that's nothing really. So, are you going to try to court her when she turns fourteen next year or what?"  
  
"Kiran…" Bendros had said hesitantly.  
  
"You are, aren't you?" Kiran had exclaimed. "You can tell me; I can keep a secret!"  
  
"Umm…"  
  
"I knew it! You want Tayla, don't you?"  
  
"Kiran…"  
  
"C'mon, confess! I won't tell anyone, not even Jaca, I swear by the Seven Moons!"  
  
"O…kay…then…yes. But I swear, Kiran, that if so much as a syllable of my intentions gets back to Tayla or any of her family…"  
  
"Relax, big bro, I'll erase this entire conversation from my memory the minute I leave you. You know I'm good at that."  
  
"I do," Bendros had said with a wink. "You're awfully good at erasing a lot of things from your memory."  
  
"Hey! All right, so I'm not the brilliant strategist you are, but I have my good points."  
  
"I'm not sure if bossing Dakal around, or aggravating Herkon counts as among your good points."   
  
"Hey, I have useful talents that I will be able to use in life! I'm good at teaching, for example."  
  
"I don't think that teaching Jaca how to kiss you while slipping her tongue into your mouth can count."  
  
"Very funny. Kissing with tongues is a useful life skill! Don't tell me that you don't plan on teaching Tayla the same thing!"  
  
After that comment, Kiran had to escape from a blow to his arm that Bendros had wanted to give him for his remark.  
  
So Bendros did intend to court Tayla after all, but he and Tayla both could wait. And he had no intention of telling Tayla his interest in her until she was older. His feisty, sharp-tongued Princess of Chloe could wait until then.  
  
While Bendros was patiently waiting for Tayla to grow up a little, Flirtius was wasting no time with his courting. He and Melonia had started courting six months back after Shalila and Dirkan had agreed to give him permanent asylum on Astoria. Varrcan still did not approve, but Ebrona had convinced him to let things be as long as Flirtius treated Melonia well.  
  
Varrcan and Ebrona were now married, having wed shortly after the War on Calmag. Even the royals had attended their wedding, and the two servants had been greatly honored and touched to have them there, as most Astorian royals normally did not attend servants' weddings unless they were close to the servants. Ebrona had just given birth to a little girl named Lurla, who resembled her beautiful mother.  
  
Dalantra, sharp-tongued and spirited as ever, faithfully attended and looked after Shalila as usual. Shalila was thankful that Dalantra had survived; Dalantra had always been her most faithful, if not humble, servant.  
  
Mykia was as loyal to Tayla as ever, and Tayla had heard Mykia confess to Ebrona that she liked Prince Arlon, Princess Tayla's older brother, but Prince Arlon had shown no interest in her. Tayla felt sorry for Mykia because Mykia had no young men calling on her. Tayla had secretly sworn by the Seven Moons that she would help her maid find someone once they returned to Astoria.   
  
Pork and Crystalis had fit well into their family, and Crystalis became like the sister that Veal had never had. Steak thanked the good spirits, Kami Orchida, the East Kai, and the Supreme Kai several times a day for the return of his beloved lost son and the arrival of his new "daughter", Crystalis.  
  
Pork, Crystalis, and Flirtius had been given permanent asylum on Astoria after turning traitor against Frieza. While turning to the Astorians' side guaranteed greater safety and standard of living for all three of them, their lives would now be in danger, if they ever left the Astorians' protection because any one who deserted Frieza's army automatically wound up on Frieza's ever-growing hit list. All deserters had a death contract put out on their heads, and if Frieza, or any of Frieza's minions, found Pork, Crystalis, or Flirtius, the one or ones caught would be tortured and then executed shortly afterwards. Frieza's soldiers were highly rewarded, if they found and killed any deserters from Frieza's forces.  
  
Bhodie Lett was now serving a life sentence on the harsh prison planet Zelthar after being brought to the Rosetta Interplanetary Council by Gohan. The Rosetta Interplanetary Council tried intergalactic war crimes that happened in the Rosetta Galaxy, as well as overseeing the welfare of Rosetta planets and Intergalacticpol. Bhodie Lett had his life spared after agreeing to testify against Frieza and his minions, but Bhodie was not sure now if being forced to stay on Zelthar for the rest of his life was any better than death. However, it was better than going back to Frieza.  
  
Neither Frieza nor his army had returned to Calmag, although for many weeks after the war, the Astorians and the Calmagians had feared they might. One time, Gohan had actually sent a fake radio message to stations throughout the galaxy that the Astorians had left Calmag already, just to see what Frieza would do. Nothing had happened, and Toria had assured the rulers of both Astoria and Calmag that Frieza had given up for now and moved on to other things.  
  
And Tayla? She had come to Calmag a child, but now would leave as a young woman. She had grown up, matured for the most part. She had won over Gorna and Rojal, and she unknowingly had helped Cletos to see what he was doing to his children. She had helped a frightened child princess bride take the first steps to living a fuller, happier life and had helped her to see that she was worthy of being loved and valued. She had fought valiantly against some of the strongest and evilest fighters among Frieza's forces and survived to tell the tale. She had helped to prevent herself from falling into Frieza's clutches once more.   
  
And she had helped to see a Calmagian prince see the light about the way his people viewed females. A part of her would always miss Ridikar and be grateful to him for saving her life. From time to time, Tayla would wonder what life would be now, if Ridikar had lived. Would she and Ridikar have eventually become a couple again, or would have she chosen Bendros in the end? And what would have Ridikar have thought of the changes going on today? Tayla would never know these things, but she believed in her young heart that Ridikar would have been pleased, and she truly thought that Ridikar was in heaven now.  
  
Tayla hoped and prayed that Enma Daiou would be forgiving enough of poor Jaypros and Farla to allow them into heaven, but she wasn't sure how harshly Enma Daiou viewed adultery. The young Princess of Chloe felt that Jaypros and Farla had been punished enough, and most of her family agreed with her. She knew now that there was a little girl that Jaypros and Farla had between them, and she had heard that Uncle Gohan had sent out his officers to find the child. Gohan Chloe doubted that the child was still alive, and the visions of Toria, Arlina, and Marya revealed nothing to them. Tayla included the unnamed little niece in her prayers every night.  
  
She wondered if Frieza, Vegeta, and the other soldiers in Frieza's forces still wanted to take her away. Tayla had several nightmares about Vegeta, off and on, in the past year, with each dream of Vegeta telling her the same message as before. In these dreams, sometimes Vegeta chased her for a good distance, but he never attacked her, or even touched her in any way, but the dreams would disturb her nonetheless.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Toria's room at the royal castle…  
  
Today, she finally told Toria about these dreams, and Toria's face had grown somber, not a good sign. Tayla had gone to Toria and Marya's room, where Toria and Marya were packing their things to go home to Chloe, Astoria.  
  
"Are these just bad dreams or premonitions?" Tayla wanted to know.  
  
"A bit of both, I'm afraid," Toria admitted. "Your dreams are indeed sending you a message that Vegeta is not done with you yet."  
  
"What can I do, Aunt Toria? I don't want him after me anymore."  
  
Toria had drawn Tayla to her and embraced her fiercely for a long time.  
  
Finally, the weary High Priestess and sorceress had said, "Your family will always fight to protect you, Tayla, and keep you safe. However…" Toria's voice had trailed off, as she tried to phrase her next words. "However…you will always have to keep training and striving to become stronger because Vegeta will do the same thing, and he won't rest until he can prove that he's stronger than you."  
  
"Why does that matter to him so much? He's stronger than many people in the universe, even some of our people. He'll likely become as strong as Frieza one day; why can't those things be enough for him?"  
  
"I haven't had much chance to look into Vegeta's soul, child, but I suspect that Vegeta has not had a happy life, despite his great power. I don't believe he's happy under Frieza either, but he has no real choice until he can grow strong enough to overthrow him. As for you, you are the first one outside of Frieza and his Elite who has defeated him, ever. From what my visions have shown me, your previous victories over him were an enormous blow to his ego, and those who rank above him love to give him a hard time about it. He views you as his greatest rival right now; he doesn't like that a 'weakling Astorian brat' has taken him down."  
  
"I'm still surprised that I did defeat him, Aunt Toria. I felt the last time that we fought that he was much stronger than me, especially physically. What happened?"  
  
"The strongest doesn't always win, Tayla; it is those who are persistent and determined to overcome that eventually bring down the oppressors. Yes, he was stronger physically than you were, and this time you won because of your speed and ki shots, plus your determination. He won't forget anytime soon, but you need not worry for a while. However, one day you will definitely see him again, and you must be prepared."  
  
Tayla nodded, resting her dark head on Toria's bosom. She believed her. She gravely thanked her aunt, kissed her on her aged cheek, and left to find Caline.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
On Frieza's mother ship, in a control room adjacent to a training chamber…  
  
Jaden leaned back against the wall in the back of a control room, smiling smugly, as she watched from a distance into a soundproof, insulated room, where little Princess Kaydra Chloe was blasting away the last of the Saibamen sent after her for training purposes. Kaydra hadn't wanted to kill them at first during the first training session with the insane creatures, but when one nearly tried to strangle her, she quickly realized that she didn't have much of a choice. She had been practicing on them for the past four months now, and Jaden felt that part of Kaydra's training would end soon. Kaydra could now blast away Saibamen within less than twenty minutes.  
  
Zarbon was standing up straight near Jaden; he too was pleased with Kaydra's rapid progress. "I am impressed, Jaden," he told her smoothly. "She'll be ready for the Elite within just a few years."  
  
"I agree," Jaden said triumphantly. "I haven't seen any child training under me do so well since I took Vegeta as my student. Hell, she'll probably be taking one of our positions in Top Elite someday. You and Chestra should be proud."  
  
"We are," Zarbon told her. "I had serious doubts at first about taking her as our ward, but now I'm glad that Chestra insisted on having the girl spared. She will make a fine soldier one day. When do you think that she'll be ready for her first Recruit Evaluation?"  
  
"Probably not for six months to a year; she's a fine specimen of a child warrior, and I don't want to push her before I think she's ready. I want to make absolutely certain that she's mastered her skills, which she's well on her way to doing, but…"  
  
"But what?" Zarbon pressed.  
  
Jaden was debating on whether to tell Zarbon her remaining concerns about her newest student, but then suddenly the light above the window of the training room glowed a bright red color. That meant that Kaydra's training session was done. The lights brightened in the training room, and the door leading out opened. Little six-year-old Kaydra Chloe was walking out the training room like a little queen; she wore a simple blue tank top and pants.   
  
A gray lizard with red plates on his back handed Kaydra her uniform, a miniature armor suit and bodysuit similar to the ones that some of the Elites wore. Kaydra thanked him graciously as he helped her into her clothes. She then ran excitedly over to Jaden and Zarbon, her tiny white boots galloping along the smooth tile floor.  
  
"Did I do good, Commander Jaden, Mr. Zarbon?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"You killed them all, didn't you?" Jaden asked her brusquely.  
  
"Sure did!" Kaydra exclaimed.  
  
"Then what do you think?"  
  
"I guess I did. Do you think I can get something to eat now?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. I'm starving myself."  
  
"When can I go on missions with you and Mr. Zarbon and Miss Chestra, Commander Jaden?"  
  
"Not for a few years," Jaden told her gruffly. Kaydra didn't yet know the truth about exactly what happened on the missions that Jaden and the others went on frequently. The innocent girl thought that the "assignments" were just planetary field trips to maintain order for "Uncle Frieza". Kaydra didn't know still that whole populations were killed or enslaved on these fatal trips, and neither Jaden nor Chestra were looking forward to telling Kaydra that she would one day have to become a killer like they were.   
  
Zarbon wasn't exactly thrilled either, but he was more hardened to the constant killing, raiding, and enslaving he and his comrades did on a regular basis than Jaden and Chestra were, so he didn't think that telling Kaydra the truth one day would be such a tragedy. After all, what choice would Kaydra really have? That was why Kaydra had been spared, so that she could be trained as an Elite soldier for Frieza's forces. Frieza had grown attached to the child in the past year, but he would have never allowed Kaydra to live in the first place, had Kaydra not had such a high ki level and strength potential, and Zarbon, Chestra, and Jaden knew it.   
Zarbon could have trained the girl by himself, but he and Frieza decided that Jaden would be the better choice, since Jaden wasn't as personally involved with Kaydra as Zarbon and Chestra were. Zarbon thought that his beloved Chestra would have been too easy on Kaydra, and someone with a high ki level such as hers needed a stronger hand.   
  
He, Jaden, Dodoria, and Ginyu were the only ones at the moment in the Top Elite who were certified to train anyone with a high ki level such as an Astorian's or a Saiyan's. Top Elite officers such as Chestra, Diamonique, and the other members of the Ginyu Force were only certified to train those who were potentials for Lower Elite and Upper Low-Levels, and a good number of Mid-Elites. Mid-Elite and Lower-Elite officers, and sometimes Upper Low-Levels trained all recruits who were not considered "Elite potentials". Vegeta had trained a small number of recruits who had gone on to become Upper-Low-Levels, or even Lower-Elites during the slow times between his assignments. The Saiyan prince had the potential to become a good, although harsh, trainer, but Vegeta preferred to fight and train himself rather than train others.  
  
Now came Kaydra, who would prove to be a challenge for Zarbon, Jaden, and Chestra, not only because of her power, but because Kaydra was still "soft", as in she still didn't like to hurt people, if she could avoid it. She was lively at times, but there were times when she would grow quiet and pensive. The three adult soldiers suspected that Kaydra could see right through them and everyone else.  
  
Jaden was observing the girl, who was now brushing her light gold hair, with a thoughtful expression on her grim face. She and Chestra shared a strange secret about Kaydra: the little girl was believed to be able to read people's minds, or had the potential to anyway. The child was literally psychic, especially concerning her dreams. Jaden knew of the Astorian priests and priestesses, people who were chosen to serve the holy order because of their abilities to see the future, or see what was going on in other places through their visions, and she wondered if Kaydra was one of them. Kaydra seemed to have a "second sight" or a "sixth sense" about everything.  
  
Jaden and Chestra had mutually agreed not to tell anyone about Kaydra's psychic powers, not even Zarbon and Frieza. Chestra was waiting for the right time to tell Zarbon, and both she and Jaden feared that if Frieza ever learned of Kaydra's secret abilities, he would exploit them to his advantage. Frieza would just love to be able to know what everyone was thinking at all times; Jaden personally thought Frieza knew more than enough about his soldiers and enemies already. She didn't want to assist Frieza in his heinous acts against others any more than she had to.  
  
Kaydra tugged at the hands of both Zarbon and Jaden. "Let's go find Miss Chestra and go eat; I'm hungry!"  
  
Jaden looked down at the eager child clinging to her reptilian hand and gave Kaydra a grim smile that tinged of deep regret and pity. She was not looking forward to the day when she or Zarbon or Chestra would have to be the one to destroy what was left of Kaydra's innocence.  
  
"I'm with that," Jaden, who could eat almost as much as a Saiyan, told her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At the Elite Lounge And Bar…  
  
Dodoria, Rectaurus, and Hectar were ogling the young female soldiers and servants that had been allowed into the Elite Lounge And Bar. Dodoria kept his eye on a cute humanoid female with yellow hair, pale green eyes and bright pink skin almost the same shade as his. The huge soldier was in love with Frieza, but he still liked to indulge his occasional appetite for young girls. He had to get some satisfaction somewhere. He left to make advances upon his hapless victim, who had spotted Dodoria, and was now trying to flee the bar. Dodoria, grinning, stalked after her.  
  
Rectaurus and Hectar, now members of Frieza's Elite, were whistling and shouting out catcalls to the females in the bar they considered attractive. Some of the young ladies glared at them darkly, but none dared to say a word to the deceased Commander Balair's powerful brothers for fear of reprisal or more unwanted sexual attention. Having Rectaurus and Hectar around on a regular basis these days was like having Balair times two; only Balair's older brothers were not as smart as Balair (not highly reputed for his intelligence himself) had been.  
  
Rectaurus then dared to seize and squeeze the behind of a tall humanoid female with icy-blue hair, cold, black diamond eyes and a perfect figure with peachy-blue skin. The young woman cursed under her breath, and then she turned around and sank her blue-diamond nails deep into Rectaurus's right arm. Her free hand dared to seize Rectaurus's throat.  
  
"You listen to me, you perverted Sistrai bastard!" Diamonique hissed. "Don't you ever touch me again, or I will slash up your face so badly that not even the most desperate female will want to come near you. Or I might turn you into a diamond, not that you'd be worth much even then! You're lucky that you and your brother have been immunized to my poison, or you'd be dead now. Actually, I probably would be doing all females a favor by poisoning you."  
  
"Don't threaten me, slut!" Rectaurus growled, seizing her wrist. Diamonique then abruptly kicked him hard in his stomach, forcing him to release her, and then she shot a thin, blue laser at him. Within seconds, Rectaurus was a diamond statue. Hectar launched himself at Diamonique, but he then too met the same fate. Diamonique then spat upon their frozen bodies. Everyone in the bar grew quiet, afraid to so much as breathe for fear of drawing Diamonique's ire to them.  
  
"It's a pity that I can't leave you both in that state, but Lord Frieza wouldn't be too happy, if I did. You two boys can stay that way until I decide that you've learned your lesson." She dusted off her slender, well-shaped hands and walked arrogantly over to the bar.  
"Tipsy!" she screamed. "I want a bolt of blue, now!"  
  
Tipsy, who was the popular bartender from the cleared planet Mimosa, was a short bald man with white skin, large round blue-green eyes and peach cheeks. He was dressed in a green, shiny metallic tuxedo with a bright pink bowtie. He had been spared out of his race because of his ability to make over two thousand different types of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. His most popular and famous drink was Crystal Blue Persuasion, which was a blue mixed alcoholic beverage that was normally drank in shot glasses that tasted of various fruits from at least ten different planets. Whenever anyone wanted a glass of Crystal Blue Persuasion, they would always say ask for a "bolt (shot) of blue".  
  
His assistant and best friend was a tiny purple housefly with neon-green clear wings and long, electric-blue eyelashes named Eyelet. She helped to press buttons and lower or raise levers; she was strong for a housefly, and she had come from Mimosa as well. Her race, the Kincasan and Tipsy's race, the Mimosan, had been allies and friends for many decades before Frieza's soldiers had raided their planet and sold it off to another race.   
  
Eyelet rested on the edge of the shiny marble bar, as an unnerved Tipsy gave Diamonique her "bolt of blue". Diamonique drank it in one shot, but she allowed the tangy liquid to swish about in her mouth, as she savored the fruity drink before swallowing it. Tipsy began to wipe down the bar with a wet towel, while Eyelet seized a light, damp cloth in her tiny feet and began to dab at a machine. Diamonique then ordered another bolt of blue, and Tipsy gave it to her.  
  
Vegeta entered the bar at the moment, saw Diamonique and scowled. He then sat down four barstools away from her. He barked at Eyelet, whose tiny body had begun to shake the moment that he came up to the bar, "I want ice water."  
  
"I'll get it," Tipsy told the fly, as he quickly prepared a glass of water. He rushed it over to the impatient Saiyan prince. Vegeta gulped his water down within three gulps, and before he knew it, Diamonique was sitting beside him, with her chin propped on her hand and her head tilted to the side. She smiled adoringly at Vegeta, and then she licked her bluish lips seductively.  
  
"How've you been, my prince?" she purred in a thick, breathy accent. She lightly traced her fingers along his muscled arm.  
  
Vegeta looked at her coldly, as if she were a stranger. Diamonique paid him no mind, as she dared to slide her fingertips along his tail, which was tightly wound around his waist. She tickled his tail, and before Vegeta knew it, he purred against his will. He was aroused now, and yet furious at the same time. Diamonique smiled wider when she noticed his mixture of emotions. She then sidled closer to him, curling up against him, as she trailed kisses on his broad shoulder.  
  
Eyelet and Tipsy had wisely decided to leave and tend to the other patrons at the bar, not wishing to watch Commander Diamonique throw herself at Mid-Elite Officer Prince Vegeta anymore than necessary. Diamonique continued to stroke Vegeta's tail, and Vegeta purred again against his will.  
  
"There's more where that came from," Diamonique whispered into his ear.   
  
"Really," Vegeta said wickedly, looking directly at her.  
  
"Really," Diamonique affirmed, as she pressed herself against him. Everyone in the lounge and bar had stopped eating, and all of them were watching Commander Diamonique continue her advances upon Mid-Elite Officer Prince Vegeta. She then crushed herself further against his hard body, and Vegeta wrapped one arm around her waist. Diamonique moaned in pleasure, and then her lips levitated over to his. She boldly laid a hand on his chest plate. Vegeta smirked, as his lips came closer to hers.  
  
"So what do you wish for me to do next?" Vegeta purred.  
  
"Just do whatever feels right," Diamonique cooed, tracing his thin lips with her slender, diamond-pointed finger. "Just do what you feel, my prince."  
  
"With pleasure," he said deviously, as he brought his lips to her ear, as if intending to take a nibble on her tender earlobes. His breath tickled her, as he brought his mouth closer to her ear. He then took her wrists into his hands and leaned closer to her. Diamonique rubbed herself against him, as she smiled wickedly, enjoying Vegeta's attention.  
  
"Just go with your instincts, just like I taught you," Diamonique whispered.  
  
"Just like you taught me," Vegeta repeated. "Here goes, woman." He then leaned as close as he could to her ear. Diamonique smiled wider, anticipating some sweet words of seduction from her former royal lover.  
  
Finally, Vegeta whispered some words into Diamonique's awaiting ear:  
  
"Goodbye, Diamonique."  
  
"WHAT?" Diamonique screamed, as a grinning Vegeta released her and stood up, brushing himself off. "What do you mean 'goodbye'?"  
  
Vegeta chuckled. "You're an attractive woman still, but unfortunately…for right now, I prefer my women to be a little…let's say…a little less used?"  
  
"Bastard!" Diamonique screamed, as she threw her drink into Vegeta's face. She threw the shot glass against the wall behind the bar, almost hitting Eyelet, and then she stomped out of the bar in a heavy huff. Vegeta growled under his breath and demanded a towel from Tipsy, who hurriedly provided it to him.  
  
Vegeta wiped off his face with the towel, cursing Diamonique in Saiyan, and then he calmed down quickly. He leaned back against the bar, wiping the last of Diamonique's drink off of himself, as he grinned once more. It had been a few months since he had been with a woman. Maybe he'd be nice to Diamonique and allow her "the privilege" of sleeping with him after all.  
  
If she behaved herself, that was.  
  
No, if he slept with her again, she would definitely think that he wanted her for more than just sex. Diamonique was stalking him enough as it was; the last two women that Vegeta had slept with in the past year had mysteriously disappeared, and he suspected that Diamonique had something to do with their vanishing.   
  
Diamonique was the best that he had had in bed so far; he didn't deny that. She had taught him many things in bed, and he had been a very willing student. Unfortunately, she wanted more from him than what he was willing to give. And she slept around frequently with other men when she wasn't pursuing him, and Vegeta didn't want a woman who spread herself around so easily. He didn't mind some experience, which was preferable, but he didn't want a woman who took a different man every night, or even every week or month.  
  
No, she was too much of a risk. He had long ago moved on, and he intended to keep it like that. Diamonique wasn't the only star in the galaxy.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Frieza's office…  
  
Frieza had just finished meditating; he hoped to eventually reach the fourth form that his mother, Queen Frost, had so wanted for him to attain. Coola was already ahead of him; Coola had attained his fourth form, and he was working on a fifth form as well. Frieza had to catch up with him before Coola became too powerful for him to even compete with.  
  
Frieza had thought much during the past year. His first impulse after punishing his soldiers had been to fly his ship over to planet Calmag and finish off the Astorians and the Calmagians himself, but he finally decided against it. Calmag was no longer considered sellable now that Coola had let the word get out about Calmag's problems, meaning the Astorians and Calmag's high pollution rate. Frieza decided to wait, although part of him wanted yet to go after the Clan of Chloe and destroy them once and for all.   
  
He insisted on putting his Elite soldiers through a rigorous training program devised by some of his father's men's to increase the strength of all of his fighters. So far, it seemed to be working, and the next time, he and his soldiers met Shalila Chloe and her family, the Clan of Chloe and hopefully the rest of the Astorians would be obliterated.  
  
He touched his thoughts on Princess Tayla Chloe, the little Astorian girl who had proven to be a huge challenge to his own fighters. Princess Tayla was now almost as troublesome as her infamous grandmother, and soon she would become too old to come under his influence. He knew that the girl meant a great deal to Shalila Chloe and that taking Tayla Chloe away would hurt the Superior Gran greatly. He knew the child was powerful, but was Dodoria right about Tayla being too dangerous to allow into his army?  
  
Possibly. Someone like Tayla still had the potential to grow up to be stronger, and that alone posed a threat to Frieza. What if Tayla and some of her family members one day decided to finally come after Frieza once and for all? Frieza decided then to have his soldiers still try to capture Tayla, if they came across her, but she was no longer his main focus. He had Kaydra now, and she would grow up to be as strong as Tayla, surely, if not stronger.   
  
He decided to use Kaydra for the plans that he had intended for her Aunt Tayla. He would watch over and involve himself in Kaydra's training as much as possible, so that he could mold her into his own image. One day, he would use Kaydra to destroy the Astorians, like they should have been destroyed years ago. Kaydra would take Tayla's place for now, and Frieza intended to use her as the ultimate weapon to end the Astorians' existence once and for all.  
  
In the meantime, Frieza had cleverly installed a new spy who would be going home with the Astorians who had been nowhere near the fighting, one that Frieza had kept in top-secret reserve on the other side of Calmag, a young female spy. This lovely young woman had pled for asylum and shelter with the Astorians, and none of the Astorians seemed to be the wiser. The girl, no more than seventeen years of age, had posed as a refugee who wanted to live on Astoria, along with the other young girls who were leaving Calmag. It had been General Norbrook who had found this girl and recommended her to Frieza, and Frieza, hearing of her cleverness, had been happy to take her.   
  
None of the Astorians would ever suspect her. In their eyes, she would be nothing more than an innocent victim who wanted to rebuild her life on another planet. She wasn't just a pretty face either; she had superb technical skills along with some fighting ability. The Astorians would consider her an asset, but she would become part of their eventual downfall.  
Frieza closed his eyes and went back to his meditating, grinning to himself. Shalila Chloe, Tayla Chloe, and their family may have won this battle, but they were far from winning the war. And he intended to keep it that way.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The last day on Calmag, in the control room on the Roccon…  
  
Kekron was finishing some renovations on the engines of the Astorian family mother ship. He also did a final preflight check of everything with the help of one of the new Calmagian female refugees named Ruli Sassafras. Ruli was a tall girl with clear, cinnamon skin and auburn hair highlighted with gold, along with excellent teeth. Her father had worked for one of Alberm Dunlop's companies, and he had taught his clever daughter everything that he knew about technology. When Ruli's father had died, Ruli's uncle had taken custody of the girl and tried to force her into an unwanted marriage with a lecherous man in his fifties. Ruli had ran away from home and hid out in a Second Chance shelter when a friend mentioned that she was going to apply for asylum with the Astorian people. Ruli had joined her and both girls had been accepted. Now Ruli would be going home with the Astorians.  
  
Ruli liked Prince Kekron Chloe; in fact she was already falling in love with him. When Prince Kekron had mentioned briefly that he had had no previous girlfriend, Ruli found it very hard to believe. Prince Kekron was just so gentle and kind, so different from many Calmagian men. She was determined already to make Prince Kekron her husband within the next couple of years, but there was a small problem-a certain pale-skinned Calmagian princess with blue eyes and white-gold hair that was becoming more gold than white.  
  
And this interloper, royalty, but a nuisance nonetheless, had just left after bringing Kekron a delicious lunch of the best Calmagian meats, fruits, and desserts before Ruli had arrived. Little Princess Caline had brought Prince Kekron a meal in a picnic basket woven from the red grasses of Calmag. Prince Kekron had offered Ruli some of the food, but Ruli politely refused, saying that she had already eaten. She wasn't going to eat anything that her rival, Princess Caline, had brought.  
  
Ruli despised Caline because she was royalty, and Ruli had been among the group of Calmagians that blamed the royal family for all of Calmag's problems, from the high pollution rate to the treatment of women. Ruli was part of a minority of Calmagians who thought that the royal family should be displaced and the monarchy abolished. She held no respect for the Calmagian royals above her.  
  
And of course, Princess Caline's closeness with Prince Kekron was enough alone to attract Ruli's resentment.  
  
What did Prince Kekron see in the little royal chit anyway? Princess Caline had no skills or special powers, just her good looks and sweetness. And she was a child who had admitted that she did not plan to marry. So what did Prince Kekron really see in Princess Caline other than her beauty?   
  
Ruli knew that she had to find a way to push Princess Caline out of Prince Kekron's heart and thoughts. Prince Kekron needed an equal, someone as smart and skilled as he was, and Princess Caline was definitely not that person, and Ruli was. She'd show Prince Kekron that she was the one for him, not Princess Caline.  
  
And now Princess Caline just had to return, accompanied by Princess Tayla Chloe, Prince Kekron's aunt. Ruli admired Princess Tayla, and she was trying to integrate herself into Princess Tayla's circle of friends, even if it meant putting up with Caline, a close friend of Princess Tayla. She intended to become very close to Princess Tayla and learn as much as she could about her. Ruli wanted to be a fighter, as well as a technician, and she thought that maybe someday she could train with the more experienced Princess Tayla.  
  
"Hey, Princess Tayla!" Ruli cried excitedly, as Tayla and Caline stepped into the control room. "Glad to see you! I'm glad to know one of the people who helped to save my people!"  
Kekron was typing some data into a computer as he sat on a bench in front of a terminal. Caline sat down beside him, and Kekron smiled warmly at her.  
  
"Is everything okay?" Caline asked him.  
  
"Perfect," Kekron told her. "Everything's in working order. We can take off anytime. And thanks again for lunch…that food was delicious!"  
  
"I know a very good cook," Caline told him modestly. Ruli's thoughts of Caline at that moment were murderous ones, but she managed to keep her enthusiasm, as Tayla came up to her.  
  
"Well, much credit goes to Caline," Tayla told Ruli warmly. "If it hadn't been for her warning us, we might not have been able to defend ourselves against Frieza's minions in time."  
  
"Of-of course," Ruli told her hesitantly. "But it is those who fought in the war that deserve the true credit, such as you and the warriors in your family. I've admired you, Princess Tayla, and I want to learn everything that you know."  
  
Kekron kissed Caline on her cheek, stood up and mentioned having to find Great-Nama. He told everyone gooden boden and said that he would be back shortly. He left the control room to go outside of the ship.  
  
Tayla said humbly, "Thank you, but it took me years to learn what I did. Some lessons Kami Orchida taught me. I'm sure that you could become a warrior, if you wanted to, Ruli, but it seems that you're a very good technician. Kekron has told us so."  
  
"Your family is very lucky to have Prince Kekron," Ruli purred. "And I am very lucky to be working with him…too bad not everyone can have that privilege. But then not all of us can be handy with technology."  
  
"I wish I knew more about it," Caline said. "But Kekron has explained some of what he does to me."  
  
"Well, that's wonderful of him, but it must be very hard for someone with no technology background to understand."  
  
"I learn more every day," Caline told her.  
  
"I'm sure you do," Ruli told her serenely. "Prince Kekron spends so much time with you, answering your questions and listening to you speak. Don't you ever worry though that you might be distracting him a bit?"  
  
"Distracting him?" Caline asked worriedly.  
  
"Just a tad. I noticed that you seem to…take up so much of his time. I know that he enjoys your company, Princess Caline, but sometimes he needs to be by himself more to focus on his tasks. It's kind of hard for a man to remain on task when someone is always trying to talk to him and question him, especially someone who knows nothing about what he really does or needs to do."  
  
Caline looked dismayed, and Tayla suspected an underlying meaning behind Ruli's seeming concern for Kekron. Tayla said coolly, "Caline does not distract him; Kekron enjoys her company very much. If she was keeping him from his work, I'm sure that he would have told her so by now."  
  
"I was just thinking about Prince Kekron, Tayla," Ruli said sweetly. "I'm sure that Princess Caline's company does bring him much delight, but Princess Caline cannot help him with any of his tasks. Whenever she's here, Prince Kekron and I are not as able to do everything that we would like. I'm not trying to hurt her feelings; I just want what's best for Prince Kekron and for all of us. Well, I have to go; I promised Mysty that I would meet her for some shopping. And Princess Caline, please don't take what I said personally; it's just that if you can't be a help to him, you really should leave him be until his work is completed. I just don't want him to not be able to do his job because of someone constantly visiting. See you all later; I'll be back in time for takeoff." Ruli then strolled out of the room, as if she were a queen.  
  
Caline looked downtrodden then, and her shoulders were hunched over. Tayla went to sit down next to her and put her arm around her.  
  
"What if she's right, Tayla?" Caline asked, her eyes too bright and shiny, shiny with unshed tears. "What if Kekron can't do his job because of me visiting him?"  
  
"Don't worry about it-or her," Tayla told Caline. "If you were really distracting Kekron, he'd let you know. Kekron seems happier actually when you're around. Ruli sounds like she's jealous."  
  
"I think that Ruli likes Kekron," Caline said softly, as a tear slipped past her eyes. "She'd probably be a good match for him."  
  
Tayla doubted it seriously; she didn't like how Ruli fawned all over Kekron or how she seemed to slight Caline whenever Caline was around. Caline was Calmagian royalty, above Ruli in rank, and therefore Ruli should have treated Caline with more respect. Tayla was not snobbish, but she knew her and her family's place in Astorian society, and that they were to be treated with deference by the other Clans. Tayla felt that Ruli was discourteous and disrespectful towards Caline, and she didn't like it.  
  
She gave Caline one of her handkerchiefs, and Caline dabbed her eyes and softly blew her nose.  
  
"Don't pay her any mind," Tayla told her firmly. "She's foolish. Remember that you are royalty, and she's not; so the next time she makes you feel bad, don't let it get to you. If Kekron thought you were bothering him, he would have let you know. C'mon let's go outside and get some flying in."  
  
"Okay," Caline told her softly, eager to forget about Ruli for now.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tayla had been teaching Caline how to fly in the past year, and now she could fly as well as her beloved Astorians. She and Tayla abruptly scurried out of the ship and into the clean air (new pollution restrictions had been put into place to help with Calmag's pollution problem). Calmag was on her way to becoming a cleaner planet, and the smog was beginning to disappear.  
  
Caline and Tayla leaped off of the ground and soared into the sky like young birds. They held hands, as they flew around in the air. After about half an hour, the girls were now floating over a huge, blue lake that contained two boats. Caline recognized one fishing boat as belonging to Julien; Julien and Dedron liked to go fishing together these days. Recently, Julien and Dedron had decided to have a fishing competition at least once a day, and they were trying to see who could catch the most fish. Julien had lent Dedron one of his own boats.  
Tayla then began to grin. Julien still taunted and heckled Caline whenever no one else was around, and Dedron and Tayla were no closer to being friends. Dedron still referred to Tayla as a dog, and Tayla's friends had had to intervene several times to prevent a murder. Riccan and Nikon had almost ganged up on Julien, and they would have beaten on him for teasing Caline two weeks ago, had it not been for Gracina's quick intervention.  
  
Tayla decided that Dedron and Julien needed to be taught a lesson for all of the things they had done to her and Caline. Dedron had been talking to Tayla still, as if he were addressing a dog, and Julien had ridiculed Caline for wanting to learn to fly like the Astorians. He had told Caline that she was already enough of an unwanted freak.  
  
He had also been giving Caline a hard time when Caline had just learned how to swim. Caline had always been afraid of swimming ever since she had been four years old, when on a family picnic without her mother, Amitar had thrown her into the deep part of a lake to get her to swim. Amitar, an excellent swimmer, had taught all of his children to stay afloat that way, but Caline had been terrified of swimming. She had begged her father not to throw her into the water, but Amitar had yelled at her and did it anyway. Caline had nearly drowned because she was too panicked to try to swim to shore. Finally, Amitar had barked orders at Ridikar to go rescue Caline. Ridikar had done so quickly, and he had comforted Caline when their father wouldn't. Caline had refused to go into the water ever since, despite Amitar's numerous taunts and the cruel teasing from both Julien and Naykiar before Naykiar had begun to reform.  
  
It had been Tayla, who loved to swim any chance that she could, who had encouraged Caline to try to swim again. With the help of Bendros, who was an experienced swimmer, Tayla had helped Caline to learn to swim. Caline was not an experienced swimmer yet, but she was getting to that point.  
  
So Caline had agreed to go along with Tayla's plan to teach Julien and Dedron a lesson. She had just learned to swim underwater for long distances, so she and Tayla went to a tiny island in the middle of the lake. Caline and Tayla stripped down to their undershirts and long, thin underwear (their swimsuits were already packed). She and Tayla took deep breaths and plunged into the water. Every now and then, they would come up just long enough to take another deep breath, but they swam most of the way to Dedron and Julien's boats.  
  
Finally, the two girls, who had concealed their ki levels, were close to the boats of their obnoxious relatives. Tayla briefly poked her dark, wet head above the surface of the water, and she saw that she was next to Julien's boat. Julien, deep in thought, did not notice her there. Tayla plunged back underwater, and she swam under Julien's boat.  
  
Caline was underwater too, and she was swimming towards Tayla, holding the end of Dedron's fishing line. Caline gave the hook and bait a few good tugs to trick Dedron into thinking that a fish had bitten. Tayla by then had the end of Julien's fishing line in her hand, and she brought hers to Caline. She then tied the end of Julien's fishing line to the end of Dedron's fishing line while they were still underwater. The girls quickly swam away under Julien's boat, came up long enough to take a deep breath of air and go back down again. They did this repeatedly, as they swam away a good distance from the boats.  
  
Finally, Tayla and Caline came up to the surface, and two wet heads were peering above the water's surface. Tayla said breathlessly to Caline, "Now the fun begins."  
  
Caline panted and nodded.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hey Jules, I've got one!" Dedron cried excitedly. "It's a big one too!"  
  
"So is mine!" Julien called back, as he began to reel in his line.  
  
Dedron did the same, and his line tugged harder and harder. Julien tried to reel in his line, and Dedron tried to reel in his. Finally, as they were reeling in their "catches", their boats were pulled closer and closer to each other's. Julien pulled back his line, and Dedron pulled back his. The boys were now in a tug-of-war with each other, although they didn't realize it.  
  
"I will catch this fish!" Julien grunted.  
  
"This catch will come up!" Dedron grumbled.  
  
Pull, pull, pull, tug, tug, and tug.  
  
Then Dedron gained the advantage and gave his line a good hard yank because he was tired of waiting. Julien screamed, as Dedron's line pulled onto his line-and pulled Julien off of his boat.  
  
Julien's body flew into Dedron's body and crashed into his. Dedron fell overboard with Julien, as they tumbled off of Dedron's boat and into the chilly water. The two heads of the two boys collided into each other's, as the two princes struggled to get to the surface. When the boys managed to come back up, they were both entangled in their fishing lines, tied together. Dedron and Julien foolishly struggled to free themselves of each other, but they only tightened the lines worse. When Dedron tried to pull away from Julien, Julien was dragged between them, and Julien's lips then crashed into Dedron's, inadvertently kissing his.  
  
Dedron, embarrassed, decided to power up, and when he did, the fishing lines burned away from his body. Finally, he was untangled, and he helped to free Julien of his binds as well.  
  
They then heard wild shrieks of girlish laughter coming from the sky. Tayla and Caline were hovering in the air, laughing and pointing at Dedron and Julien.  
  
"You two make a good couple!" Tayla screamed happily.  
  
"Can I come to your wedding, Julien?" Caline asked, laughing. "I saw you kiss Dedron; you two are made for each other!"  
  
Julien growled, as he pulled up a piece of tied-up fishing line. He noticed that Dedron's line was tied to his. "Dedron, they tied our fishing lines together, those little wenches!"  
  
"I thought there was something swimming underwater," Dedron hissed. "But I couldn't sense a thing."  
  
He shook his fist towards the girls, aiming it more at Tayla than Caline. "You're going to pay for that, Tayla!"  
  
"Yeah, Caline!" Julien roared. "Don't think that just because I'll never have to look at your ugly face again after you leave that you can treat me any old way!"  
  
Caline giggled, and Tayla screamed with more laughter. "Oh, kiss and make up!" Caline told her brother amiably. "You looked like you were enjoying that kiss with Dedron earlier."  
  
"And to think that Dedron wants Caline!" Tayla squealed. "Really, Dedron, I think that you're more compatible with Julien!"  
  
Dedron fired a small ki blast at Tayla, but Tayla deflected it easily with a one-handed Mirror Shield, and the blast hit the water, knocking Dedron and Julien beneath the surface.  
When Julien and Dedron reemerged again, they were furious to find that the mischievous girls were gone.  
  
"I hate girls!" Julien roared.  
  
Dedron almost agreed with him. "C'mon, Julien, let's go dry off," he grumbled. "Just like wenches to know how to ruin a man's fun."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
By the time that Tayla and Caline returned, most of the people going home to Astoria had boarded the Roccon. Tayla and Caline had managed to dry themselves quickly using their body ki (Caline had learned ki control as well), but their hair was still tangled, so that everyone could tell that Tayla and Caline had gone swimming. The girls were wearing their clothes, although they were now carrying their wet underclothes in bags.  
  
They were still giggling and laughing when Shalila came across them. "Tayla, Caline, there you two are! Where have you been?"  
  
"Umm…swimming," Tayla told her truthfully.  
  
"What have you been up to?" Shalila wanted to know.  
  
Caline and Tayla looked at each other worriedly, but then they burst into uncontrollable laughter. Between peals of ringing mirth, Tayla squeaked, "Nothing, Nama."  
  
"I didn't know that 'nothing' was that funny," Shalila said, puzzled. "Now what really happened?"  
  
"Umm…" both girls said uncomfortably.  
  
"Is this something that I'm better off not asking about?" Shalila said a bit sternly.  
  
"YES!" both Tayla and Caline cried happily. They then kissed Shalila on each cheek, and before she could question them further, Tayla and Caline ran towards the mother ship.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Thirty minutes later…  
  
Many Calmagians were waving at the mother ship, as the main door began to close. King Kitchator was holding Queen Kildara in his arms.  
  
"Goodbye!" both king and queen called.  
  
Julien was waving to Dedron, sad to see Dedron go, but happy that he wouldn't have to see Caline anymore. Naykiar was sad and pensive; he and Caline had shared many goodbye hugs and kisses, but now just as he was getting reacquainted with his sister, she was now going away. Rosyn and Meyline were there with their brothers waving goodbye.  
  
Many of the CRP officers under General Qatar's authority, were saluting the Astorians with shot blasts from their laser guns, and Cirono and his wife, now pregnant, were waving goodbye as well.  
  
"So long, farewell, gooden boden!" everyone called to each other, both Astorians and Calmagians.  
  
Tayla and Caline were waving from a huge window in the control room, as the ship finally began to blast off. The girls hugged each other hard, as the ship took off from the Calmagian spaceport and into the fading sunset. Soon it would be headed to space.  
  
Headed to space, to Astoria, and to their future…a future still yet to be seen and explored.  
  
A future where hope never dies…  
  
THE END (for now)  
  
  
  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________  
A/N: I would like to thank everyone on my fanfic mailing list for all of your encouragement and support through your emails, IMs, and reviews. I want to thank Kristy, Liz, Francesco, Daniel, Billyone1739, Phillip, Sarra, Yeary9, and The Lord Vegeta. I also have some people not on the fanfic list to thank, but I won't be able to let them know until ff.net finally gets its act together, and I can post again.  
  
CIRONO: Thank you for allowing me to have you in this story, and I hope that you have enjoyed, or at least liked, what I wrote about your character. The Clan of Chloe and Caline thank you themselves for warning them about General Norbrook (and being the first to guess that the traitor was him). And thank you for some of the hints that you gave me.  
  
TO KRISTY, LIZ, FRANCESCO, DANIEL (also known as Fungie or Mirai Blue Sky), BC, LORD VEGETA, YEARY9, SARRA AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO SENT EMAIL ABOUT MY STORIES: Thank you all so very much for the nice emails, reviews about my stories.  
  
Daniel: Thank you for having my stories on your site.   
  
Redlady: I enjoyed the summary that you sent me about "Ti Chi Anna", that novel that you removed. I wish that you were still continuing it, but I understand. I wish your Anna and her Warriors of Drey all the happiness in the world.  
  
TO WHOMEVER SUGGESTED THAT CHESTRA BE PART ASTORIAN: I did make a copy of you email suggesting that Chestra be part of the Clan of Chloe family, but I lost your name, so if you are reading this, could you let me know who you are? Thanks! I greatly appreciate it. And thank you again for suggesting this.  
  
TO JYYUACHIPEACH, CIRONO, SS. VEIL, STARKILLER, EINSTEIN-006, REDLADY, HYPER SAIYAN, ZARBON'S LOVER, DIGIPUPPY, AND PTLIZ: Thank you all for adding me to your favorites lists! It really does mean so much to me, and I hope that my stories continue to keep all of you entertained. If anyone else has added me to their favorites list, and your name is not mentioned here, please let me know, and I thank you when I put out the sequel.  
  
TO NEKO-CHAN AND MIRAI MAGIC MAN OF DRAGONWORLDZ.NET: I know that I haven't resubmitted my stories to the two of you yet, but I will eventually, if you still want them. I also want to thank you both very much for having my stories (Tayla of Astoria, Chestra, and Dragonspaceballs) up on your site before your site's servers crashed. I'm sorry that I've been slack in getting the chapters back to you. And Neko and MMM? Neko, I hope to see more of your "Cosmic Crisis" stories, and MMM, more about Stacie, Trunks and Heather. I have enjoyed reading them.  
  
TO TRIXIE-CHAN OF DBZ ROMANCE: I loved your "Wild Horses" story, which I found both romantic and funny at the same time! I want to thank you for putting my "Chestra" and my Master Roshi romance, "Be Careful For What You Wish For" on your site.  
  
TO PRINCESS KYLEY SERUNNE: Thank you for putting my "Chestra" story on your Zarbon Shrine Site.  
  
TO VEGETA GODDESS: Thank you for posting my "Dragonspaceballs" story on your site. Hopefully, I can get it finished in time to enter it in your contest.  
  
And thanks also to everyone else who read my stories or talked to me about them. Thanken, thanken, and thanken! If I didn't mention your name by accident, please know that I wish to thank you as well! =)  
  
I also want to thank those of you who took the poll. I know that I never got around to posting the results, but your answers have helped me out a lot with planning the next stage of the lives of both the DBZ characters and my characters in the sequel.  
  
Half of those who contacted me want Vegeta/Tayla, and the other half say no way, Bendros/Tayla. It is very likely that I will have both, but if I go with Vegeta/Tayla, it won't be for a very long time.   
  
Almost everyone chose Kekron/Caline instead of Rojal/Caline, and it will be headed towards Kekron/Caline, but don't think that Rojal and Dedron will give up on Caline. Dedron will have a trick or two up his sleeve to get Caline and to get back at his "enemies", and Rojal will have some help in courting Caline.  
  
Again thank you all very, very, very much. I am glad that you all have enjoyed my stories, and I hope that you continue to enjoy them. I wish all of you luck with your endeavors in life, both literary and non-literary.  
  
Expect to see the beginning of the sequel, "Hope Never Dies" out within the next week or two. Much of it is still in the planning stages, but I believe that I have the first story "arc" worked out.  
  
WHAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN (at least in the first arc):  
  
---Vegeta and Nappa finally get their comeuppance--temporarily at least.  
  
---Vegeta and Tayla will cross paths again.  
  
---The beginnings of Bendros/Tayla and Kekron/Caline, but those potential couples won't be without their problems and people trying to keep them apart.  
  
---Frieza's new spy will integrate herself into the life of an Astorian prince, causing problems between him and the girl that he truly wants to be with.  
  
---Caline and Tayla will their hands full with suitors, both wanted and unwanted.  
  
---Kekron definitely still wants to be with Caline, but will Rojal, Dedron, Ruli, and someone else get in the way?  
  
---Caline studies music under one of the universe's greatest singers, Operetta, and Operetta makes Caline an almost irresistible offer, but if Caline accepts it, it means that she will have to leave Astoria and her beloved adoptive family behind.  
  
---Tayla trains to join Intergalacticpol.  
  
---Vegeta and Nappa will cause more trouble among the good guys than expected, but then don't Saiyans always do?  
  
---And so, so much more...  
  
WHAT WILL ONLY HAPPEN IN OUR WILDEST DREAMS:  
  
WARNING: Do not take the following ideas seriously...  
  
---Frieza finally decides that he loves Dodoria after all, but Dodoria no longer wants him. Instead Dodoria decides that he wants Guido instead, and he and Guido abandon Frieza's army to start their own music group, "2FAT" and their own bubble gum, "Blubberlicious".  
  
---Jaden hits her head hard during a purging mission, and she decides in her new insanity that she loves Balair after all, so she goes to planet Namek to get the Dragonballs and wish him back to life. Jaden and Balair then train together and merge into a powerful warrior called "Jadair". Then they overthrow Frieza by driving him to suicide playing awful Barney and Sifl and Olly music, and Jadair takes over the universe, forcing tributes from everyone in the form of chili-and-cheese pot pies and Penthouse magazines.  
  
---It later turns out that Frieza never really died after all, but he wisely decides not to challenge "Jadair", so he goes to Astoria, and Shalila Chloe realizes that she needs a younger man, so she leaves Dirkan for Frieza.  
  
---Chestra leaves Zarbon for Captain Ginyu, who teaches her the joys of cross-dressing. Unfortunately, that leads Chestra to decide to change her sex as well, so she gets an operation turning herself into a man and renames herself Chester. Chester dumps Captain Ginyu and goes back to Zarbon, who strangely enough likes his amour better as a man...  
  
---Captain Ginyu turns gay, and he sets his sights on a new love--Vegeta! But then he changes him mind when Vegeta refuses to join Ginyu in his new drag-queen career.  
  
---Gorna gives up her right to Astoria's throne and when Vegeta comes to raid Astoria again, she falls passionately in love with Vegeta, and they run away together to get married.  
  
---It turns out that Dedron is not really Cletos's son after all, or even Farla's. Instead this Dedron turns out to be a genetically altered clone of King Dayrus, whom Vegeta's father had a spy on Astoria switch with the real baby Dedron, who died at birth. The clone was programmed to grow up to give Shalila Chloe grief. Tayla later uncovers the insane plan, and with Kekron's help, reprograms Dedron to become a good person. Dedron and Tayla fall in love and marry, producing thirty children.  
  
---Caline decides that Kekron isn't for her after all, so when Captain Ginyu decides to complete Vegeta's failed mission to clear Astoria, she falls in love with him. Ginyu ditches Frieza's army and runs away with Caline to planet Earth, and together, they unite the Rolling Stones, the Monkees, and the Beatles into one huge music group, along with Britney Spears. With Ginyu and Caline as the lead singers, the renamed band called Gone, But Not Forgotten has seventeen triple-platinum records.  
  
---Kekron ulitmately joins Frieza's army and takes Captain Ginyu's place, creating better poses than even the infamous captain.  
  
---And thank heavens, there's no more than that...I think  
  
Gooden boden fro noy,  
  
Sawnya 


End file.
